[Volunteers_fosm] Trail Work Report For Monday, February 17, 2020 - Special Public Service Project

[Robert Lowder via Volunteers_fosm]


Hello Everyone:

On Monday, February 17, 2020 the FOSM Trails Maintenance Crew did something a bit different. While the nature of the work was the same, the project location was new. The trail work was done to assist the staff at the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center in preparing their trail system for the summer season.

As many of you may know, the center is a joint operation of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and the Albuquerque Public Schools. The USFS serves as a sponsor. The main focus is on providing a Sandia Mountain experience and interpretive education activities for fifth grade APS students. More information about the center can be found at www.nmnaturalhistory.org<http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org> Click on the "Education" link there for center information.

Center Director Paul Mauermann recently sent out an email to the Center staff and volunteers asking for help in clearing the Center's trail system. FOSM member Ken Nicholson is also an active volunteer at the Center. His wife Rav, who is a member of our Monday crew, suggested to Ken that this might be a good project our group. Paul was contacted and he welcomed our help, so the hike was scheduled. Their trail system is located both on the Center property and on trails in the USFS Sandia Mountain Wilderness.

Ken is familiar with the center trail system and served as a guide for this project. Due to possible work in the wilderness, the crew used crosscut saws and other hand tools for this project. The Center staff provided the crew with information pertaining to the location of known problem trees on their trails. The crew removed a total of nine fallen or hung-up trees ranging in size from two to ten inches in diameter from the Center trails. The trees were either those reported by the Center or ones the crew discovered. These trees were either blocking the trail, protruding into it or otherwise posing a danger to users. Also, where deemed appropriate, smaller branches protruding into the trails were pruned back.

The day was sunny with a light breeze. Trail conditions varied widely from dry to "first tracks" snow in the four to five inch deep range in shaded canyons. As the day went on, melting, slushy snow resulted in mud in many spots.

Yesterday's crew consisted of Byron Garner, Jim Levesque, David McCreery, Sim Cook, Ken Nicholson, Rav Nicholson and Bob Lowder.

Please see attached Word Document for photos and additional narrative. All photos by Bob Lowder.

Bob L.

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