20 Years Ago in Chapter News

The Double Blaze

Chapter 7: Appalachian Trail History, Part 2

Earlier in the summer, we left our story in 1936 after the "Appies" came west and completed the AT, pretty much on the route it takes today. Unfortunately, the Pioneer Valley-based Chapter leaders did not consider it a priority to work closely with the local Berkshire residents who had already done considerable work on the Trail prior to their arrival. A year or two after clearing the Trail, Chapter interest waned, and without organized local support, the Trail began to sink back into the woods.

As the decade drew to a close, however, two new groups began to take an interest in reviving the Trail. The Mt. Greylock Ski Club agreed to take responsibility for the Trail between Upper Goose Pond and the Vermont Line. Max Sauter began work in 1938 and with an Avery-like (but local) effort, took in hand the task of organizing other Berkshire County volunteers. At the Massachusetts State College (now U-Mass, Amherst), the faculty outing club, Metawampe, officially adopted the section between Tyringham and Washington. The AMC Berkshire Chapter continued to lead maintenance efforts in the south. Volunteers from both the Ski Club and what remains of the Metawampes are still active on the Trail today.

This commitment by local groups began to bring other Berkshire residents on board, and local support of the AT has continued to this day. However, the pre-war malaise that affected the Trail along its entire length did not skip the Berkshires, and as the war took hold of the country, maintenance lapsed. After the war, interest in the Trail revived. But as the economy and the country began to grow vigorously, portions of the Trail on private land became increasingly difficult to keep open, and more and more miles of Trail were routed onto roads.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) was lobbying for Federal protection for the Trail. Finally, in December 1968 the National Trails System Act was passed by Congress. The Act defines four types of trail: National Recreation Trails to "...provide a variety of outdoor recreation uses in or reasonably accessible to urban areas"; National Scenic Trails which are "...extended trails so located as to provide for maximum outdoor recreation potential and for the conservation and enjoyment of the nationally significant scenic, historic, natural, or cultural qualities of the areas through which such trails may pass"; and National Historic Trails "...which follow as closely as possible and practicable the original trails or routes of travel of national historic significance." The fourth designation is for side trails connecting to or between these trails. The AT is the first designated National Scenic Trail. This legislation also contains the following in its Statement of Policy:

The Congress recognizes the valuable contributions that volunteers and private, nonprofit trail groups have made to the development and maintenance of the Nation's trails. In recognition of these contributions, it is further the purpose of this Act to encourage and assist volunteer citizen involvement in the planning, development, maintenance, and management, where appropriate, of trails."

This language directs Federal agencies to involve volunteers in the care and feeding of National trails. Notice that it doesn't just mention the "dirt work" of on-the-ground maintenance, but runs the full gamut of trail management responsibilities. The "where appropriate" clause does provide an out, and in its current application is taken to refer to management areas such as law enforcement and land acquisition. This is a pretty bold step by government to include this kind of direct citizen involvement – but it's what makes the AT work.

The Act also calls for a protected right-of-way for the Trail in this language:

Where the lands included in a national scenic or national historic trail right-of-way are outside of the exterior boundaries of federally administered areas, the Secretary charged with the administration of such trail shall encourage the States or local governments involved (1) to enter into written cooperative agreements with landowners, private organizations, and individuals to provide the necessary trail right-of-way, or (2) to acquire such lands or interests therein to be utilized as segments of the national scenic or national historic trail.

So the first choice was to encourage state and local governments and private entities to protect the footpath, with Federal acquisition as the second. Practically speaking, the first choice was the only option in 1968, as there was little funding for federal land acquisition in the Act.

Interestingly, Massachusetts was the first state to follow this Federal action by passing Chapter 627, "An Act to Protect the Appalachian Trail" in 1969. The then-Department of Natural Resources (later the Department of Environmental Management, or DEM, and now the Department of Conservation and Recreations, or DCR) was directed to acquire lands in fee simple (meaning complete ownership), easements, conservation restrictions, or gifts to protect the footpath from inappropriate use. Over the sub sequent seven years, the Division of Forests and Parks acquired 20 parcels and two watershed easements on behalf of the Trail.

Other AT states did not enact any significant legislation to protect the AT, however, and in 1976 the National Trails System Act was amended to provide funding to purchase land to create a protected corridor. This funding has been continued over the years and now more than 3000 individual parcels have been purchased and less than one percent of the trail is on private land subject to development. Most of these purchases have been in fee simple, but some protection has been achieved by easements wherein the owner retains some rights to the property, but the land can never be developed. For more information on land protection see Chapter 3 of the Double Blaze in the December 2002 Berkshire Exchange.

In our state, the NPS acquisition efforts were focused on protecting pieces of Trail between the major state forests in Berkshire County. Much of this connecting Trail was in the Tyringham area and on unprotected property in Dalton and Cheshire, as well as other property south of Great Barrington. In 1968, 21.8 miles of the state's 85 miles of AT were on roads.

A year after the amended National Trails System Act, the NPS, working cooperatively with the DEM, conducted a survey of the Trail on lands outside of state forests. This survey established a Trail centerline and the land ownership of approximately 40 Trail miles in the county. From this plan, the NPS and DEM decided which agency would pursue the purchase of which land parcels. By 1992, virtually the entire route had been protected, at a cost of more than $8.1 million.

This protection has served us well, preserving some of the County's most attractive and significant scenic areas. The highlight of the Park Service protection effort in the state is the land surrounding Upper Goose Pond, now one of the last undeveloped ponds in the Berkshires. Other areas protected by this effort are Sage's Ravine, Ice Gulch, Warner Hill, Gore Pond, the Cheshire Cobbles, and Sherman Brook.

This protection was not without controversy. Since Shays' Rebellion our citizens have been wary of excessive interference from outside, be it Springfield, Boston or Washington DC. The National Park Service stood to become the new "Myron Avery," and fueled some local resentment of the Trail among its neighbors as it began to purchase land for the corridor. However, unlike the 1930s, the AT has a loyal following of hardworking local citizens who were willing to work closely with their neighbors.

The AT Committee of the Berkshire Chapter was formed in 1979 at the behest of the ATC to consolidate into a single entity the efforts of the three active maintaining groups. This past summer, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed designating our Berkshire Chapter AT Committee as the entity responsible for AT management on both state and NPS lands in the Commonwealth. This Committee consists of Chapter volunteers, and DCR, AMC and ATC staff.

What does the future hold? As the NPS shifts from the process of acquiring corridor land to the active management of these lands, the ATC in turn begins to redefine its own role. With the footpath essentially complete and protected from adjacent incompatible uses, focus has been shifting to actively protect the existing corridor from misuse, harden the footpath against the heavy traffic it receives, and manage the other effects of this state's thousands of yearly Trail visitors. It is also time to look more broadly at "external" threats to the Trail. A 1000-foot corridor does not provide much protection from increasing levels of air and water pollution, telecom and utility projects, and large-scale land development. Although the nature of our work is changing, it will never be complete.

If you want to volunteer on the Trail, or find out more about your AT Committee, please visit our webpage.

Next chapter: Recent ATC Policy Decisions.

Did you miss Part 1 of AT History? The Summer 2004 and other back issues of the Berkshire Exchange can be viewed here.