Allegheny Trail Crew began with a specific reason, to maintain trails. This kind of focus was the perfect beginning. This was apparent when I visited with the group in July while they performed maintenance work on Tanbark Trail.

Hand tools are supplied by the U.S. Forest Service, Allegheny National Forest. All of the work that is done on the Allegheny National Forest is done in cooperation with the Forest Service.

“I’ve always worked good with the Forest Service,” said Keith Klos, one of the key group organizers.

Budget limitations have made it impossible for Forest Service staff to maintain trails. No doubt forest fires in the West, where there has been 13 years of drought and die-offs of conifer trees which adds to the fire fuel on the forest floor, have caused a large part of budget problems. According to a National Wildlife Federation source, half of the Forest Service budget is being consumed by fighting forest fires.

The Allegheny National Forest has 201 miles of hiking trails, plus 18 miles of interpretive trails. Use of these trails has been steadily growing over the past several years. One obvious reason is proximity. The Allegheny National Forest is within a one-day drive of several major cities in the Northeast and Upper Midwest.

Trail maintenance work being undertaken by Allegheny Trail Crew volunteers is more than a convenience to hikers. Safety is a major concern. Hikers can easily stray away from trails obscured by brush, where a tree has fallen across a trail or where trail blazes can not be seen.

“The most common things are downed trees and brush,” Klos said.

Tanbark Trail has diamond-shaped, off-white blazes, or trail marks. Tanbark Trail intersects with other trails, and it winds through relatively remote areas. Without the blazes, staying on the trail would be difficult. Replacing or resetting blazes is an important role for Allegheny Trail Crew.

Allegheny Trail Crew members divided into two groups Saturday, July 26, each to start their work at opposite ends of the trail, almost. One section, from Route 337 to the lower trail head along Route 62 in the Allegheny River valley, would be completed the next day. From Route 337 to Hearts Content Road was the task of one Saturday group, the trail head at the North Country Trail, along Forest Road 116, to the same point on Hearts Content Road the other.

One volunteer certified by the Forest Service to operate a chain saw was included in each group. Other volunteer workers carried manual brush clippers. A gas tank for the chain saw also had to be lugged through the forest.

With maintenance performed on their separate trail sections, groups met where the trail crosses Hearts Content Road very close to the scheduled time of 5:00 p.m. The groups even arrived at nearly the same time, no mean feat.

The section of Tanbark Trail that courses from Route 337, near Sandstone Spring, to Route 62, near the Allegheny River provides hikers with habitat few visitors to the Allegheny National Forest ever see. This steep river valley slope does not get much sunshine. It is wetter than most places. The forest is lush.

“We got a report that’s where most of the downed trees are,” Klos said.

Some work remains to be finished after the weekend work session. Bridges which were washed away during storms will have to be replaced.

Sponsorship has come from several places, Karen Klos said. Sponsors for the Tanbark Trail weekend of work included King Building Supply, House of Printing, Lowe’s Home Improvement, B&N Trophies & Awards and Kmart #4874, Franklin, Employees Fund.

Next on the Allegheny Trail Crew trail maintenance agenda will be the Tracy Ridge Trail System. Situated around the Tracy Ridge Campground, trails and loops cover a distance of 33.69 miles. Terrain varies from relatively gentle on top of the plateau between Route 321 and the campground to steeply dropping sections leading to the Allegheny Reservoir, with elevations from 2,245 feet on top of the plateau to 1,328 feet at the reservoir. The area is part of an Allegheny National Recreation Area that is one of the largest roadless sections of the Allegheny National Forest.

Anyone wishing to get involved with Allegheny Trail Crew should contact Karen Klos, phone (814) 484-7420 or e-mail su1sie@verizon.net .