Local youths begin work on Wabash Trace Trail

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The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) has selected three area youth to work on the Wabash Trace Nature Trail.

Through August 19, the Heri tage Conservation Crew (HCC) will help with special trail events, basic carpentry, construction, landscaping, tree pruning, bridge repair, painting and other general trail maintenance.  They will also restore prairie habitat alongside the trail.

This year’s crewmembers (pictured from left) are Jordan Borgaila of Council Bluffs, Heather "Heath" Hamilton of Elmo, MO, and Nathan Abma of Clarinda. Shenandoah resident Dan Zollars will serve as the adult supervisor for the crew.

Abma is a 2005 graduate of Clarinda High School and will begin his first year at Iowa State University this fall.  He is the son of Jerry and Norma Abma of Clarinda.

Borgaila will begin his senior year of high school at the Iowa School for the Deaf this fall.  He is the son of Dave and Jennifer Borgaila of Council Bluffs.

Hamilton is a 2003 graduate of Mt. Taber Christian High and this fall will enter into her junior year at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana.  She is the daughter of Paul and Beth Hamilton of Elmo, MO, which is located just south of the Iowa border in the Loess Hills of Missouri.

“We work hard all the time, but I feel at peace on the trail,” said Borgaila. “Our crewmembers are the best.”

The 63-mile Wabash Trace Trail links several towns in Page, Fremont, Mills and Pottawattamie Counties.  It has been hailed as one of the nation’s prettiest recreational trails by Outside magazine.

Each summer, the HCC works to maintain the Wabash Trace with support from INHF, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and Southwest Iowa Nature Trails, Inc. (SWINT).  The current HCC program is now in its 5^th year.

SWINT, the local volunteer group that manages the trail, is using funds generated from special events and the sale of trail passes to supplement a $10,834 grant from the Iowa DOT to finance the crew.  SWINT also hired Zollars, a past SWINT board member who has worked extensively with Wabash Trace volunteers.

“Since 2001, funding from the Iowa DOT’s Urban Youth Corps grant has allowed us to hire 19 young adults to perform a great service for Iowa while they gain lifelong skills and knowledge,” said Marlene Ehresman, INHF HCC project coordinator.

INHF administers the HCC program, providing the crew with training on resume writing, interviewing and other job skills.  The organization also facilitates visits to natural areas like the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and educates crewmembers about some of Iowa’s native plants and animals.

INHF is a member-supported, nonprofit organization that protects Iowa’s land, water and wildlife.  Since 1979, INHF has helped protect over 80,000 acres of Iowa’s prairies, wetlands, woodlands and river corridors.  INHF has also helped establish over 750 miles of multi-use trails in the state—including the Wabash Trace Nature Trail.