• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

TW-NovDec04_10-14 10/14/04 6:28 PM Page 1 RAILWALKER TNEW YORK-NEW JERSEY TRAIL CONFERENCE — MAINTAINING OVER 1,600 MILES OF FOOT TRAILS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 In this issue: Trail University...pg 2 • Ecology Q & A...pg 5 • Volunteer Classifieds...pg 6 • Are You Covered...pg 7 • Book Notes...pg 10 TC Sets $2.5M Goal for Trails The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference staff GIS specialist. supports the Trail Conference work of Acquisition and Stewardship Fund will has announced an ambitious $2.5 million The campaign theme “Connecting Peo- protecting corridors that link public open evolve into an endowment that will sustain capital campaign, “Connecting People with ple with Nature” is a reference to the space and making them accessible to the the Conference’s stewardship mission. Nature.” The campaign aims to raise funds Conference’s mission of “connecting peo- public by building and maintaining a net- to meet two major challenges: protecting ple with nature” by work of hiking trails. Protecting threatened Trails on Bear Mountain and improving the connectivity of our corridors requires assembling many small Volunteers from the NY-NJ Trail region’s trail system, and increasing the • Protecting public open space through parcels, a labor-intensive and expensive job Conference built the first section of the Conference’s capacity to recruit and train grass-roots advocacy and land trail crews who can build and maintain acquisition; trails. • Providing access to nature by develop- Specific projects have been identified: ing, building, and maintaining hiking land acquisition and stewardship along trails; and existing and potential trail corridors in • Educating the public in the responsible New York and New Jersey; major trail use of trails and the natural environment. rehabilitation on Bear Mountain, includ- ing the historically important first section “This is an exciting time for the Trail of the Appalachian Trail; and developing Conference,” says Jane Daniels, chair of the vitally important Geographic Information TC board of directors. “We want to ensure System resources. that people in this rapidly developing At the time of the announcement at region always have access to good trails and JOSH ERDSNEKER its Annual Meeting on October 31, the open space. We know how important The campaign will support the Trail Conference mission: “connecting people with nature.” Conference was in the happy position of these are to our quality of life. The Trail that falls outside the mission of most gov- Appalachian Trail in 1923. Eighty-one being more than halfway toward its goal. Conference has long been a dynamic and ernment agencies and nonprofit land trusts. years, countless maintenance trips, and Development Director Jim Davis reported important organization in helping people The Trail Conference, however, has the millions of visitors later, the AT and the that by the end of September, $1,498,400 connect with nature, and we hope this mission of protecting trails and long two other major trails on Bear Mountain had been received through 69 gifts. campaign will fuel that commitment as we experience of working with multiple owners (Major Welch and Suffern-Bear Mountain) Further, the Conference already could undertake major projects over the next of small holdings to develop trails. Funds need significant renovation. point to a number of important achieve- decade.” contributed to the campaign have already With an estimated 500,000 people ments in its target areas made possible by protected portions of the Shawangunk reaching the summit of Bear Mountain this early fundraising success. These ELEMENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN Ridge Trail and the Long Path in the each year, and more than 100,000 hiking include acquisition of trail corridor lands Land Acquisition and Stewardship Catskills. Other corridor lands in need of on the AT there (it is the most heavily on the Shawangunk Ridge and in the By far the biggest goal of the campaign—$2 protection have been identified in New traveled section of the trail), the treadways Catskills, preliminary planning for Bear million—is to capitalize a Land Acquisition Jersey and elsewhere in New York. As trail on Bear Mountain have become signifi- Mountain trail work, and the hiring of a and Stewardship Fund. This revolving fund corridors are fully assembled, the Land continued on page 9 Trail Conference Volunteer Awards Trail Conference Qualifies for $500,000 Each year, the board of directors of the Trail New Jersey Green Acres Matching Grant Conference honors those who have shown extraordinary dedication to the cause of The New Jersey Department of Environ- state. This funding is contingent upon the trail preservation. This year, eleven individ- mental Protection and the Garden State passage of a legislative appropriation. uals were recognized in five award Preservation Trust recently approved the Included in the $500,000 is an addition- categories. Board members are not eligible Trail Conference’s application for a Green al $100,000 above the standard nonprofit for any Trail Conference awards. Acres Matching Grant to the tune of award. This is due to the fact that many, if The Raymond Torrey Award is the $500,000. The availability of these funds not all, of our trail projects are located in Conference’s most prestigious award, given will assist us at this important time in pro- the New Jersey Highlands, an environmen- for significant and lasting contributions tecting hiking trail corridors throughout tally sensitive area that provides water to that protect our hiking trails and the land New Jersey. As a matching grant, these millions of our fellow New Jersey residents. upon which they rest. This year the award monies must be matched with other non- Please turn to page 3 for more Advocacy & goes to H. Neil Zimmerman. Neil, who Green Acres funding in order to be spent Conservation news. was unanimously elected an Honorary on preservation efforts throughout the Member of the Trail Conference in 2002, served as president of the Trail Conference from 1987-1999. With then Executive VOLUME XXXI, NUMBER 6 ISSN 0749-1352 PERMIT #970-100 Director JoAnn Dolan, Neil played a cru- cial role in the preservation of Sterling Forest as a state park. He oversaw a large growth spurt in both membership and recognition for the Conference, as well as greatly expanded publication efforts. After LARRY WHEELOCK LARRY his stint as president, Neil was instrumen- H. Neil Zimmerman gets TC’s top award. continued on page 9 TW-NovDec04_10-14 10/14/04 6:28 PM Page 2 TRAILWALKER FROM THE CHAIR VOLUME XXXI, NO. 6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 GEORGETTE WEIR EDITOR LOUIS LEONARDIS GRAPHIC DESIGNER The TRAIL WALKER (USPS Permit #970- 100) (ISSN 0749-1352) is published bi- dedication really inspires me.” the natural world so they become a monthly by the New York-New Jersey Trail Trail University Conference as a benefit of membership. David Day and Monica Resor are also constituency of voters who act to save more Subscriptions are available to libraries only at at Bear Mountain products of the West Hudson Trail Crew. land in the “natural” state. He says he “stays $15.00 a year. Periodical postage paid at They now lead the West Jersey Trail Crew, involved to ensure that after we have saved Mahwah, N.J., and additional offices. A significant goal of the capital campaign building steps and relationships equally the land we protect it against ourselves so Postmaster: Send address changes to the address below. Opinions expressed by authors do not announced by the Trail Conference is to well. David reports that he “loves to hike, it does not get loved to death, and, necessarily represent the policy or position of raise funds to support major repairs on the spend time in the woods, and cares about hopefully, to minimize our impact on the the Conference. Contributions of typed trails on Bear Mountain (see campaign wild places.” He finds that “trail work is a surrounding (biological) community.” manuscripts, photos, and drawings are story). This high-visibility project will not fusion of all that, plus the bonus of having Our newest crew chief, Denise Vitale, welcome. Manuscripts may be edited for style and length. Send SASE for writers’ guidelines. only repair the trails, but will serve as a great people to share it with.” who this past summer agreed to organize Submission deadlines for the TRAIL WALKER valuable recruiting tool and training school Although Monica found that the chal- the new West Hudson North Trail Crew, are January 15 (Mar./Apr. issue), March 15 for new trail volunteers, a goal equally lenging location of her first work trip did got a big shot of creative inspiration while (May/June issue), May 15 (July/Aug. issue), July 15 (Sept./Oct. issue), September 15 important for our continued effectiveness not offer much opportunity for an inexpe- working on the Twin Forts Trail under the (Nov./Dec. issue), November 15 (Jan./Feb. in the New York-New Jersey region. At Bear Mountain Bridge during the summer issue). Unsolicited contributions cannot be Bear Mountain, experienced TC hands will of 2003. In that project, a team of volun- acknowledged unless accompanied by SASE. be giving instruction to newcomers in how teers coordinated and instructed by Ed For information on advertising rates, please “Laying out and building write or call. to construct a trail, build erosion controls Walsh learned some heavy-duty trail-build- Copyright 2004 by: and steps, harden treadway surfaces, etc. It ing skills, including how to safely move New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Inc. is an ambitious project that will require trails that others could one-ton rocks using high-lines. Ed’s enthu- 156 Ramapo Valley Road (Rt. 202) Mahwah, NJ 07430 coordination of lots of people over at least siasm and expertise helped the team build a 201-512-9348 two seasons.

Load more

  12

Copy Link