Authored By: Will Fraser | Transportation Project Manager at Clean Air Council | September 9, 2024

The Circuit Trails Maintenance Committee held a workshop bringing together trail managers, volunteers and residents to learn about best practices in trail maintenance. Local, regional and national trail maintenance experts, including Friends of the Wissahickon, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Morris County Parks Commission, National Park Service and Appalachian Mountain Club, led the workshop attended by almost 40 people.

The full day workshop was split into a morning classroom session and afternoon hands-on field session. Three specific maintenance topics were identified by a regional trail manager survey prior to the workshop: volunteer management, stormwater management and vegetation management. Attendees learned basics on volunteer management, including recruiting, training and retaining volunteers, and how to set up a volunteer day from start to finish including a breakdown in the types of tools used for trail maintenance. Workshop attendees learned about identifying common native and invasive plants and how to properly remove invasive plants with gloves and shears provided to them as part of the workshop. Participants also gained an understanding of ways in which stormwater can affect trails and learned how to identify stormwater runoff erosion and different solutions to prevent stormwater damage.

In addition to the workshop offering education on specific trail maintenance topics, it also provided the opportunity for community members, trail managers and government and municipal partners to further connect on trail maintenance issues. Built-in breaks during the workshop allowed participants to discuss trail maintenance challenges and successes and share lessons learned from their experience while hearing from other attendees.

A big thanks to all of the speakers who brought their passion, skills, and expertise to the workshop. A special acknowledgement to Friends of the Wissahickon and Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society for helping plan and organize the workshop and to Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center for hosting.