Clearing A Path
AmeriCorps Workers Developing Key Link To National Scenic Trail
MIDDLETOWN — AmeriCorps workers have begun improving one of Middletown’s most important trails under a project managed by the Connecticut Forest and Parks Association.
The trail head at Tynan Memorial Park on Higby Road serves as a connector to the 215-mile New England Scenic Trail that runs from Long Island Sound to the New Hampshire border.
A Mississippi-based AmeriCorps team of 10 workers began installing bog bridges Wednesday that will make the trail more accessible year-round where it is prone to flooding and washouts.
The trail runs through a swampy area with small streams, and is often impassable for all but the most hardy hikers.
Bog bridges installed as part of the project will elevate portions of the trail out of the mud and make the hiking route accessible to more people, said Al Sedor, a crew leader for the Connecticut Forest and Parks Association’s summer trail maintenance team.
The CFPA is hosting the AmeriCorps team for part of its month in Connecticut, and will guide the bog bridge installation.
Once the Tynan Park connector is more easily accessible, hikers can use it with virtually no limitation other than how far they’re willing to walk, said Brian Gartner, vice chairman of the city’s Commission on Conservation and Agriculture.
“So many residents in Middletown don’t know the natural spaces they have available to them,” Gartner said “They have no idea the amount of trails and the recreation opportunities that are potentially open.”
Driving up interest and awareness in the city’s natural resources and open spaces will allow local leaders to pursue additional preservation in the future, he said.
“It allows the residents of Middletown an entry point from one of their parks to one of the major trail systems in the Northeast,” Gartner said. “The more they get to see this land the more they’ll have a vested interest in it and the more they’ll have an interest in the further conservation of property.”
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro visited the team Wednesday morning in Middletown as they begin a round of projects in Connecticut that will also include work at Gillette Castle State Park. The National Civilian Community Corps program within AmeriCorps receives federal funding, and DeLauro said more attention is needed on the service programs to protect their budgets in the future. “This program has been level funded, but overall we have been able to increase the funding for the broad base of service corps programs,” DeLauro said. “We need you to speak out about the value of the programs.”
She said preserving access to the outdoors greatly improves the quality of life for Connecticut residents.
“When you look around, we’ve got some of the most beautiful, pastoral lands anywhere,” DeLauro said.
Organizations can apply to AmeriCorps to host program participants on projects that can range from four to 10 weeks. The group that arrived in Middletown this week recently finished an urban farming project in Providence, R.I., and other teams are doing disaster relief work, wildfire prevention, home building and a wide variety of other projects, said Tess Mason-Elder, of AmeriCorps.
Ashley Roberts, 24, of New York, said she’s been enjoying the work since the 10-month service commitment began in July. Workers aren’t required to come with any skills — they learn from on-thejob training, she said.
“When we do a project I just think about what the need is that we’re meeting,” Roberts said. “There’s just a feeling you have, that you’re doing a lot more than average, and it’s a really good feeling.”