New England Trail National Scenic Trail and

2017 Accomplishments / 2018 Goals

Massachusetts teen crew completing reroute in Holyoke. Connecticut intern trail crew working on bog bridging in Farmington.

CELEBRATING THE NET TRAIL VOLUNTEERS: AMC’s and CFPA’s NET Volunteer Program aims to engage a broad audience of youth and adults in trail work efforts. Leading the charge, the volunteers highlighted below are some of our longest serving and newest volunteers!

DEVOTING DECADES TO THE NET: Trail adopter Bill Finn has been maintaining and enhancing the trail in MA for over 10 years. Drawn to the trail for its ability to connect people to each other and to the land, Bill believes that without the public’s advocacy and stewardship, these places will no longer exist, or certainly not in the way they do now.

In CT, Jack Marshall took on the role of trail manager 10 years ago. He works closely with the CFPA to maintain and preserve the trail. For Jack, conservation does not mean marking out a set of trails and forgetting it; it means maintenance and care.

THE NEXT GENERATION: Many of our newest volunteers in 2017 were participants in our CFPA ten week summer intern trail crew and our three week AMC teen crew. They tackled trail improvement projects along multiple sections in MA and CT. Our newcomers all hail from varying parts of the country but share the same reverence for the outdoors, our trail systems, and the communities that surround them. Caring for a New England Treasure Hiker at Chauncey Peak, LOOKING TOWARDS 2018: In 2018 AMC will partner with Giuffrida Park, Meriden, CT. The 215-mile New England Trail (NET) includes portions of four largely contiguous Image: William Van Beckum CareerPoint in Holyoke, MA, enabling a new teen crew to tackle About this image: williamvanbekum.com/ trails: the Mattabesett, Menunkatuck and Metacomet Trails in Connecticut and parts of projects along the NET. In CT, the CFPA trail crews will focus on scenic-kiosks.html the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail in Massachusetts. Designated as a national scenic trail trail relocations in Durham and East Granby to take advantage of in 2009, and marked with blue blazes in Connecticut and white in Massachusetts, the more sustainable grades and reduce erosion. NET has something wonderful to share with everyone.

The principal trail stewards of the NET are the staff and volunteers of the Connecticut CLARE CAIN BRIDGET LIKELY CHARLES TRACY Forest & Park Association (CFPA) in Connecticut and the Berkshire Chapter of the Trail Stewardship Director New England National Scenic National Park Service Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in Massachusetts. They are assisted by the National Connecticut Forest & Trail Coordinator [email protected] Park Service (NPS) in managing, protecting, restoring and caring for this scenic New Park Association Appalachian Mountain Club 617.223.5210 England treasure. For more information, including guides and maps, please visit [email protected] [email protected] www.newenglandtrail.org. 860.346.2372 413.835.4591 “Land conservation is all about protection and connectivity, and a long distance trail NEW can exemplify this.” ENGLAND Bill Finn, MA Section 6 Trail Adopter. TRAIL 2017 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Total Trail 215 miles Caring for the Trail 450 Volunteers Giving Time to the Trail 10,306 volunteer hours CT Society of Civil Engineers Young Members installing bridge in Durham, CT. Valuing Volunteer Time $304,903 Welcoming Hikers and Volunteers Young hikers enjoy the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse on the New England Trail at the 40 Community Outreach Events Richardson-Zlogar Cabin. Photo: 2017 Mount Grace Land Trust 26 Work Parties 11 National Trails Day Hikes Find Your Trail, Find Your Way Enhancing the NET Experience Conserving Trail Lands In 2018, we are joining with the other 29 National Scenic and Historic Trails EVENTS: In 2017 CFPA and AMC held In Connecticut, CFPA relocated to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the National Trail System Act. To mark 40 public events along the NET and in the NET from a longstanding this anniversary, we are launching the #HikeNET50 Challenge: anyone who surrounding communities. Our 2017 Poet- roadwalk thanks in part to an hikes 50 miles on the NET during calendar year 2018 will receive a special in-Residence, David Leff, shared his NET open space acquisition by the patch, along with prizes and other goodies. Keep an eye out for challenge inspired Haibun poetry at walks, talks and updates and Trails50 activities along the NET! We know from our artists poetry festivals throughout the year. In Town of Farmington and to and others that the NET experience is not simply about miles, so there are August, Amherst College and Adventure the generosity of two private many creative and fun ways for you to complete the challenge. Check out In Adventure Out partnered with AMC to landowners. In Massachusetts, newenglandtrail.org for more details and to sign up! host an orientation trip. Twelve freshmen AMC completed a reroute at spent two nights at the Richardson-Zlogar Whiting Street Reservoir in Cabin in Northfield where they helped Holyoke, thanks to a trail license To Blaze a Trail: 2018 Goals clear and blaze the trail. (Photo: Amherst agreement with Holyoke Water • Strengthen relationships with private trail hosts College freshmen help blaze the trail.) Works. The reroute creates • Increase leadership and skills training opportunities for our volunteers NEW NET ARTIST: safer access to Mount Tom State • Continue to promote uniform trail standards for a consistent trail experience Ben Cosgrove is the New England Trail’s first composer-in-residence. Reservation. • Develop projects to increase accessibility for all trail users He will be writing and performing new • Recruit 500 people to take the NET Trails50 Challenge music based on his experiences with the NET landscape. Ben is a traveling pianist and multi- instrumentalist who draws his inspiration from landscape, place and ecology. Ben’s artist profile video and performance dates can be found on the NET website! (Photo: Ben Cosgrove)

Left: Artist William Van Beckum with one of his NEW ENGLAND TRAIL “scenic kiosks” created from Instagram photos www.newenglandtrail.org of the NET. Photo: 2017 CFPA Purchase trail guides at the CFPA Bookstore or the AMC Bookstore.