AmeriCorps members reroute damaged trails at two North Dakota state parks and recreation areas
Nov. 7—ARVILLA, N.D. — In time for winter activities like snowshoeing and skiing, two North Dakota parks and recreation areas have reopened trails damaged by spring flooding with the help of AmeriCorps.
In October, members of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps from Vinton, Iowa, undertook projects at Turtle River State Park, near Arvilla, North Dakota, and the Pembina Gorge State Recreation Area, near Langdon, North Dakota, to reroute trails damaged by spring flooding.
Though the trails were closed throughout the summer, work from AmeriCorps members, under the direction of North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department staff, allows the trails to be open for recreational activities this winter and ready right away for next spring and summer, said Anton Hillig, NDPRD recreation division chief.
"Could we have done this project without AmeriCorps? Not in the time frame that we would have wanted to," he said.
Sarah Rankin, trails administrator for NDPRD, said NDPRD was already applying for an AmeriCorps crew to help repair trails at the parks, but because of the flood damage, work at the parks became a disaster relief project.
"That actually helped us to be able to be put on as a higher priority for getting a crew," said Rankin.
Of the two locations, Turtle River State Park, about 20 miles west of Grand Forks, had more extensive damage to its trail systems from the wet spring, said Rankin. During the spring, the Turtle River rose three times due to rain and runoff.
"Each time we had quite a bit of erosion," said Larry Hagen, park manager at Turtle River State Park. "Well, after the third time, the erosion turned into pretty good substantial damage."
Sections of the Moosehead and Keystone trails were destroyed and other areas of the park were also heavily eroded, said Hagen. Originally, the trails ran alongside the river, but the hillside had been changed so much by the water that trails had to be rerouted.
AmeriCorps members rerouted the trails, used for hiking, biking and snowshoeing, further away from the river.
"In short order — we were only able to have them here for two weeks — we were able to get quite a bit of work done," said Hagen.
The trails at Turtle River State Park reopened on Oct. 19.
After finishing work at Turtle River State Park, the AmeriCorps crew completed similar work at the Pembina Gorge State Recreation Area, which has more than 30 miles of trails. AmeriCorps members rerouted a section of the recreation area's Lady Slipper Loop, which had been partially closed for a few years due to erosion.
"We were able to reroute it so that we could have a complete loop again," said Rankin.
AmeriCorps members also helped install two backcountry campsite shelters along the recreation area's Whitetail Alley trail, which is a multi-use trail for four wheeling, hiking and biking. The shelters were built by the Bismarck State College carpentry program.
