Steps to Yellow Branch Falls to be rebuilt

An improvement project in the Andrew Pickens Ranger District of the Sumter National Forest is being described as a major undertaking.  To pull it off, the Forest Service will benefit next week from a highly-skilled trail crew from the Southeastern Conservation Corps.  The project is to rebuild the steps leading to the popular Yellow Branch Falls off highway 28 north of Walhalla.  Formerly the Southeast Youth Corps, the Southeastern Conservation Corps operates throughout the Southeast with a focus on empowering young people to cultivate compassion, responsibility and grit through community service, hard work and environmental stewardship.  Jen Barnhart, recreation and trails manager for the Sumter National Forest, is asking forest supporters to volunteer to help the trail crew haul lumber to the work site, which is a hike of a mile and a quarter.  “The more folks helping the quicker the materials get to the site and the crew can get to building the box steps.”  Dan Pollock, president of Walhalla Partners for Progress, is elated at this project.  Pollock says, “There is a bigger story behind this project on the importance of sustainable trails, limited resources available—even at the federal level—and the value of volunteerism to preserving natural resources.”