BAR HARBOR, Maine — Hiking trails require a lot of maintenance to both remain safe for users and protect the nature around the paths. Helping to take care of Maine's trails is the Wabanaki Youth in Science Trail Crew.
The trail crew began in 2020 and has been helping Acadia National Park, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and other land managers with their land.
This work is often exhausting. Shoveling gravel, sawing downed trees, and hiking long miles are daily tasks. To create bog walks like those found in Acadia National Park, it also means carrying 60-pound logs many miles over own’s shoulders.
Jayden Dana, one of the co-leads of the trail crew says he has carried seven to eight of the logs in one day before.
"Hurts, it's good to switch, but it's not too bad," Dana said while resting before hoisting the log back on to his shoulder.
The six-man crew was heading to a mossy marsh area where a bog walk—an elevated platform made of cedar logs and lumber—keeps hikers elevated above the delicate flora below.
David Schlag, Acadia's trail crew foreman, has spent the past five years working with the WaYS trail crew and says the energetic group keep him young. While all 25 and under, he trusts the crew's skills.
"Once they're set up, they can kind of work alone as their own crew. They've got quite a bit of knowledge and some good leadership," Schlag said.
Co-leading the day's team and sharing the responsibility are Dana and Wambli Martinez.
"It's nice to have somebody to lean on," Martinez said.
"We also are able to split up our crews. So, sometimes he may be in Acadia, [and] I could be somewhere Down East," Dana said.
WaYS is about teaching leadership, real world skills, and much more, according to Jennifer Galipeau, WaYS assistant director.
"They're connecting to their ancestral land. We're building relationships with the National Park Foundation and other collaborators," Galipeau said.
The crew describe the bond they have forged as a brotherhood, and they share the victory of completing projects like the bog walk.
"It's a great feeling. It gives you a sense of pride in workmanship, you know, it's just a good feeling and the whole crew was happy," Martinez said.