The Dartmouth Outing Club transferred 22 miles of the Appalachian Trail to Vermont's Green Mountain Club earlier this month in order to focus on the miles that comprise the New Hampshire portion of the trail, DOC staff advisor Rory Gawler said. The DOC will continue to maintain 53 miles of the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire, as well as 60 additional non-Appalachian Trail miles in the area, DOC president Brian Seitz '12 said.
"The section of trail we kept is more difficult to maintain, so giving the Green Mountain Club the Vermont section means we can focus on keeping a smaller section of trail in good shape and keeping that accessible to hikers," Seitz said. "There is a lot of history with the Vermont section of trail so it is a bit sad giving it up, but the Green Mountain Club was great to work with in organizing the transfer so I am sure we will maintain ties to that trail and it will always be a piece of the history."
Green Mountain Club, which has a volunteer force of approximately 10,000 members, is a much larger hiking club than the DOC, which includes 1.500 total members, approximately 100 to 200 of whom are active each term, Green Mountain Club Executive Director Will Wiquist said.
The transfer was made official on Nov. 4 at the Green Mountain Club's annual meeting in Ottauquechee, Vt., according to Wiquist.
Green Mountain Club has a "long history" of maintaining trails in Vermont and therefore has the capacity to take on the additional responsibilities that accompany the land transfer, including trail and boundary maintenance, tread-way maintenance and regular maintenance of the two overnight sites stationed along the trail, according to New England Regional Director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Hawk Metheny.
"[Green Mountain Club] maintained about half of the entire trail, from Route 12 to Vermont, and now will have all 44 miles," Metheny said.
Green Mountain Club will continue to work with the DOC as part of a "regional partnership" that maintains the Appalachian Trail throughout New England, Wiquist said.
"Discussions of this transfer between organizations were extremely positive and cooperative," Wiquist said. "I believe everyone is happy with the results."
Green Mountain Club initially approached the DOC last spring to express a desire to assume responsibility for the entire portion of the trail that is located in Vermont, Wiquist said. After the DOC was approached, students thoroughly discussed the details of such a large land transfer, Robert Collier '13, DOC president at the time of the offering, said in an email to The Dartmouth.
The DOC conducted internal and public discussions with student leaders of the DOC, DOC alumni and faculty and community advisors, Collier said. The organization decided to approve the transfer at the DOC's advisory board meeting in the summer, he said.
"There was nearly unanimous consent among the DOC that the Green Mountain Club's proposal to adopt that section of trail made sense, and would not hamper the student opportunities to do trailwork, or the DOC's role in the AT," Collier said.
The formal transfer process required approval from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, a non-profit organization that oversees the trail, according to Metheny. The conservancy reviewed details of the transfer and met with both clubs to ensure that everyone agreed upon the proposal and timeline of the transfer. The conservancy then met with its governing bodies to endorse the transfer.
Metheny expressed appreciation for the degree of positive communication between the two clubs throughout the transfer discussions.
"We appreciated how cooperative all entities were in this process," he said. "It was viewed favorably by everyone and there was good collaboration."
