FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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

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Dave Field's report on the 2011 workshops: Posted 2-13-12

2011 Corridor Monitoring Workshop, 4 June, Dave Field

Bill Geller, John Webster, Mike Davis, Ray Ronan, Rebecca Clark, Dennis Pednault and I met at the A.T. trailhead in Black Brook Notch.  After a brief tailgate discussion at the South Arm Road trailhead, we hiked up to the north rim of the Notch and left the A.T. footpath eastward looking for corridor monument 115-ME-3.  We located it after some floundering around and then walked the eastern boundary up towards Old Blue, ending the boundary walk at 115-ME-1 in heavy spruce-fir undergrowth and heading back to the A.T. footpath.  We took digital photos of all monuments and their surroundings.

2011 August Work Trip, 12-14, Dave Field

This was the Maine Appalachian Trail Club August Work Trip, but only seven people, all corridor monitors, showed up.  I arrived at 1:00 PM Friday the 12th and began to clean up the debris at the Surplus Pond cabin.  Stan and Michelle Moody arrived about 3:00 PM and we worked the rest of the afternoon, filling eight 40-gallon trash bags with cabin junk and extracting two box springs and other stuff from the loft.  Dennis Pednault joined us at 9:00 AM Saturday and the four of us cleared, re-blazed, and documented monuments along 1.2 miles of the west corridor boundary line and 0.3 of a mile along the east line.  Jonathan Ellis met us on the A.T. and worked on the east side.  In addition to clearing and blazing, we installed new “U.S. Boundary” signs so that one appears about every 300 feet along the line.  Dennis, Stan, and Michelle left Saturday evening, but Tony and Bob Barrett joined Jonathan and me on Sunday.  We cleared, blazed, signed, and documented the east line for 0.8 of a mile from the Burroughs Brook Road to monument 115-ME-15B, joining up with the work completed on Saturday just as a very lively thunderstorm hit is.  It made no sense trying to paint any more blazes, so we hiked back to Surplus Pond and finished up the afternoon cleaning out more of the cabin.  In total, we hauled out 10 40-gallon trash bags of paper, clothing, metal, plastic, fiberglass insulation, etc. and two twin box springs.

 

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.com

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.