DAMASCUS, Va. - Twenty-five members of the Emory & Henry College Men's Soccer Team joined Mt. Rogers Appalachian Trail Club members on Thursday, October 11 to build log steps on the Appalachian Trail near Beech Mtn. Rd. (Green Cove area). This project was part of National Public Lands Day.

Emory & Henry College is known for its commitment to community service. Groups of students can often be seen volunteering at many community agencies and organizations in Washington County.

National Public Lands Day, which began in 1994, is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands we value and enjoy. Volunteers plant trees and native vegetation, build and refurbish trails, remove trash and invasive plants, repair bridges, restore historic structures, monitor endangered species and restore habitats.

This annual event, coordinated by the National Environmental Education Foundation, is held at over 2000 sites across the country, including national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, grasslands and lakes, which are managed by public agencies, such as  the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, US Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, and state and local governments.

The Wasps worked cheerfully and enthusiastically, carrying logs and tools to the site, digging trenches to seat the logs, pounding in stakes to hold the logs in place, and carrying many bucketfuls of dirt to fill in so the steps would be smooth underfoot for hikers. A number of the students had not been on the Appalachian Trail before, but with the experience in building the log steps, they may become trail maintainers in the future. By hosting the project, the Trail Club qualifies for a grant from the Forest Service to upgrade sawyer safety equipment.

For more information on the Mt. Rogers Appalachian Trail Club, visit our website at www.mratc.org or email the club at mtrogersatc@gmail.com.

For more information about Public Lands Day, including reports on 2012 events across the nation, visit www.publiclandsday.org.

---MRATC---

release courtesy of Anne Maio, Mt. Rogers Appalachian Trail Club