Support the West River Trail

West River Trail Marina Trailhead As 2018 draws to a close, we invite you to include the Friends of the West River Trail in your year-end giving.

At a recent meeting of the Lower Section Steering Committee, we paused to take stock of all that has been accomplished this year and acknowledge how good we are feeling about the trail. The trail is in great shape, largely because of generous donations received from all of you.

With these funds, we were able to hire Jason Evans Excavation, this fall, to do major repairs to the large, deep washouts on the trail access from Fox Farm Road. He also fixed some smaller washouts along the trail under the power lines and added gravel to widen and improve the trail surface there.

Other accomplishments in 2018:

Two productive volunteer trail work days in the spring and the fall.
Recent receipt of a permit from the Town of Dummerston to reconstruct the kiosk at the Rice Farm Road trail head. The kiosk will be set in place next spring.
With funds from a USDA grant, we hired Long View Forest to treat the invasives on the Riverstone Preserve this fall. 90% of the buckthorn, barberry, multi-flora rose, oriental bittersweet and japanese knotweed was eradicated. The black swallow wort will be treated next spring/summer and we will receive more USDA funds to do follow up treatment in 2020.
Jeff Nugent, of the Windham Regional Commission, updated the trail map, which will be found at the trail heads and around the community soon. (Printing generously donated by C&S Wholesale Grocers).

Your year-end gift will help us to continue our work on:

Repair and maintenance of the trail surface and drainage culverts
Control of invasive species in the Riverstone Preserve
Protection of rare and endangered species along the trail
Extension of the trail to the downtown Brattleboro railroad station, and south from there to the old railroad bridge that connects to a large network of New Hampshire trails
Potential acquisition of additional land adjacent to the trail
Creating and printing a map of the Riverstone Preserve Trails
Promotion of trail usage through distribution of maps as well as through our website and Facebook page
Amenities, such as benches along the trail, a picnic table near the I-91 bridge, and a shelter on the Riverstone Preserve

If you have not visited the trail recently, please do! The trail is seeing more and more usage, year-round, by hikers, runners, cyclists, skiers and snowshoers.

If you love the West River Trail and want to see it continue to be protected, improved and even extended, please support the Friends of the West River Trail with a generous donation. Click here to make a secure online donation. If you prefer to donate by check, please feel free to contact us at:
West River Trail, Lower Section, 138 Elliot St, Suite 3, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301.

Thank you!

With all best wishes,

FRIENDS OF THE WEST RIVER TRAIL

Lower Section steering committee: