Erin- Cumberland- Day One

Sunday 13 Jan 2013:

Today was the first full day spent together; yesterday was just on the road. Things
are looking quite ominous for the week. There is a chance of precipitation through
Thursday, which isn’t the best thing to happen to a group that is supposed to be
working outside. So far, my group has stayed positive, but as a site leader I’m
getting slightly worried of what will happen if we get rained out of the job. Tony, the
Cumberland Trail Conference director, seems sure that we’ll find stuff to do if the
rain keeps us from working outside.

Today was interesting nonetheless. We had our orientation and learned all about
the history of the Cumberland Trail Conference and basics on trail building. We
watched a video that had been made about the trail and its history and then heard
a lot from Tony. The goal for the trail is for it to span 300 miles and reach from the
southern to northern edge of Tennessee. Currently there are about 150 miles of
segments through the proposed route. The biggest backing for building the trail
came in the 1970s and 1980s when the government was funding its creation to
create more scenic areas in Tennessee. There was much expansion of the trail
during this time. Unfortunately in the early ‘90s funding was cut and the work
was taken up completely by volunteers. This majorly slowed down the work and
actually reversed a lot of the work that had been done because there was no one to
maintain the trails. In the late ‘90s the Cumberland Trail Conference was founded to
privately continue the expansion of the trail with support of the state but no state
funding. Since then, mainly volunteers (like our group) have continued the trail
building with grant money and donations.

This is a very valiant effort and I am impressed with the perseverance that people
like Tony have had. They have fought for this trail when there wasn’t much going
in their favor. The trail not only gives people a chance to experience nature and
exercise but also is a conservation project because as the trail is built, the entire
span of the trail will be state owned and thus will decrease the amount of mining
and logging that has long gone on in that area. It will also protect endangered
species of the area. I am very excited to learn more about the project this week and
also learn more about those who are truly passionate about the work.