EMPORIUM – During the first weekend in November, eight volunteers from the Keystone Trails Association (KTA) worked more than 96 hours to improve the Bucktail Path trail conditions in the Elk State Forest. The volunteers were Rick Ostheimer, Tony Robbins, Kevin Busko, Rick Hiemenz, Sam Fortna, Tom Bastian, Wanda Shirk and Ed Lawrence.
The volunteers first worked in the area near the Square Timber Wild Area. They ran the stand-behind brush mower and lopped behind the pipeline north to the elbow with the Square Timber Trail. They also removed blown down trees from the trail surface. They continued to work by installing five plastic markers to designate the trail’s location through a blueberry patch.
After that, the volunteers ran four brush-cutters, backed up by a crew of loppers and opened up this entire trail corridor through the laurel sections that were impinging on the Stillhouse to Ridge section of the trail.
Lastly, the crew worked on intensive lopping, including reopening a section that had become overgrown and getting it back on grade in the Rock Run Section of trail. They also worked some selective side hill, digging tread-way improvements on sections where the trail was slouching down the bank.
This group of volunteers will be back again next year to again assist with trail work. If you would like to volunteer on state forest lands, please call at 814-486-3353.