Westwoods Trails Meeting
November 19, 2001
Guilford Community Center
Chair: Paul Proulx.
Meeting began: 7:35 PM
Attendance: Bill Blaha, Erin Craig, Rich DiNardo, Ellie Epler, Bob Handschumacher, Peter Johnson, Joe Kaufman, Karen Klugman, Dave Middleton, Joe Ortoleva, Sandra Porter, Paul Proulx, Fred Richards, Sally Richards, Liz Scholl, and guest Mike Rogers

Approval of Minutes: Please note the following corrections: 1) Last month, Bob Handschumacher made two signs for the Eastwoods trails entrance. He had made signage for Hoadley Creek last year. 2) Voters opted to remove trash cans from all trail entrances, but did not consider the trash cans at Cable Rock in the vote.

Resignations/New Members/ Member News: none

GLCT Report: none

Trail Reports:
Westwoods.
-Team A - 12 hrs. (Bob Handschumacher) Richard DeNardo blazed the northern portion of the Yellow Circle Trail, while Bob, his wife, and Bill Blaha blazed the southern portion. Bob's team also cut down 20 to 30 trees along the trail and removed an oak from the path. Rich also swept Cable Rock, partially dismantled the fireplace, emptied and packed out the trash. He requested and received permission from the trail committee to dismantle a makeshift and possibly dangerous bridge that was presumably made by bikers. The committee also decided to mark the ledge walk portion of the trail as "challenging" and to leave the circle markings on the upper route and the square markings on the lower bypass (since square blazes usually indicate the easier trails). Fred and Sally examined and mapped the area burned on Monday and Tuesday, Nov 12 & 13. See "New Business."
-Team B. (Dia Robinson) --- Fred plans to continue his work on the water bars near the railroad tracks.
-Team C. (Karen Owen-Buckley). The Community Work Party cleared two trees from the blue trail, as well as from other trails in this vicinity.
Paul Trail- Ellie Epler & Peter Johnson will look at this trail this coming month.
Nut Plains - no report.
Kampmeyer- Joe Kaufman replaced a 12-foot section of rotted bridge.
Eastwoods - 12 hrs -Bob, Sally, and Joan H. blazed the lower Green Trail with a 50-50 mix of yellow and green paint. They also installed three entrance signs made by Bob. Paul noted that the lighter shade of green being used in Westwoods has an improved visibility as well.
Hoadley Creek- Bob observed that there have been lots of cars in the Hoadley Creek parking lot.
Spencer Creek -- Dixie will lead a GLCT-sponsored walk at dusk to view holiday lights across the marsh in Guilford at 4pm on Dec 9.

Work Parties.
-Work Party -- Peter J, Sandy, and Paul replaced a section of the Plank Walk. They trucked it in first by tractor, then carried it for the last 75 - 100 yards. Peter thinks that new sections of the remaining plank walk could be built and installed by "6 to 8 guys working for four days." Fred inserted that we should study of the best type of walkway for the unusual conditions of this boggy area before we undertake such a large task.
-Community Work Party (CWP) - Paul, Ron DeMartino, 4 high school students, and two bikers cleared the trails in the eastern section of Westwoods. The owner of the Madison bike shop, who was just finishing a biking trek in the woods with friends, volunteered to display notices about upcoming CWP's in his store. The next CWP will be at 9am on December 1 at Dunk Rock Entrance.

Old Business
-Trash - Rich stressed the need for keeping the trashcans at Cable Rock for now. Both Rich and Bob observed that the amount and type of trash that they have been removing has gradually changed for the better.
-Proposed Gas Line - Sally is on the Pipeline Committee formed by members of the Guilford town government and various local organizations. Sally represents WWTrails Committee and Red Erda represents GLCT. The committee has sent its report regarding the proposal to run the pipeline through Guilford (including Westwoods) to the Connecticut Siting Council. The Siting Council, together with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will make the final decision about the gas line. Gas lines have already been constructed from Sable Island, Nova Scotia, through Maine and Massachusetts, and as far south as North Haven in Connecticut. Islander East is the company currently wanting to build the pipeline to run from North Haven to Long Island Sound. The Pipeline Committee's report is strongly against the proposed line in Guilford and Islander East prefers routes that are less expensive than the proposed Guilford line. Nonetheless, it was Sally's assessment that a pipeline through S. Connecticut is almost a certainty, that it could end up in Westwoods, and that no one can do anything about it at this point. Even if Islander East does not get permission to build, there are 19 other companies interested in building pipelines in our region. Members asked about the possibility of running a line along the existing Iroquois line. Sally reported that the Iroquois line has leaks and, therefore, is not being considered.
-Land Management Study - Fred will copy the sample reports from Yale land management studies and distribute them at the next meeting.

New Business
-Fire in Westwoods A fire on about 5 to 10 acres around the White Circle Trail just north of Lost Lake burned on Monday & Tuesday, November 12 & 13, but the smoldering started up again on Saturday, finally ending on Sunday. Sally and Fred measured the extent of the burn and took pictures (which they showed at the meeting). The fire crept along the ground and included roots, but did not have much effect on trees, even standing dead hemlocks. They noted, however, that the fire consumed a lot of the tree saplings that we planted two springs ago. The fire department was unable to get to the fire via boat through Lost Lake because the tide was too low. With an all-terrain vehicle, they were able to get to within 100 feet of the fire. Firemen carried in a hose from a hose truck on the road. The WWTrails Committee plans to have fire chief Charlie Herrschaft come to address the need for better access for fighting fires within Westwoods.
-Annual CT Forest and Park Association Dinner. Bill Blaha, who attended the annual dinner, reported that Senate Bill #1609 would define the Menadnock Trail as a national scenic trail. The bill has already received the approval of the House.
-Westwoods Closing. After 2 ½ weeks of cutting by Connecticut State foresters at a cost of $10,000, Huber Hurlock, the State Forester, recommended that the Michael Pochan Block of the Connecticut State Forest be officially closed, except for trails that are marked as being safe. A sign will be posted to notify the public, but there will be no effort to enforce the ruling. Paul expects that GLCT will follow suit with land trust portions of Westwoods. Paul passed around a map on which he had color-coded safe trails, partially cleared trails, and trails with lots of standing dead Hemlocks. The committee needs a clear statement from the State allowing us to continue to maintain the trails, even those deemed unsafe to the public.

Adjornment: The meeting was adjourned at 9pm.
Recording Secretary: Karen Klugman