THE NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL BT,AZER

North CountrY TraiI AssociationP.0. Box lll

White Cloud, Michigan t+n49

Winter IgBI-82 No. 1VoI. 1

Nqtionai ParI Service

We're indeed' fortunate tohave the splendid efforts ofRobert P. (goU) Mar!in, Chief,DiviEion of Rivers & Trails ofthe Midwest Region of the Nat-ional Park Service, to Push theimplementation of the GeneralManagement PIan, that is-re-quired bY federal l-aw. Bob, a.ieteran of over twentY Years offederal servj-ce, is lO0% behindthe work to get the North Coun-try Trail, on the ground , 4ssoon as Possible.

AlreadY, he. has held NPS

WorkshoPs for the North CountrYTrail in wiicfriEah, Pennsylvaniaand Ohio, al-l this since lastil;";t:-'aaaitionally, he has -rt'WorkshoP meetings Planned fot,'New York, Minnesota and a PoS-

=itt" upper Peninsula (wtictrigan)and Wisconsin get-together.

Bob has been working withand has been interested in theNorth CountrY Trail since theoriginal idea for the trailwas concerved tn 1965. Al-so ,

he serves on the NCTA Ad'visorYBoard. We're Proud to beworking codPerativelY with Boband the NPS.

MembershiP GoaI Set

At the NCTA Board of Directorsmeeting, last August 29th, it WhiteCIoud,-Mi-chigan, the Board Passedthe motj-on to shoot for a goal of.3,246 members. This is the Prg-iosed mileage of the entire NCT

and is a realistic and needed goalto help make the NCI trail a re-ality

In order to achieve this goal,we']1 need every member to get atleast one new member, as soon aspossible.

l,et's Push as hard as Possi-

build. the mightY North CountrYTrai}.

I

Our Primarv Need

Many PeoPle wrj-te us and s&$:.they would like to helP. Well ourmosl important immediate task isto get our headquarters buildingin usable shaPe.

We were given an old schoolhouse in White Cl-oud, Michigan,'but much work needs to be done tomake it useful for both our nat-ionaf headquarters and a hiker's/biker's hostel.

(Ui;n.-) Y-j,.e'5ni:t t'st,rr;Q.h, known'l,o us as "9 i,I't-L-ty" , )tat:l clorre a 'Lro -rnerrdous iob on 'Uhe 5u j.:l.rl i.ng rlo filr.She has rvorked al-rnost a.l.one i.n get-ting the ba.r:ernent and foundilbion lnn1ace. liu.ndreds of iroui's of workand lvorcy ilas been given rrnsef{li-sh-}y and we o1'/e her a ::'cal dallt o.fsincere gr:a'Li'tude.

Thank Vou, GinnYl

The basemcnt j.s an .i.tnpot'"Lirrrtfirst s'Lep in a l-ong ]ist ofneeds. The electricity, thc lvir.'Lcrsu.pply, i.nsulat j.on, etc . need yetto be done.

We need. money: $ I bJe'renot abashed to ask You oPenlY togive to helP us finish uP thebuil-ding. Please helP us.

Next, we need lqdlff-dgal"s andgroups to contact Ginny to volunteerto rvork on the building. There's somuch that needs to be done that shecan use the heIP

Contact V Aeinie W::S-AX, Rt . 4 ,

2?Bo Mundy Ave. , .!tlhl!e _Cloud, _Mf4%t+9. Pirone: '(6te) 6ag-6826.P1ease do it now'.

