Volunteers Bridge the Gap

F-Troop, News Releases

Deep in the Apalachicola National Forest south of Tallahassee, the Bradwell Bay Wilderness is a watery wonderland, an inland swamp where virgin pine and cypress stand proudly along a section of the Florida Trail that Backpacker magazine once called “one of the toughest hikes in America.” Draining Bradwell Bay, Monkey Creek flows into the wild and scenic Sopchoppy River. Five years ago, the creek rose and wiped out a crucial footbridge along the Florida Trail.

From November 9-19, Florida Trail Association (FTA) volunteers kick off a special effort to replace the old Monkey Creek Bridge with a new 80-foot-long free-spanning pedestrian bridge, the longest such bridge to be built along the 1,400-mile National Scenic Trail. “It’s taken a lot of planning and patience to get this bridge built,” said Bob Woods, Trail Crew Project Coordinator with FTA.

Working in close partnership with the USDA Forest Service, FTA is coordinating the final phase of the bridge replacement effort – building the new bridge – utilizing F-Troop, the FTA volunteer trail crew program. Launched in 2004, F-Troop brings together Florida Trail members from around the state and trail maintainers from around the country to offer hands-on training in complex trail skills. For this particular project, volunteers will first participate in a training class on cable rigging systems for back-country trail work. Large sections of the bridge will be lifted into the air and floated across the river with a grip-hoist and high-line.

“It’s all about getting outside, having fun and giving back to the trail I that enjoy hiking on; plus, it’s good exercise,“ said Jennifer Robertson, FSU graduate student and Florida Trail volunteer. The volunteers of F-Troop will be assisted by a seasonal FTA trail crew made up of volunteer interns from the Student Conservation Association.

For more information about this project, visit www.f-troop.org, or call 1-877-HIKE-FLA. F-Troop is an ongoing Florida Trail Association program that offers skills training and camaraderie in the outdoors while enabling volunteers to keep hiking trails open on your public resource—the Florida Trail, Florida’s own National Scenic Trail.

FTA Staff @ October 31, 2006