TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th
Segment 16, Croatan Task Force with Roger Mays

WHAT: Our sawyers will fan out with a swamper and take out a number of dead falls and snags that we recently documented. For all workdays volunteers should wear long sleeves and pants, sturdy work shoes, gloves, protective eye wear if using hand or power tools, and bring insect repellent, water, snacks, medications, and personal needs. If sawing, trimming, or mowing the machines are noisy and hearing protection is necessary. We have earplugs but you are encouraged to bring your own. If repairing board walks or puncheons bring hammers, drills, and other carpentry tools if you have them. We will supply some tools provide supplies necessary to install and repair boardwalks, signs, and blazes. We provide gas and oil for power tools. In hot weather, our work crews typically work only 4-5 hours, longer if the weather moderates. Everyone is encouraged to work at their own pace and ability. We observe a buddy system and will insist no one is in the forest alone while working in the Croatan National Forest.

WHERE: The meeting place will be at the Trail head on NC 306 (34.901464, -76.818407) at 8:30.

TO REGISTER: Contact Roger Mays at rmays52@yahoo.com or 252-723-1612

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12th
Segment 16, Croatan Task Force with John Arthur

WHAT: We will begin trimming the brush and small trees that grew since last year’s trimming efforts. We use gas hedge trimmers and hand loppers. For all workdays volunteers should wear long sleeves and pants, sturdy work shoes, gloves, protective eye wear if using hand or power tools, and bring insect repellent, water, snacks, medications, and personal needs. If sawing, trimming, or mowing the machines are noisy and hearing protection is necessary. We have earplugs but you are encouraged to bring your own. If repairing board walks or puncheons bring hammers, drills, and other carpentry tools if you have them. We will supply some tools provide supplies necessary to install and repair boardwalks, signs, and blazes. We provide gas and oil for power tools. In hot weather, our work crews typically work only 4-5 hours, longer if the weather moderates. Everyone is encouraged to work at their own pace and ability. We observe a buddy system and will insist no one is in the forest alone while working in the Croatan National Forest.

WHERE: Meet at the same trail head on NC 306 at 8:30.

TO REGISTER: Contact John Arthur at johnarthur2346@gmail.com or 252-510-6636.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd
Segment 16, Croatan Task Force with Roger Mays

WHAT: Brush and small tree trimming w/ gas hedge trimmers and hand loppers. For all workdays volunteers should wear long sleeves and pants, sturdy work shoes, gloves, protective eye wear if using hand or power tools, and bring insect repellent, water, snacks, medications, and personal needs. If sawing, trimming, or mowing the machines are noisy and hearing protection is necessary. We have earplugs but you are encouraged to bring your own. If repairing board walks or puncheons bring hammers, drills, and other carpentry tools if you have them. We will supply some tools provide supplies necessary to install and repair boardwalks, signs, and blazes. We provide gas and oil for power tools. In hot weather, our work crews typically work only 4-5 hours, longer if the weather moderates. Everyone is encouraged to work at their own pace and ability. We observe a buddy system and will insist no one is in the forest alone while working in the Croatan National Forest.

WHERE: Meet at the Neusiok Trail Head NC 101

TO REGISTER: Contact Roger Mays at rmays52@yahoo.com or 252-723-1612.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26th

Segment 10, Falls Lake Workday with Task Force Leader, Jeff Brewer

WHAT: Come help with trail work on the MST to celebrate National Public Lands Day across America! Start Time is 9:00 AM and we will be done between 3:00 and 4:00 PM depending on the speed of how projects get completed.

Projects for the Day are:

1. Routine Trail Maintenance – We will divide up into small groups and walk around 3-5 miles to perform trail maintenance. We have 63 miles of trail at Falls Lake to cover. We will be running weed trimmers and if you have one and willing to bring it please let us know.

2. Chainsaw Assistance – Our Crews will need some help removing what they cut off the trail. Our sawyers are certified to cut the trees we always need volunteers to help remove what they cut.

3. Section 17 – We will be reestablishing the tread work on this section after a recent timber cut. We will use cutter mattocks and fire rakes to perform this detail work to help shed water off the trail.

4. Shoreline Trash removal with Jennifer B and Iwona B. – Nobody likes trash on our public lands and drinking water so we will remove what we find. This group typically finishes up around noon.

