Volunteers celebrate National Public Lands Day with AT projects

WINGDALE — In celebration of National Public Lands Day, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and the Harlem Valley Appalachian Trail Community (HVATC) invited volunteers to hike along the Appalachian Trail (AT) and help with six maintenance projects on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Speaking as the senior program manager of NPCA, Lauren Cosgrove explained that National Public Lands Day is a day to embrace nature and join in the celebration of the country’s public lands. This year, NPCA collaborated with its partners in the states of New York and New Jersey to complete projects on sections of the AT that needed the most maintenance.

“If there’s one thing I can emphasize, it’s that we couldn’t have done this without our partners,” Cosgrove said.

Beginning at 9:30 a.m., about 30 volunteers gathered at Harlem Valley Homestead in Wingdale with a variety of trail experts, veterans and local trail groups and hiking clubs, including Girl Gotta Hike, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference and the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Connecticut Chapter. 

Volunteers worked together to install water bars to help divert water and prevent erosion on the trails. They also installed a raised bed of crushed gravel for trail hikers to walk over as well as two parallel boardwalks. After sourcing local boulders and moving them onto the trail, volunteers built rock steps for an especially steep section of the trail. Working until 2 p.m., they returned to Harlem Valley Homestead for lunch.

“The volunteers who come together for these once-a-year group projects bring different skills and interests and a shared love of the outdoors,” said HVATC Co-Chair Stancy DuHamel. “They work in teams to accomplish a task that is part of a wider mission: to protect, preserve and promote the Appalachian Trail.”

“It was really a fabulous day,” Cosgrove agreed, adding that some of the volunteers even spent the night at Harlem Valley Homestead. To give them a taste of what the Harlem Valley has to offer, she said NPCA led volunteers on a tour of the Harlem Valley, visiting Brookby Farm, the Dover Farmers Market and the Dover Stone Church along the way.

On Saturday, Oct. 19, the NPCA will host its sixth annual Appalachian Trail Day at Native Landscapes in Pawling. For more information, go to www.npca.org/trailday.