Trail Work

TAZZ RECEIVES 2011 ANNUAL KEN JONES AWARD

Tazz Reid was awarded the second annual Ken Jones Trail Award at a ceremony at Tellico Ranger Station on January 6, 2011. This award was presented to Tazz by Tom Speaks, the Forest Supervisor of the Cherokee National Forest. The award recognizes a trail volunteer annually who has exhibited outstanding service to the Cherokee National Forest and Tellico Ranger District. Tazz was recognized for his contributions and leadership as President of SABCH in trail maintenance and new trail layout, three years of service as a volunteer with hundreds of volunteer hours, helping the District in exceeding trail targets by over 60 miles, and assistance in performing hemlock condition surveys to meet a Forest deadline with long term treatment implications.

Ken Jones (left) and Tazz Reid

Public Lands Day was celebrated by the Southern Appalachian Back Country Horsemen on
Saturday, September 26, 2009. Start time was 9:00am. Finish time due to thunder boom-booms
and heavy rain was 11:00am. Exact location was at IRON GAP in the Wilderness section of Cherokee
National Forest. No power equipment can be used in Wilderness designated areas. Project was
cleaning out existing water bars and installing new water bars.

Steve Biatowas, Trail Tech for the Ocoee-Hiawassee Ranger District met the volunteer group at 9:00
for the required safety talk and to go over the project. The volunteer group was Joanne Mitchell, Tazz Reid,
Jenice and Jim Duggan, Carey McHugh, Arlin Phillips and "Babysitter" (his red mule), Blue Goodsen and
"Bo" (his black mule).

The mules were fascinating to watch. They snaked the logs out of the woods and then drug them up the trail.
The rest of the volunteers either worked on grade dips or started busting the bark off the trees with a sledge
hammer. Then a sharp earth adze was used to peel the bark off the trees. If the bark is left on the trees,
insects have a feast.

Tazz, Arlin, and Babysitter went on up the trail to bring down a hood from an old vehicle that was probably
pre-Wilderness designation. There was some discussion as to whether the hood was an “artifact” or “litter”.
Babysitter didn’t seem to mind the hood clanging down the trail behind him.

When the first of the thunder boom-booms were felt, we quickly wrapped up the last waterbar, observing
that it was functioning very well.

The Southern Appalachian Back Country Horsemen recently participated in a National Trails Day project. The group constructed a bridge over a segment of the Bullet Creek Trail on Starr Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest. The bridge was needed for control of natural and man-made resource damage to the banks at the creek crossing. This is a multi-use trail with horseback riding and hiking use. SABCH volunteers put in 86 hours of work to construct the bridge.

The project was submitted to the American Quarter Horse Association for their 2008 National Stewardship Award. SABCH was awarded one of the ten regional prizes of $1,000 for the completion of this project. The award was presented in May 2009 at Quarterfest in Murfreesboro.

SABCH is currently involved in trail building projects in the South portion of the Cherokee National Forest, and donated over 1300 volunteer hours in 2008. SABCH is an affiliate of the Back Country Horsemen of America.

Got a trail problem? Contact us and we will fix it or route it to the right organization.

Contact:
    Tazz Reid
    535 Maple Springs Road
    Reliance Tennessee, 37369
    423-253-6403
    tazzreid@yahoo.com