Letter from Jerry W. Davis, Ouachita NF, Arkansas

I deeply regret that the CTTT did not get the Take Pride
in America National Award. You are truly deserving. I
hope that there is some satisfaction in knowing that your
story is now out there for anyone to see. Your dedication
to volunteering in natural resource restoration is a
rarity and truly needs public recognition and hopefully
your unselfish example will be followed by others.

Consider updating your nomination and having it ready
for 2009.

Thank you.

Jerry W. Davis
Forest Wildlife Program Manager
Ouachita National Forest
PO Box 1270
Hot Springs, AR 71902-1270
501-321-5201 Voice

Trip Report – Nature Conservancy Davis Mountains Preserve

During April 2008, seven Central Texas Trail Tamers, three local volunteers and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Davis Mountain Stewardship Director worked together for four days building a new section of the Lympia Chute Trail. The Lympia Chute Trail is the main access trail to Mount Livermore (the fifth tallest mountain in Texas), which is located on TNC’s 32,000 acre Davis Mountains Preserve, about 25 miles west of Fort Davis, Texas. In total, the work crew completed approximately 600 feet of new trail through some difficult and challenging terrain. In addition, each day, the crew took a rough, 45 minute ride both to and from the trail head in a provided four wheel vehicle.

Before and after work, the crew enjoyed the relative comforts of the TNC’s Visitor Center and adjacent camping area. Meals were prepared by crew volunteers. The evening meals included lasagna, roasted duck, grilled pork chops, hamburgers and beef stew. Activities on Friday, included a hike to the back side of the preserve, a four wheel drive exploratory ride in the preserve, a tour of the McDonald Observatory, and a tour of the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens. Although the terrain was very dry, wildlife was abundant. In summary, the crew saw big horn sheep, turkey, mule deer, javelina, white tail deer, antelope, and elk.

Everyone worked hard, and still found time to relax, and enjoyed the fellowship that comes from getting to know other crew members. No one got hurt and returned home safely. This was another successful work trip.

CTTT Completes Davy Crockett National Forest Project

by Raymond Fore

President's Day weekend at Davy Crockett National Forest was successful again despite all the efforts of Mother Nature to derail us. Friday, February 15 was spent setting up camp and gathering the needed tools and supplies we'd need to complete the task. Except of the retagging of the Tall Pines Trail and the clean up and organizing of the supply yard/lumber yard, all the work we did during the work session took place in the Big Slough Wilderness area. The challenge in this work was doing it without the help of any type of powered tools OR wheeled vehicles. Four sections of the raised wooden foot bridge on the trail had been washed away in recent flooding.

The bridge crew, made up of Mike Rodgers, Terrence Donovan, Andy Zwarun, Pearlie Green(Forest Service), and myself, Ray Fore recovered the sections, re-established them, and added a cable hand rail. The tree crew, Chuck Lundsted, Raylene Welch, Bob Weglarz, Dwight Riley, and Vick Hines removed several very large trees that had fallen across the 4 C trail. They did this with the use of axes, 6 foot cross cut saws, several smaller saws, and a lot of grunting and groaning. As usual, the Forest Service thought it would take us at least two days to complete those two task. We did it in one and still had time to retag and clear the Tall Pines trail which goes around Ratcliff Lake.

After a night of violent thunder storms, we woke to a clear morning. The clearing and organizing the Forest Service's supply/lumber yard was a fall back task just in case we needed something else to do. While that was being done, two of us and the Forest Service personnel returned to the woods to take inventory of other bridges that needed attention. We identified at least two more days of work in bridge repair and trail clearing. This will be a task we'll take care of later in the year.

Six of us took a side trip Friday evening. We went to Crockett and ate at an excellent restaurant, "Tchoupitoulas". After supper we attended a concert at the Camp Street Cafe featuring Elena James. This fiddle player and singer plays for people like Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan. She was great and brought the house down with her rendition of "Orange Blossom Special".

Another successful weekend. It was good to meet new members, and visit with those members we haven't seen in some time.

Trip Report: 2007 Guadalupe Mountains National Park

During October 28 - November 3, 2007, the CTTT returned six volunteers to the highest mountains in Texas to volunteer at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The Trail Tamers worked drove from Austin to the Dog Canyon campground in the remote northern section of the park. Under direction of Jack Kincaid, the crew backpacked in to the Marcus campsite approximately 4 miles from Dog Canyon and set up camp.

The crew spent three hard days finishing the last section of a major re-route of the Bush Mountain Trail. As with any new trail construction, a lot of time was spent building the trail base and hauling dirt for the tread. The crew was able to enjoy hours crushing rocks and taking breaks by hauling dirt down the mountain.

Pictured left to right: Mike Rodgers, Wade Powell, Kevin Deiters, Devin Grobert, Allen Weber, and Bob Weglarz. Please note the nice new tread on the trail.

CTTT and Austin Parks Foundation Sign Agreement

Austin Parks Foundation (APF) executive director Charlie McCabe (left) and Trail Tamers president Pat Dixon (right) signed the agreements between the organizations to work together on trail building projects. Trail Tamers will provide crew leader oversight and technical assistance on these projects and APF will provide the promotion and volunteer resources. The agreement intends to help both organizations ease their administrative efforts and help achieve their missions. The first joint projects will be Oct 6 (Pease Park), Nov 17 (Country Club Creek) and Dec 1 (Red Bud Isle).