IVIeet ths NCTA Board

The duly elected officerswere elected at the first NCTABoard meeting in Mareh of 1980.The current NCTA Board of Dir-ectors is as folJows:

T,ance FeildPresidentP.0. Box 85Lincoln Center, ME(zo7) zgq-eo6z

04458

Vireinia WunschVice PresidentRt. 4 2?Bo Mundy Ave.White Cloud, MI 49349(6te) 6eg-6826

2

Kenne.'l,h tlrrr:kIcrI\iiL.L j.on;r.1. 'lrcrrrjuL.t: f,lIB

",{. Jrljrn:;r.rn SL.u

C a.}e<L;nia , IVII 4'n1.6(fie) 8%--1)56

Ji21\\'f0IlCO fr.'[:CIn&i]SkiP.O. Br.rx..l-Ol-l+l+Lans i.ns , MI 4890]( 5t?) 5gt+-52 s6

l)r. illi.rno't)ry B. KtroPP1.))5) i\'lidlrrnd l{i.l-l-s Rd.ilosevi.l .1.e, I\'iN 5fl.Lj(6tz) 636rz\4

Dr . ,Jarrne s; lil . ShlnerT.2 I'lorrnal Ave.Sti.ppery Rock, PA ).605?(412) ?94-8485

Thornas B. Harding, Jr1340 B j-afore Ave.Bethlehem, PA 18017(2L5) 865-%46

Dr. John G. Hipps0rchard Hill Farm ForestMarienville, PA l6n9(Br4) 92?-6685( Br4) 92? -8$6

llti .

Dr. Garth S. McHattie13?60 l-B Mite Rd. 'Rodney, MI 4%42( 615 )

" 86? i3B2- ' 1'';

Dr. Robert HoferR.D. I, Box 248Chazy, NY L292L(Sre) Btt'5-??t6(Representing ADK)

Barbara G. RisingMetropolitan Detroit AYH

3024 Cool-idge- Berkley, MI 4Bo7Z(:t:) 545-o5tL

Directors have been and arebeing added, at the discretion ofthe Board, in order to have r€P1'q-sentation of all- the states invoLvedand interested outdoors organiza-tions.

,l

From Here [' There

Croivn Point, NY, the easternterminus of the NCT is inaccess-ibl-e by public transPor-bation. Tlie Finger Lakes Trail, main-tained and built bY t)re I'ingerLakes Trail Conference, is over100 miles long and hoPefullYwill becorne Part of the NCT. There's 93.2 mj.les of the NCTcompleted in 'i;he .Al1.eghenYNational Forest (fa1 and pre-sently maj.ntained bY an activetrails club in PA Bill_Slfi::Cf and Jolu $.ipPg are lead-ing the lray to comPlete the 100miles in PA Yet to be finished

The Buckeye Trail Association(0H) totally cooperative inhelping vrith the NCf in Ohio. ir{ichigan has over }00 miles oftrail completed (presently caLledthe North CountrY Trail) rvhichrvill hopefutlY be incorPoratedinto the NCT; sPlendid cooPerativeefforts by the Forest Service andvolunteer P>rouPS, such as the AYH,the NCHA, the Michigan Trail-finders, etc . . ' Vlisconsin hadthe first segment of the NCT,dedicated.in l-96? by GavlordNelson, in Iron CountY .

Ivlinnesota plans Progressingrthile progress is slow in NorthDakotar 3s Yet.

I

. NCTA - NPS

Via Bob t"lartin and the NPS,your NCTA-wiIl serve as the coordi-nating group for the private sectorfor the-North CountrY Trai]. Thismeans we will vrork cooPerativelYwith all- trails clubs and other out-doors non-profit groups, toward theend of develoPing anfl maintainingthe mighty 3,200 mile NCT acrossNorthein America. We are especiallyproud, but it is also an awesomeiesponsibility whieh we do not take1iglt1Y.