Thanks to Great Outdoor Provision Company for sponsoring our breakfast from Chick-fli-A at our workdays. Thanks to Starbucks off Falls of Neuse Road and Durant Road for the coffee. Thanks to REI Co-op, whose 2025 gift of $15,000 supports our efforts with (among other things) signage improvement, updates to trail guides, the purchase of new tools, and tool repairs.

Make sure you bring plenty of water, bag lunch, and gloves. We supply all of the tools and projects.

The Falls Lake Task Force leaders had a meeting to discuss our weather policy for workdays if bad weather is present. If the workday is canceled a mass email will be sent by 9:00 PM on Friday night. So please check your email first thing in the morning before leaving.

If you are new at trail work, please let us know and we will pair you up with an experienced person.

What you will need:

• Work clothes and solid shoes or hiking boots. Proper Clothing for the Weather!
• Plenty of water
• Lunch
• Work gloves, if you have them (If not, we have some)

Work Safely. This is the most important thing, and our main goal. In particular:

Use tools carefully. If you do not know how to use a particular tool, or what to do in a particular circumstance please ask. Do not work too close together and be careful with rakes, shovels, and mattocks to avoid hitting the person next to you. When walking past another volunteer, please say something so they know you are there. Do not lift anything heavier than you can comfortably lift.

Know your own limits. This is not a race. We will be working on and maintaining this trail for years to come. Take plenty of breaks. Make sure to drink plenty of water, even when it’s cold outside.

There are holes in the ground to step in, branches to trip over, thorns, wasps, poison ivy (fortunately not too much of that on this segment of trail), ticks, chiggers, and other hazards. Please be cautious.

Have a good time. This is a scenic area. There are box turtles, heron, woodpeckers, deer, beaver, and other wildlife in this area as well as scenic views of the lake.

We have the tools that will be needed.

Particular tasks for this workday.

1. Cutting branches and logs across the trail: We have clippers, small saws, and a chainsaw for this purpose. All of the chainsaw work needs to be done by a certified person at the workday. In general, while standing on the trail you want to cut branches back to an arms length on both sides and above your head. When clipping a branch that extends over the trail, try to cut the branch at the trunk of the tree or bush. When there is a small tree or bush in the trail, do not cut it at the ground, but cut it ~3′ above the ground to make it easier to dig out/pull out. Cut off at ground level they will tend to grow back from the roots. When cutting branches, please drag them off the trail. In particular if you end up clipping poison ivy, make sure to drag it well off the trail with the clippers.
2. Dragging logs off the trail. There are a significant number of logs and branches lying across the trail route. These need to be dragged to the side. Many are so rotted they can most easily be removed with a shovel.
3. Trash. We have trash bags to pick up trash along the way. Fortunately this part of the park is relatively clean so we will not have too much trash to remove. We will carry the trash out to one of the ends of this trail for removal by DOT.
4. Raking the trail. It is necessary to rake the trail tread clear of leaves, branches, other debris so that we know where we need to level the trail, fill holes, etc. Please use caution while raking to avoid poking others with the rake handle.
5. Pulling out small saplings from the trail tread. There will be some small saplings in the trail tread. If these are cut off they tend to grow back from the roots, so we need to either pull them by hand (if they are very small), dig them out with a mattocks, or if they are up to an inch in diameter, pull them out with the weed wrench.
6. Filling holes. These need to be filled if they are within the 2′ wide trail tread, or if they are within several feet of the trail on either side. We have shovels and buckets for this purpose.
7. Leveling the trail tread. Walking across the side of a hill is tiring. The finished trail tread should be, in cross section, close to level. We have mattocks and rakes for this purpose. On this section of trail, we cross multiple drainage dips and have quite a bit of side hill trail to build. In addition to the side hill work, much of the trail route has various lumps and bumps that need to be leveled.

WHERE: Meeting Spot at 9:00 AM – All interested should meet at Food Lion parking lot at the intersection of Patterson/Sherron and Highway 98. The address for your GPS is 121 Sherron Rd., Durham, NC 27703. After we meet, we will split up into project groups and “scatter out” to do our trail work.

TO REGISTER: Please RSVP to jdbrewer104@gmail.com or 919-900-0483 for our workday by September 24, 2026.