by Leanna Joyner, ATC Senior Director of Partnerships and Trail Operations
2024 Federal Land Managers Meeting Summary
The Green Mountain & Finger Lakes National Forests in Mendon, Vermont, hosted the Appalachian National Scenic Trail Federal Land Managers Meeting May 22-23, 2024. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy was honored to convene, in collaboration with NPS Appalachian Trail Park Office, this meeting to advance shared priorities in the collaborative management of the Trail.
Included in an overview of the Cooperative Management System (CMS), the framework of the system that provides flexibility in sharing of resources toward the common goal of caring for the A.T., updates that illustrate this work being played out across the Trail included in the Visitor Use Management Program and a USFS Southern Region Moldering Privy Guide Working Group.
In preparations for site visits to discuss the long-term sustainability of the Appalachian Trail, ANST Superintendent Ed Clark welcomed representatives from Senator Sanders’, Senator Welch’s, and Congresswoman Balint’s offices and thanked them for their support of GAOA and the Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF). Hawk Metheny from ATC led a discussion about the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF), which allocated $15 million through the GAOA to APPA for the Northeast region of the A.T. This funding is meant to address deferred maintenance and existing deficiencies on federal land.
The group discussed strategies to better enable Cooperative Management and support continuous improvement.
APPA Superintendent Ed Clark provided an update on the NPS Preliminary Planning Process (P3) on a potential revision to the 1981 Comprehensive Plan for the ANST. The P3 report recommends a General Management Plan for the lands ANST manages, as well as an update to the Comprehensive Plan for the ANST. Clark stated APPA’s commitment to having a collaborative process with partners if planning for a Comp Plan update moves forward
The ATC’s Director of Federal Policy, Brendan Mysliwiec presented background and information on the A.T. Centennial Act (ATCA) draft legislation to participants in attendance and fielded questions.
The consensus from attendees is that in-person federal land manager meetings would be most valuable if held annually, and participants shared that site visits to areas of management interest were especially helpful. APPA has indicated interest in seeing this meeting be held in a different geography annually.