Westwoods Trails Meeting
April 22 , 2002
Guilford Community Center
Chair: Paul Proulx.
Meeting began: 7:30 PM
Attendance: 17 people. Bill Blaha, Erin Craig, Ron DeMartino, Bob Handschumacher, Peter Johnson, Joe Kaufman, Karen Klugman, Susan Kukle, Dave Middleton, Joe Ortoleva, Karen Owen-Buckley, Sandra Porter, Paul Proulx, Dia Robinson, Dixie Sanderson, Liz Scholl, Audrey Teofilo

New Members/Resignations/Member News:
-Welcome new member David Scarpace
-Members gave Paul Proulx a round of appreciative applause for his leadership and work in the massive cutting of dead hemlocks in Westwoods. Good work, Paul!

GLCT: Paul reported the status of cutting in Westwoods to Red Erda. Paul asked about our authority to cut on the privately owned section of the woods and Red planned to get back to us about that.

CFPA Correspondence: None

Trail Reports
Westwoods (Total work time, including the massive cutting, 55 hours) Eight work parties worked for 37.5 hours to clear 108 trees from the Green Rectangle. According to the map marked by the state, the Yellow Rectangle Trail is officially opened, although there are a few standing dead hemlocks near Lost Lake. The Yellow Circle needs to be re-blazed. Bob and Joan Handschumacher cleared the Yellow Rectangle from the waterfall to Lost Lake. They cut 17 leaners or fallen trees and posted a sign at the base of Yellow Circle South to close this trail. We plan to go ahead with the original plan for the Violet-Yellow subsystem, which is to clear them in parallel to the point where they meet. Dia and a friend cleaned up brush on the Orange Circle. Dia reported that the state scudders left a large puddle on the Orange Circle just above the Red Triangle crossing. Peter Otis discovered a waist-high fallen hemlock on the upper White Square, which he plans to chainsaw after his vacation.
Nutplains - Susan and Bob cleared a corridor in an overgrown patch between two yards. They suggested posting a large wooden sign --- dark brown with yellow wording-to mark the entrance to the trails. They also suggest pulling out the plastic markers and re-blazing with paint. They will call Bob White about his suggestions for blazing and for tuning some of the trails.
Kampmeyer - Joe Kaufman put up a new sign and cut down some leaners.
Paul Trail - Bob want to put up two signs showing entrances to the Paul Trail.
Eastwoods - Susan reported that 60 people walked the GLCT-sponsored hike on Barehouse Hill Road near Eastwoods.
Spencer Creek - A spring trimming is needed.

Work Parties - 9am at Dunk Rock Road to clean up the Green Rectangle

Old Business
-Westwoods Tree Cutting . See above for WWTC cutting this month. The State cut approximately 2000 trees from the Orange ircle, the Red Triangle, and the White Circle. We will continue the cutting on the Orange and White trails to Lost Lake and on the White Circle to Plank Walk. We continue to do our work in phases as follows:
-Phase 1 - mark trees to be cut
-Phase 2 - cut, but work only briefly on leaners
-Phase 3 - use "come-along" on leaners
-Phase 4 - clean off trails in larger work parties
-Phase 5 - re-blaze

New Business
-Earth Day --- Cleanup this weekend, but we are too involved in cutting to participate. Susan reported that someone called her with the idea of putting together a 24-hour celebration on the Treen. She is seeking comments, questions, and volunteers.
-New Land Purchases --- With a grant from the State, Guilford purchased 90 acres of land adjoining 100 owned by Madison. The terrain is rocky and mountainous with wide-open views . There will eventually be a trail system in North Guilford that is as extensive as Westwoods. On May 15, volunteers from the town are cutting a connection to the Mattabasett Trail. WWTC members are invited to join.
-Donation - The Stihl chainsaw company saw their logo in a picture of Peter Johnson holding up a chainsaw in the New Haven Register. They were upset that Peter was not wearing protective headgear and have decided to donate three sets of protective gear to WWTC.
-Greenway Meeting - April 20 is the date for the next meeting about the plans for a trail from New Haven to Madison.

Adjournment: The meeting ended at 8:30.
Recording Secretary: Karen Klugman