"

3

Ilrg Fe::lls-vlvankr tiCT -idprk-Elra-p

Board. member Dr. "Bi]I" Shirrerof Slippery Rock Siate College gidan outitanding iob of coordinatingthe North Coun'try National ScenicTrai] i'Iorks;hop in cooperation with'che Natiorral Park Service' Dr.!!r-iner and Dr. John HiPtrs, bothgoara members from PA, are begin-ning to get things moving in theirstate on the NCT. There's 100miles to go j.n PA before ihe PAsegrnent of the NCT is completed. i

Lu!-]j.cej jprrs

The NCTA has numerous inexPen-sive puhlj.cations avaitable to bothour menr6ership and the .public. Toour members, of course , there is,, adiscount on almost aII. The NCT

schernat j-c maps and'route itinerariesare all lgtllelive, 'depending uponthe trait tocation (actuat drailtread) ttrat the National Park Ser-vice decides orlr in conjunctionwith the public via the NPS - NCT.V'lorkshops.

The publications, in manycases ' \{ere those used very suc-,cessfully by the InternationalBhckpackers Association for overseven years

Avail yourself of these rooit:''Iets, pamphlets, maPS and books andknow all profit goes to Your NCTA.

For a publications list, *"itu,enclosing a self-addressed envelope,to NCTA, P.0. Box'I00, LincolnCenter, I\m 04458.

A FirstBeing aware that a news-

letter is a real necessity tokeep in contact with the member-ship, the NCTA Board unanimouslywere in favor of getting oursstarted. Here's our humblebeginning.

We're seeking articles fromour members, too, on sections ofthe NCT, photos (blactc & white),unusual happenings, very scenicareas, geologically irnportantspots, interesting side trips, etc.

let's hear from aII you finepeople

Also, we're seeking'a volun-teer editor for The NCT TrailBlazer. If you've had somewriting experience and wouldlike to take on,this worthY Pro-ject - we need you.

Write: NCT Trail Blazer,P.0. Box 100, Lincoln Center,Maine ol+l+58.

Two Congressmen on Advisorv. Board

U.S. Representative G.William Whit6hurst (ve1, iltro-duced and. supported The NorthCountry Trail bi)-l in Congressand U.S. Senator William S. Cohendid like in the U.S. Senate.Both of these gentlemen now serveon the NCTA Advisory Board.

Additionally, former U.S.Senator Gaylord Nelson (WI), nowwith the Wilderness Society, alsoserves on the Advisory Board.Nelson was the man who originallYintroduced the National Trailsbill in 1958, which became 1aw anddesigpated the first segment everto be cal1ed the North Country _Trai1, in Wisconsin, in 1967.

t+

NCTA President Receives Award

Recently the lnternationalWildlife Foundation awarded LanceFeild, its annual award for out-standing service in the area ofconservation. The attard reads,"Proudly presents their MeritoriousConservation Award to Lance Feildfor protection of silent trails andwilderness".

We are all proud to have ourNCTA President recognized national-,1y for his years of service to theoutdoors way of life.

0f Peop1e, Trail and Potpgumi'l

olive Anderson of I]linois"i,one of our members, is working ona NCT trail guide for a sectionr.inthe Upper Peninsula of Michigan,;';. . Dr. John Hipps, Orchard HiIlFarm Forest Rd., MarienviLle, PAt649, is vrorking on a slide pro-grarn for' the' NCT. Contact him ifyou have slides he can copy andincorporate into the program . *ii' .

Cash is sorely needed to helP usr;f inish the NCT headquarters. Seild.your gifts to Ginnv Wunsch now,E,'please. . . Exceptionallygoodmibooks: AMC Field Guide to frail.Buildine and Maintenance, and .':r;i*Backcountrv Facilities: Desien &Maintenance. Both publlshed bythe Appalachian Mountain Club, 5Joy St., Boston, MA 02108 andboth cost fi5.95 . . . If you lovea summer vacation in Nova Scotia,'an enchanted land of rugged sea.-scapes, there's ari excellent trailguide available: Explorine NovaScotia, at $6,95 fromffitrilooasPress, 820 East Blvd. , C.harlotte,'NC 28203 . . The finalized routeof the NCT should be completed : i-

(hopefully) by october 1 , :.-9B?. I'twi'l1 be published in fhe FederalRegister and will be available toif:- (money and time permitting) . .