SANDY RIVER PLANTATION — Members of the High Peaks Alliance, local ATV clubs and the Maine Appalachian Trail Club (responsible for maintenance of the Appalachian Trail from the Mahoosucs to Baxter State Park) got together for a volunteer work day on June 13 on Saddleback Mountain.

ATV club members from the Narrow Gauge Riders and the Camp Two Riders ferried in bog bridging materials, tools and supplies to the Appalachian Trail. A bog bridge is a cedar board positioned to keep hiking traffic above wet marshy areas of trail. High Peaks Alliance members helped install the bridges on the trail.

The High Peaks Alliance is a diverse group of local people interested in working forest conservation and preserving public access to the backcountry in the High Peaks Region. This is the area between routes 4, 142, 27 and 16 that has eight of Maine’s 14 mountains above 4,000 feet. Alliance meetings are held at 6 p.m., every second Friday of the month, at the Phillips Public Library. Meetings are open to everyone.

Members of the alliance are skiers, bikers, hikers, ATVers, snowmobilers, equestrians, dog-sledders, Maine guides, teachers, farmers, small business and land owners.

The alliance organized the event to proactively help develop good will between motorized and nonmotorized recreational trail groups operating in the High Peaks Region. Trail groups can successfully work together to improve the multi-trail network and create positive recreational experiences for all trail users in the High Peaks.

At the end of the day, 20 spans of bog-bridging had been transported to and installed on the Appalachian Trail with help from local volunteers.