{"id":2737,"date":"2020-07-08T00:26:58","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T00:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/?p=2737"},"modified":"2020-10-04T00:28:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-04T00:28:36","slug":"federal-lands-access-grant-used-to-improve-pondicherry-rail-trail-whitefield-jefferson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/federal-lands-access-grant-used-to-improve-pondicherry-rail-trail-whitefield-jefferson\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Lands Access Grant used to improve Pondicherry Rail Trail, Whitefield – Jefferson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.conwaydailysun.com\/berlin_sun\/news\/local\/part-of-presidential-rail-trail-to-get-crushed-stone-surface\/article_f50b6b5a-bcd1-11ea-980f-d7df81596c3a.html<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Part of Presidential Rail Trail to get crushed stone surface.<\/p>\n

Marty Basch
\nJul 8, 2020<\/p>\n

A western portion of the Presidential Rail Trail in the beloved Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge is undergoing restoration that when complete will see a crushed stone surface. \u00a0The slice of the trail in Whitefield and Jefferson, well-frequented by bikers, birders and walkers, will also see work that includes better drainage and culverts, trailhead improvements on Airport Road and Route 115A and the installation of four Beaver Deceivers designed to prevent beavers from blocking culverts and flooding the trail which happens repeatedly. \u00a0According to Friends of Pondicherry Volunteer Coordinator David Govatski of Jefferson, restoration on the Pondicherry Rail Trail, which is a portion of both the Presidential Rail Trail and the Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail, started June 1.<\/p>\n

Most of the work is expected to be completed by the end of July. \u00a0Signs are posted warning of construction and people can still use the trail after getting the OK from the excavator operator. \u00a0 The socially distant work is done on weekdays. \u00a0He says the Pondicherry Rail Trail is 1.6 miles long from Whitefield\u2019s Airport Road to Cherry Pond in Jefferson and is part of the longer Presidential Rail Trail that goes to Gorham. \u00a0\u201cThe two rail trails were acquired at different times, hence the name difference, but for practical purposes is just a section of the PRT,\u201d he wrote during email exchanges. \u00a0 \u201cThe entire length of restoration work is that first 1.6 miles to Cherry Pond, then 2.4 miles to Route 115A in Jefferson.\u201d \u00a0The work coincides with the 150th anniversary of the John\u2019s River Logging Railroad built in 1870 and considered to be the first in the White Mountains. \u00a0\u201cThis logging railroad reached Cherry Pond from Whitefield in 1870, and we are now working on this historic section of early railroad,\u201d said the retired forester. \u00a0 \u201cThis logging railroad later became the Whitefield and Jefferson Railroad, and finally the Boston and Maine Railroad.\u201d \u00a0According to Govatski, one of the most important parts of the work being done by the New Hampshire Bureau of Trails with funding provided by a federal program is putting a crown on the finished trail surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis allows the water to run off to the sides, where the restored drainage ditches, and new culverts will remove the water and prevent puddling. \u00a0 The crown is almost imperceptible but is a vital feature of trails or roads,\u201d he says. \u00a0The ledge pack surface is three-eighth-inch crushed rock. \u00a0The depth will be 4 inches with a width of 8 feet. \u00a0\u201cIt makes for a great bicycle riding, walking and wheelchair surfacing material,\u201d he says. \u00a0Not bad for driveways, too. \u00a0The construction also includes improvements to a 40-foot side trail leading to a temporary overlook created on land owned by the town of Whitefield in 2018 that includes a northwest view to the Mount Washington Regional Airport. \u00a0 After receiving complaints about the unsightly clearcut, Govatski installed a bench built by Whitefield volunteer Dick Mallion. \u00a0Now that a culvert and fill\u2019s in, no one\u2019s complaining, and birders have seen a mourning warbler, uncommon to such habitat. \u201cThis view will last maybe 10 years, and I expect that we will hear complaints about not keeping the view open,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0The trail work is being funded with the help of $105,000 from the Federal Land Access Program. \u00a0Govatski says this is a specially designated fund that provides funding to state, county, city or towns to access federal public lands. \u00a0The program requires a match of 20 percent that came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.\u201c \u00a0Each state and territory gets a separate amount of money,\u201d he wrote. \u00a0 \u201cSo in this case, the federal land was the Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge, administered by the Silvio ConteNational Fish and Wildlife Refuge, a unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The work is being expertly done by a crew from the N.H. Trails Bureau, that is part of the N.H. Department of Cultural and Natural Resources. \u00a0\u201dThe beaver deceivers, essentially a fence and pipe system, are installed by Skip Lisle of Beaver Deceivers International of Grafton, Vt., who has studied beavers for over 30 years. \u00a0\u201cWe all know how beavers can block culverts and flood roads,\u201d Govatski wrote. \u201cRoads crew spend a lot of time and money on reopening blocked culverts. \u00a0Using these devices prevents beavers from blocking the culverts and allows the beavers to remain in the wetland. \u00a0The usual alternative is killing the beavers, and most of us like beavers alive.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.conwaydailysun.com\/berlin_sun\/news\/local\/part-of-presidential-rail-trail-to-get-crushed-stone-surface\/article_f50b6b5a-bcd1-11ea-980f-d7df81596c3a.html   Part of Presidential Rail Trail to get crushed stone surface. Marty Basch Jul 8, 2020 A western portion of the Presidential Rail Trail in the beloved Pondicherry…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-grants","8":"category-trail-updates"},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2737"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2743,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2737\/revisions\/2743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nhrtc.org\/nhrtc-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}