With assistance from the National Forest Foundation’s Ski Conservation Fund, Friends of Pathways (FOP) just completed the construction of two separate-use trails in one of Jackson Hole’s most popular trailheads.

The Nelson Area/Putt-Putt trail project was implemented to mitigate user conflicts between bikers, hikers and horseback riders in this highly-traveled trail corridor next to the Town of Jackson. Approximately 100 volunteers, including 25 AmeriCorps members joined FOP and the Bridger-Teton National Forest on National Trails Day (June 6) to kick off this project. The team constructed close to a quarter-mile of the 1.5 mile trail project in one day!

A few days later, on his first visit to Wyoming, Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, visited the Nelson trail project. Flanked by FOP’s youth trail crew and members of the Montana Conservation Corps, Secretary Vilsack’s message about the importance of public stewardship and getting America’s youth engaged on our Forest lands was especially appreciated!

The last day of this trail project involved more than 40 volunteers from Operation Purple, a program that brings families from all uniformed services to beautiful outdoor locations to spend quality time reconnecting after a deployment. Thank you to the National Forest Foundation for funding this collaborative trail building project that utilized FOP’s youth trail crew and more than 150 volunteers to get the job done!