Volunteers Needed to Help Restore Mount Monadnock Trails
The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is running its Fifth Annual Monadnock Trail Week from Saturday, July 17 through Wednesday, July 21. Volunteers and Forest Society staff will join forces to restore degraded hiking trails on one of the state’s most storied mountains.
“This is a great opportunity to help improve one of New Hampshire’s most visited state parks,” said Forest Society Director of Education and Volunteer Services. “We’ll be building new footbridges, rebuilding water bars and stone steps, and brushing out hiking trails.”
Volunteers are still needed to assist with the clean-up effort. No prior trail work experience is needed to join the group and contribute, and volunteers may participate for one day or several.
This annual trail maintenance event is organized by the Forest Society. Last year, more than 50 individuals volunteered more than 600 hours to clear trails, build bridges, and repair drainage ditches and water bars.
"Monadnock Trail Week is a great example of a public private partnership that has a tremendous impact," said Anderson.
Mount Monadnock is one of the most-climbed mountains in the western hemisphere. In 1915 the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests conserved its first tract of 406 acres on Mount Monadnock, beginning a long-term effort to protect the natural integrity of the mountain and its surroundings. Since then, the Forest Society has acquired a total of 4,000 acres at Mount Monadnock and Gap Mountain in the towns of Dublin, Marlborough, Troy, and Jaffrey. The Forest Society leases much of its land to the State to be operated as Mount Monadnock State Park.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Rita Carroll at rcarroll@forestsociety.org or call 603-224-9945.
Founded in 1901, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is the state’s oldest and largest non-profit land conservation organization. Supported by 10,000 families and businesses, the Forest Society’s mission is to perpetuate the state’s forests by promoting land conservation and sustainable forestry. For more information, visit www.forestsociety.org.