Missouri TRACS, Mark Twain National Forest

Though the Mark Twain National Forest is Missouri's only National Forest, it spans 11 geographically distinct units and encompasses 1.5 million acres of central and southern Missouri, largely within the Ozark Highlands. Seven federally designated Wilderness areas lie within the Forest's boundaries.

Once nearly logged in entirety to provide railroad ties for an expanding nation, the area has rebounded under careful stewardship to a fully functioning and healthful ecosystem.

Through the SCA's partnership with the Forest, the crew will be utilizing advanced electronic programs in combination with conventional measurement methods, to provide detailed trail survey data to each District for analysis. These surveys will help to determine the costs of future trail projects, identify the urgency of trail maintenance, and will influence the allocation of project funding for years to come.

The crew will begin survey work in the Eleven Point Ranger District, and will travel to other Districts within southern Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest through November.

TRACS is an acronym for TRail Assessment And Conditions Surveys