The average adult walks 10,000 steps a day. It may not seem like a lot, but over time that is 70,000 steps a week, 300,000 steps a month, and 3,650,000 steps a year. That’s a lot of shoes to go through in our lifetime, but an even greater amount of dirt that is moved around on the surface of the planet.

This means that walking paths are extremely important in conservation efforts. They allow us to experience nature without trampling endangered plants and animals and changing the landscape.

Over time, surfaces like trails can wear away, or if not done correctly can wash away. Recently, our crew had the opportunity to help restore trail in Byers Trailhead in Austin. Over the week, my crew put in two water bars, seven check steps, two drains and seven box steps. Each of these are important in keeping the trail maintained. Water bars and check steps help prevent water from washing away sediment. Drains allow water to move off the trail naturally, so the trail does not erode. Box steps help the trail decline at a lower grade, so hikers feel like they are walking down steps instead of running down the side of a mountain.

Working on this project was a lot of hard work, but a very rewarding experience to see the end product. The next time you have the chance to walk a trail, take a closer look at it. Even though a trail looks like it was naturally placed there, there was a lot of design behind the scenes in placing and forming it.

Learn about Conservation & Disaster crews

From May 6th to May 15th, our crew was hard at work in the Pine-forested utopias of The Angelina and Sabine National forests. Spring floods had left many of the recreational areas of the forests unusable and the summer camping season was fast approaching. Our primary overall task was to remove downed trees and trash from camping areas and thoroughly clean any campground structures.

Between rampant thunderstorms and driving rain, our crew ran chainsaws through countless tanks of fuel to buck the large pine trees littering campsites into pieces small enough to move. When enough timber was removed, we were able to come in with tractors, trimmers, and mowers to manicure each individual campsite. Over the eight days that we spent in the forests, we bounced back and forth between 4 of the major recreation areas and covered more than 500 miles on the road. All sites that we visited were opened to the public the day we left.

Weather played a major factor during this trip. Rain was a threat almost every day. Aside from the satisfaction of working to open public land that we all cared deeply about, this hitch was an unbelievable team building experience. Through all of the time spent dodging the rain, sliding through the mud, and sweating it out in the unbelievable humidity, we found solace in each other’s company. We returned to our Austin base exhausted, but as a smiling and cohesive unit ready to take on the rest of the season.

Learn about Conservation & Disaster crews

We’ve officially completed the first week of our second deployment to the Florida Panhandle. Though we are back in the same region, responding to the same disaster (Hurricane Michael), this deployment looks and feels like a different creature than the first.

To start out, we’re not staying in giant industrial government tents, but rather at the campus of a Christian retreat. Unsurprisingly, four walls and a ceiling, access to indoor showers and toilets, and actual beds to sleep in make a big difference for quality of life as compared to tents, porta-potties, and cots. Indeed, morale is high, and the mood is markedly different from that of the last deployment, and not just because we’re staying in an actual building (right next to a beautiful beach, I might add).

Nearly three months have passed since the initial impact of Hurricane Michael, one of the strongest storms to strike the continental United States in recorded history. The life-saving first-response period is over, and though there is still much need and many people waiting to be helped, the response in the so-called Forgotten Coast has now fully phased into medium and long-term recovery. Those with the greatest need have already been helped, and immediate threats to life have been addressed. These realities, coupled with the fact that the AmeriCorps Disaster Response Team (ADRT) Mission is slated to terminate at the end of the month, make for a more relaxed atmosphere. The pressure of responding during the first month of the hurricane’s landfall has subsided, and the knowledge that the mission will most likely not be extended means that we can focus on helping survivors without fear of overstretching ourselves or fatigue.

The nature of our work is also different. During the fist deployment our teams mainly ran saws, removing hazard trees and vegetative debris, as well as installed temporary blue roof tarps (Shout out to Tema’s Tarping Team). This time around, the greater need is for mucking and gutting flooded and moldy houses. This involves the nearly complete and systematic deconstruction of a house, removing furniture, household items, floors, carpets, ceilings, walls, cabinets, large appliances, and anything else that may have been damaged by the floodwaters or affected by mold. All this week we’ve been looking like zombie apocalypse survivors decked out in our Tyvek suits and p100 respirators.

The work is dirty, the days are long, but the mood is high, we’re happy to serve, and it seems like everyone is making the most of our second deployment.

Learn about Conservation & Disaster crews