Join team members to learn about their work at a special open session, Sunday May 13 at 2:00PM at the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail in Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park.
May 9, 2012 – The Access Fund-Jeep Conservation Team, a national non-profit dedicated to maintaining and preserving open climbing environments, will provide much needed enhancements to the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail at Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park in Silver Spring, Maryland this weekend. The group will work with the Mid-Atlantic Climbers to improve the public access points.
The weekend enhancements will wrap up with a special public open session on Sunday, May 13, at 2 PM where Access-Fund Jeep Conservation Team members will discuss their work at Northwest Branch Park as well as other sites around the United States. The session will be at Northwest Branch Park, located at 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20910 – immediately south of the strip mall where Trader Joe’s is located. More information can be found at http://midatlanticclimbers.org.
The Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park is part of a system of trails managed by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) Montgomery Parks, and is located alongside Northwest Branch, which is part of the Potomac River watershed. Because of its location on the fall line, the park has scenic waterfalls and enormous boulders that are reminiscent of mountainous areas. Frequent use of the park combined with its location in the middle of a heavily urbanized area, have caused erosion to park access points. The Access Fund-Jeep Conservation Team will be improving the trail near the public access point and parking lot by building stone steps and addressing other park needs.
The Conservation Team is the Access Fund’s newest stewardship program, in which two trail specialists travel the country ten months out of the year to help local climbers and volunteers maintain climbing areas. The team assesses climbing area conservation needs, works with local residents and community groups to address those needs, and provides training on planning and stewardship best practices to keep those areas healthy.
The sustained growth of climbing as an outdoor pursuit has put strain on popular climbing areas around the country. There are literally thousands of climbing areas in the United States, though the brunt of the impact occurs on several hundred of the most popular areas. As the sport continues to increase in popularity, unacceptable levels of impact could ultimately lead to partial or full closures. Many areas are in desperate need of expert trail building and multi-year stewardship plans. The Conservation Team was launched to meet this need.
“We are extremely excited and appreciative of the work that the Access Fund Team will be doing on this trail,” said Jim Corcoran, Trail Volunteer Coordinator for Montgomery Parks. “Trail renovation requires special skills and experience that is sometimes difficult to find in volunteers. It is this kind of contribution that enables Montgomery Parks to protect and preserve these amazing resources that are so cherished by the community.”
The Conservation Team is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Jeep® brand, as well as REI, Outdoor Research, CLIF Bar, MSR, and Thermarest. These companies have an outstanding commitment to supporting the grassroots conservation which protects climbing resources and access.
For more information about the Access Fund-Jeep Conservation Team, visit www.accessfund.org/ct.
About Access Fund
Having just celebrated its 20th anniversary, the Access Fund is the national advocacy organization that keeps climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment. The Access Fund supports and represents over 2.3 million climbers nationwide in all forms of climbing: rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, and bouldering. Five core programs support the mission on national and local levels: climbing management policy, stewardship and conservation, local support and mobilization, land acquisition and protection, and education. For more information visit www.accessfund.org.