The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and UNM Wild are teaming up on behalf of the Manzano Mountains trail system, and GET'ers are invited to participate!

Come join the inaugural trail maintenance effort on March 27 as part of a volunteer crew that will work the area along the Crest Trail burned in the Trigo Fire a few years back. The work on this day will be mostly “brushing”– cutting back the dense locust and oak trees that resprouted after the Trigo fires. This labor will improve access to these gorgeous trails and allow further trail work–retreading, re-routing and erosion control and water structures– to be contemplated.

A link to the event is on the Wilderness Alliance calendar here:
http://www.nmwild.org/events/manzano-mountains-trail-restoration-with-unm-wild/

There's a link to register which costs a nominal fee to cover the lunch and snacks provided (fee waived in cases of hardship).

Please RSVP to John Kavanaugh, UNM Wilderness Alliance president, at unmforwilderness@...

This would be a fantastic opportunity for area GET'ers (perhaps with some prior experience with brushing work) to help maintain the trails in the "extended backyard" of central New Mexico. And of course these efforts will also help improve the greater GET experience as well, so it's a win-win.

Additional events are planned for later in the spring and beyond. This is all great news, as the Manzanos are a spectacular range and the Crest Trail which runs nearly its entire length is an incredible resource much deserving of preservation. Here's some additional background (through the grapevine) on the positive changes currently afoot on the forest:

I guess this is the first time in quite a while the Sandia/Manzano Ranger District has had a dedicated management-level trails staff. So hopefully, this is just the first step towards an ongoing volunteer program in the Manzanos- and Sandias.
I think it would benefit anyone who is interested in taking part in such a program to come to one of the workdays, hopefully meet Kerry, the FS trails staffer, and also the UNM Wilderness Alliance leaders who are hoping to "adopt" the north Manzanos.The plan is to do mostly brushing on the crest trail in that burned-over area between Capilla Peak and Spruce Springs.
There will be a strong contingent from the UNM wilderness group. They're in the process of adopting the northern reaches of the Manzanos for trail work and other priority tasks id'ed by the forest service. 

Happy brushing, and many thanks to NMWA, UNM Wild, and the "Mountainaires" volunteer group for inviting us along!

- Brett Tucker