What is a tract and what is the A.T. corridor?
A tract is a unit of land that includes the Appalachian Trail within its boundary. One tract is connected to the next tract, and the next, and so on. The connected tracts define the A.T. corridor through Maine, from Katahdin to the Mahoosucs. The A.T. runs north-south inside the corridor boundary. Don't assume the corridor is always 1,000 feet wide. Tracts vary in size and width. NPS, BSP, BPL and others own the A.T. corridor in Maine. The Maine Appalachian Trail Club looks after the corridor lands and the trail.
Are corridor monitoring sections and trail maintenance sections the same?
When the A.T. corridor was laid out across Maine, the tract and corridor sections did not coincide with trail maintenance sections. Some MATC designated corridor monitoring sections nearly coincide with trail maintenance sections, others don't. This is why there are 70 corridor monitoring sections and 90 trail maintenance sections on the A.T. in Maine.
Is maintaining a section of trail the same as monitoring a section of corridor?
The two are very different jobs. Maintaining the A.T. is about assessing, planning and responding to conditions right on and immediately along the trail. The scope of trail maintenance is trail focused, period.
Monitoring is tract and corridor focused. Corridor monitors assess and respond to conditions beyond the immediate trail, all the way out to the boundary line of the corridor tract. It includes assessing activities that may be occurring just outside the corridor, or activities that may be intruding across the boundary line into the interior of the corridor.
Some examples are timber trespass, offroad vehicles, dumping, and other alterations of the tract from human activity. Changes in the natural environment from insects, disease, or forest fires can also be a part of the scope of corridor monitoring.
Can I be a corridor monitor, but
not maintain a section of trail?
Certainly. While some trail maintainers also monitor the immediate corridor, others don't. If corridor monitoring appeals to your interests, there are plenty of corridor monitoring sections along the A.T. in Maine that are available for your care and contribution.
Corridor Monitoring activity means contracting to:
- Get off the trail with map and compass and go out across the tract.
- Walk on out to the boundary lines of the corridor section.
- Look for signs of intrusion into the corridor tract.
- Walk the boundary lines more often when activity is occurring next door.
- Report incidents and your annual activity in a timely fashion.
- Revisit and check up when adjacent activities or corridor incidents occur.
- Communicate with your A.T. District Overseer and Overseer of Lands
Dave Field's report on the 2009 workshop:
On 20 June 2009, Geoff Shadman, Martha Graff, Michelle Curtain, Tony Barrett and Dave Field met near Sugarloaf Mt. on Route 27. This was the second corridor monitoring workshop of the spring. We drove into the AT trailhead on the Caribou Valley Road and located monuments along the road, then followed the boundary down to the South Branch of the Carrabassett River. The previous day's heavy rain had brought the river up to a level that was not attractive to cross, so we drove back to Route 27 and worked the boundary of National Park land between Route 27 and the Bigelow Preserve boundary.
All monuments located were digitally photographed. This was a productive workshop, but the recent heavy rains made for very wet conditions in the brush and underfoot. An unexpected event was our encounter with the construction of the new powerline connection that will bring energy from the Boundary Mountains (TransCanada) wind farm project to the substation next to Route 27. Cianbro crews were digging a ditch for the underground line past the northerly entrance to the AT parking lot that will extend along the road right-of-way through the AT corridor and under the road to the substation. The newly cleared powerline right-of-way along the AT corridor west of Route 27 comes right up to the boundary line but does not encroach on the corridor.
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Who do I contact to become an MATC Corridor Monitor?
David Field
MATC Overseer of Lands
191 Emerson Mill Road
Hampden, Maine 04444
Email: meeser3@roadrunner.net
For more on corridor monitoring, Dave says to read this "great article on the work that ATC surveyor Sally Naser has been doing in northern New England with her tiny boundary maintenance crew." The 929kb pdf file is from the latest issue of AT Journeys. It can be downloaded from the MATC site by using this url: Boundary Monitors Mahoosucs ATJ JanFeb2008.
To view or print a PDF (Portable Document Format) file, you need the Adobe Reader, version 5 or later, on your computer. If you don't already have it, you can download a free copy of the Reader from the Adobe Web site at Adobe Acrobat. Installation instructions are available from the Adobe website.
MATC Corridor Monitors walk the Trail and the corridor boundary lines looking for timber trespass, trash dumping, illegal motor vehicle crossings, and other encroachments that threaten the condition of corridor resources and reduce the quality of the AT experience. The surveyed boundary itself must be kept clearly visible so that neighboring landowners know where it is, and the regular inspection of boundary line monuments helps to protect against a need for very expensive re-surveys that could be required if monuments are lost.
