North Carolina USFS Proposes Bear-Resistant Food Container Requirement for A.T.

In mid-August, the US Forest Service announced that is seeking input on a proposal to require bear-resistant food containers for all overnight campers on the Appalachian Trail located in the North Carolina National Forests. The obligation would also be applied to the Panthertown Valley near Cashiers, NC. The backpacking public is encouraged to submit written comments by September 19, 2018 to comments-southern-north-carolina-nantahala-nantahala@fs.fed.us email address. Please reference “Bear-Resistant Food Container Requirement” in your subject.

Context for the need is that visitors to the NC National Forests have experienced an increasing number of black bears encounters involving food over the past few years. Most are at places where the public repeatedly camps in the general forest, such as along the A.T., rather than at campgrounds that are equipped with bear-proof trash cans. The incidents include bears taking food and backpacks, damaging tents, and staying near inhabited campsites for hours. While the loss of food is inconvenient for humans, the potentially serious encounters with bears needs to be addressed by eliminating human behaviors which lead bears to see people as a source of food. Secure storage for food and scented items (toothpaste, deodorant, beverages, or snacks) which is then placed away from the immediate camping location can help discourage this conduct.

Georgia National Forests already require the use of bear-resistant food containers when overnighting in a designated A.T. section during the spring months with a $5,000 fine per individual and $10,000 per organization. The proposal by North Carolina Forests is continuation of that approach as overnight use of the Appalachian Trail is typically dispersed.

North Carolina has not yet established a list of approved storage systems (would be part of the next phase once a decision is made to proceed). Here is a list certified by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.

Pro or con… now is the time to provide specific comments to determine if and how this policy proposal proceeds.

 

Kim Peters – August 2018 ATC Volunteer of the Month

Kim Peters is the ATC’s Volunteer of the Month for August 2018!

Kim has been an active TEHCC member for more than 18 years, and over time, has taken on more responsibility by providing trail maintenance leadership. In 2010, she began serving as TEHCC Maintenance Coordinator engaging many different volunteers, from new members to retirees, in various maintenance activities. TEHCC typically has more than 13,000 hours invested in the Appalachian Trail each year, by roughly 450 different volunteers, across regular outings and special events. Therefore, the role of volunteer coordinator is critical to our club’s success

A search of club newsletters reveals that Kim started out hiking with TEHCC on April 1, 2000 with a trip to the Sand Cave/White Rocks in Ewing, VA. Since then, her retirement has enabled her to spend more time in the outdoors through both hikes (TEHCC Hiker of the Year in 2001 and 2007) and trail maintenance. Kim has hiked the Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain to Harper’s Ferry. Over the years, she has logged personal maintenance time of nearly 5,000 hours over 600 events. Currently, Kim invests around 450 hours (~56 days!) each year; thus is the third most active TEHCC maintainer.

As Maintenance Coordinator, Kim recruits volunteers for our 36 trail sections and 15 shelters over 134 miles of the Appalachian Trail. She hosts a large winter meeting to kick off each new maintenance season with recognition, safety, and training. Inquiries from potential volunteers are matched with the weekly trail project crew, section groups, or a regular monthly outing. In 2012, Kim rebranded the third-Saturday events to “Hiking with Tools” to reach out to those who are new to maintenance, have a weekday job, or desire lighter tasks such as cleaning out waterbars, lopping rhododendron, breaking up fire rings, or painting blazes/shelters. This latter effort has been very successful in recruiting new maintainers of the Appalachian Trail.

The Tennessee Eastman Hiking & Canoeing Club sincerely thanks Kim for her service and leadership over the years. And congratulate her on being further recognized as ATC’s Volunteer of the Month for August 2018! Please contact Kim (atmaint@tehcc.org) if you’re interested in helping with the Appalachian Trail.