Committee Reports

From trail work and wildlife monitoring to trip leadership and workshops – here's what our committees were up to last month.

A.T. Management

Most recent meeting: 06-May-2024 ✧ Wildlife transects, corridor monitoring, and trail maintenance are ongoing ✧ Trail projects have begun and are now available on ActDB ✧ Blowdown removal has been a top priority for the Central and Northern sections which were severely affected by the many recent storms ✧ We will have 2 new A-level sawyers following AMC's trails college this past weekend ✧ The committee voted to invest in funds to repair gravel in high impact sections of the Upper Goose Pond Caretakers Rd ✧ Met with NPS and APPA staff for pre-approval of funding and trail location for the Hop Brook project; federal monies earmarked for New England A.T. sections will allow for funding of all 3 phases of the project ✧ Kathy Martin and her husband are the proud adoptees of a trail section in the Southern portion of the MA A.T. ✧ Upper Goose Pond Cabin will reopen 19-May-2024 ✧ Future plans: 3 Greenagers projects ✧ Volunteer recruitment needs: natural heritage monitors, trail maintainers, corridor monitors, shelter coordinator, and 2025 committee vice chair ✧ Next meeting: 15-July-2024

Bicycling

The Chair of Bicycling attended the April ExCom Meeting ✧ The Chair of Bicycling and Bicycling trip leader participated in the Annual Meeting Planning Committee meeting on 15-Apr-2024 ✧ Intro ride was held on 20-May-2024 ✧ Warm-up ride was held on 21-May-2024 ✧ May and June bike rides were listed on ActDB

Communications

Website users have increased steadily since January. The website continues to evolve and expand. The Chapter's Facebook and Instagram accounts continue to gain followers ✧ Facebook: 19 posts (top post: Keystone Arch Bridges Hike) ✧ Instagram: 17 posts (top post: Eclipse Hike and Social Reminder) ✧ Newsletters: 1414 messages sent ✧ Website: 1) Completed and deployed River Cleanup initiative, 2) Edited activities code on the Exchange to handle expired activity listings on ActDB, 3) Updated the member favorites page

Hiking

New Leader-in-Training: Anne Houhlin ✧ Led 9 hikes at Rattlesnake Mountain, Eclipse Social (Noble View), Mt. Greylock, Keystone Arches, NET, Graves Farm, Monroe State Forest, High Ledges, Granville State Forest ✧ Led 4 walks in Holyoke ✧ Currently planning ExCom/Leaders Social; actively advertising for a new chair

NET Management

Lou Graham and Heather Wyman presented a PPT presentation to Westfield Girl Scouts interested in adopting a section of the NET ✧ The NET committee held a workshop and gathering for 16 adopters, NPS and AMC staff ✧ More than 30 volunteers from the Pioneer Valley Hiking Club contributed over 200 hours of basic trail maintenance (clearing blowdowns and brush; refreshing trail blazes) on Sections 1&2 ✧ 13 volunteers led by NET adopters cleared Section 7 of the NET in preparation for the Seven Sisters Trail Race. This is the second time we've partnered with trail runners who recognize the need to give back to a resource that they utilize. Further collaboration on other projects is being planned ✧ Additional adopters completed over 200 hours of trail maintenance in April ✧ A late season ice storm damaged sections of the NET; 80 blowdowns were cleared ✧ Next meeting: 20-May-2024