CVATC Celebrates 25 Years On The Trail
The Cumberland Valley Appalachian Trail Club celebrated its 25th anniversary with a dinner on Friday, September 23, 2016. The event was held in the Banquet Room of the Holly Inn in Mount Holly Springs, PA. Over 40 club members and friends attended the event.
During the event, Club leaders recounted the history and major accomplishments during its first quarter century. CVATC was founded in 1991 to construct a new footpath for the Appalachian Trail in the Cumberland Valley. The A.T. had previously followed roads in the Valley since it was laid out in the 1930s.
Jim Foster, immediate past President of CVATC, described the decades long efforts to make the A.T. in the Valley into a true trail. Several possible routes were looked at, including one over abandoned rail rights of way. Eventually a consensus developed to use the "Ironstone Ridge" route, which takes the trail from Boiling Springs northward between Mechanicsburg and Carlisle and eventually climbing up Blue Mountain into Perry County and towards Duncannon. Two competing groups were organized, Citizens Against The New Trail, which opposed the reroute, and PRO-TRAIL, which advocated for the reroute. Several meetings were held to explain the plan, and these became quite contentious.
Craig Dunn, CVATC's longtime trailmaster and a founding Club member, discussed the early days and recalled several key leaders in PRO-TRAIL, including Dave Barr, Janice Slaybaugh and Clarence Fredlund. Karen Lutz, a founding Club member and director of the Mid-Atlantic Region office of Appalachian Trail Conservancy, recalled these early efforts. She said: "It's good to recall and document the tireless efforts of these volunteers. The Valley portion of the A.T. has become a highlight of the outdoors in Cumberland County, used by hundreds of thousands of people each year."
Foster continued with a summary of the Club's efforts since the new trail was laid out. These include the pedestrian walkway that carried the trail across the busy Bernheisel Bridge, the boardwalk that brings the trail over the swampy area next to the Conodoguinet Creek, and the underpass that avoids a dangerous road crossing at Route 944, Wertzville Road. An important project adjacent to the A.T. was the White Rocks purchase, which preserved from development over 800 acres of wilderness land along South Mountain. He said: " Looking back, it was controversial to re-route the trail from a road walk through the valley to a true trail experience. Some good friends of the Trail were disappointed. But, on balance, it seems clear that the re-route was a good move. We find that the vast majority of people now agree with the re-route. One thing I'm happy about is how cooperative some of the adjoining landowners have become. I think we've shown ourselves to be good neighbors."
All attendees received a special edition of CVATC News, the Club's newsletter. This special edition was a retrospective of the first 25 years, prepared by Rob Shaw and Jim Foster. HERE is a link to the special edition newsletter.
Attendees at the dinner included Cindy Dunn, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, John Norbeck, DCNR's Deputy Secretary for Parks and Forestry and Marci Mowrey, President of the Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation. Several founding members of CVATC attended, including Don Badorf, Craig Dunn, Karen Lutz, Leonard Tritt, Melanie Wertz and Carol Witzeman.
During the event, Club leaders recounted the history and major accomplishments during its first quarter century. CVATC was founded in 1991 to construct a new footpath for the Appalachian Trail in the Cumberland Valley. The A.T. had previously followed roads in the Valley since it was laid out in the 1930s.
Jim Foster, immediate past President of CVATC, described the decades long efforts to make the A.T. in the Valley into a true trail. Several possible routes were looked at, including one over abandoned rail rights of way. Eventually a consensus developed to use the "Ironstone Ridge" route, which takes the trail from Boiling Springs northward between Mechanicsburg and Carlisle and eventually climbing up Blue Mountain into Perry County and towards Duncannon. Two competing groups were organized, Citizens Against The New Trail, which opposed the reroute, and PRO-TRAIL, which advocated for the reroute. Several meetings were held to explain the plan, and these became quite contentious.
Craig Dunn, CVATC's longtime trailmaster and a founding Club member, discussed the early days and recalled several key leaders in PRO-TRAIL, including Dave Barr, Janice Slaybaugh and Clarence Fredlund. Karen Lutz, a founding Club member and director of the Mid-Atlantic Region office of Appalachian Trail Conservancy, recalled these early efforts. She said: "It's good to recall and document the tireless efforts of these volunteers. The Valley portion of the A.T. has become a highlight of the outdoors in Cumberland County, used by hundreds of thousands of people each year."
Foster continued with a summary of the Club's efforts since the new trail was laid out. These include the pedestrian walkway that carried the trail across the busy Bernheisel Bridge, the boardwalk that brings the trail over the swampy area next to the Conodoguinet Creek, and the underpass that avoids a dangerous road crossing at Route 944, Wertzville Road. An important project adjacent to the A.T. was the White Rocks purchase, which preserved from development over 800 acres of wilderness land along South Mountain. He said: " Looking back, it was controversial to re-route the trail from a road walk through the valley to a true trail experience. Some good friends of the Trail were disappointed. But, on balance, it seems clear that the re-route was a good move. We find that the vast majority of people now agree with the re-route. One thing I'm happy about is how cooperative some of the adjoining landowners have become. I think we've shown ourselves to be good neighbors."
All attendees received a special edition of CVATC News, the Club's newsletter. This special edition was a retrospective of the first 25 years, prepared by Rob Shaw and Jim Foster. HERE is a link to the special edition newsletter.
Attendees at the dinner included Cindy Dunn, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, John Norbeck, DCNR's Deputy Secretary for Parks and Forestry and Marci Mowrey, President of the Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation. Several founding members of CVATC attended, including Don Badorf, Craig Dunn, Karen Lutz, Leonard Tritt, Melanie Wertz and Carol Witzeman.