Back in the Woods with the BYCC

The Baxter Youth Conservation Corps made a triumphant return to trail work during the 2023 season. For the first time since 2019, we were able to field two trail crews for six weeks of full-time work in the Park during July and August. We welcomed six members for our southern crew based out of Millinocket and five members for our northern crew based out of Patten. Projects for the summer included:

• Cleaning water bars on the Chimney Pond Trail and South Turner Trail

• Installing 30 new step stones on the Katahdin Lake Trail

• Building 150 feet of new bog bridging at South Branch Pond

• Corridor definition work on the Horse Mountain Trail

• Building a retaining wall at the day-use area on Upper Togue Pond

Despite July being one of the rainiest months I can remember, it was an excellent and very productive summer. We donated nearly 1,800 hours of work to the Park this season.

Providing daily round-trip transportation for our crew members is key to the success of the program. After many years of renting vans for the BYCC, we purchased a seven-passenger van from Wiscasset Ford in June. In addition to significant financial and logistical benefits, this also made it possible for our college-age crew leaders, Emma and Mike, to be able to drive the van. This has been a game-changer for the program.

The application for summer 2024 is already open.