ArrowCorps5
Five Sites - Five Weeks - Five Thousand Arrowmen
Outstanding Service at George Washington and Jefferson National Forest Project!
The third week of ArrowCorps5 saw the completion of another
outstanding project, trail building and improvement in the George Washington and
Jefferson National Forests in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. As with the first
two ArrowCorps5 projects, the service exceeded expectations
and the participants had a great experience.
The Washington and Jefferson National Forest project was carried out from June
21 - 28. The weather was beautiful, allowing the 685 participants and staff to provide
more than 71,000 hours of service and to complete the priority list of projects.
Working with 51 US Forest Service employees, Arrowmen completed 8.2 miles of new
multi-use trail that can be used for hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, and equestrian
activities. They also repaired and improved miles of existing trail, constructed
and installed four information kiosks and 86 trail signs, and surveyed and constructed
six camping platforms and adjoining trails out of compacted pea gravel.
The week was not all work. Participants and staff had the option of white water
rafting the New River in West Virginia or touring the historical sites in the Lexington
area. ArrowCorps5 participants and staff were based at Goshen
Scout Reservation of the National Capital Area Council BSA. Water skiing, fly fishing,
mountain biking, and hiking were also available in camp.
Lake Merriweather and the beautiful mountains provided the backdrop for the closing
gathering on Friday night at Goshen Scout Reservation. Gloria Manning, Associate
Deputy Chief National Forest System, USFS, dropped in from Washington, D.C. to visit
the site on Friday. She was quite impressed with the work completed and had the
opportunity during the gathering to express her congratulations and thanks to the
participants and staff. Maureen Hyzer, Forest Supervisor for the George Washington
and Jefferson National Forests, announced the new multi-use trail would be known
as the "ArrowCorps5 Loop" and, to a rousing round of applause,
presented one of the new trail signs to Geoff Landau, Youth Incident Commander for
the project.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone involved in this, the third of the
ArrowCorps5 projects!
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