Blazing Trails & Planting Trees on Pine Mountain

by Mequeil Huggar
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps Coast 4 Team

AmeriCorps NCCC Coast 4 team spent their last round in Harlan, Kentucky helping out Pine Mountain Settlement School and Kentucky Natural Lands Trust. The team Coast 4 is made of 8 members all from different parts of the United States ranging from California all the way to Florida. Coast 4 spent their remaining 5 weeks in Kentucky trail blazing, doing trail maintenance, building fire breaks, and water bars. While lodging at Pine Mountain Settlement School, the team worked with the maintenance staff where they spent most of their time moving bunk beds, cleaning up cabins, moving wood, assisting in controlled fires for unwanted brush, and learning sign language from one of the Pine Mountain staff members. The remaining two and a half weeks they worked with Kentucky Natural Lands Trust doing trail maintenance and planting trees in Blanton Forest. They also did some trail blazing in Cumberland. For the rest of the time, they worked on cleaning up a cabin where we built a fire break, got rid of an old satellite dish, and burned brush. Coast 4 has enjoyed their time in Kentucky because the people appreciate the wilderness and are working to save the forest and endangered species.

Planting trees
NCCC Coast 4 team