The goal of the SCA/USFWS Trails Inventory program is to provide the Fish and Wildlife Service with a comprehensive and accurate inventory of all trails on USFWS sites across the country. This is certainly an ambitious project as there are over 600 USFWS sites nationwide. This project will take us to every corner of the country, to high mountains and low deserts through bayous and fjords. We are all extremely excited for this opportunity as it provides the chance to perform an important service to the USFWS, expand our own knowledge and expertise, and experience many different parts of the country for the first time.
Hitch 4- Northeast
Spending a hitch in the northeast was a nice blend of tranquility in the outdoors and seeing the hustle and bustle of the big city. Team Charlie, composed of Letha and Mike, worked in nine wildlife refuges in five states. We flew into Boston and maneuvered our way out of the city toward Rhode Island, excitedly admiring Bostonian’s unique usage of the shoulder as a lane.
We began our work in southern Rhode Island and headed west along the coast to Connecticut. Inventorying trails at Stewart B. Mckinney was particularly exciting as we were taken out on a boat to several refuge islands. One trail took us through the heart of a Tern nest, which required dodging dive-bombing and defecating terns keen on warding us away from their young.
After our adventures on the coast, we swapped landscapes for New York City – a first trip to the Big Apple for Letha. After a fun weekend of exploring Manhattan, we took a ferryboat ride to Long Island to continue our trail work. Working our way west took us through New Jersey and into western New York, where we spent considerable time along Lake Ontario. Before leaving New York to go to another refuge, we took a short trip to Niagara Falls, viewing the impressive landscape from both the American and Canadian side.
The hitch concluded with our last refuge in Pennsylvania, before flying out of Cleveland. With coastal views of the Atlantic Ocean, sunsets on the Great Lakes, walking across to Canada to see Niagara Falls and taking in a myriad of NYC experiences, for two native west-coasters it was a hitch to remember out east,
