Bureau of Land Management Volunteer Feature

SCOUTS BUILD A FOOTBRIDGE
AT BLM-NEW MEXICO'S FORT STANTON

It happens every May. Fifteen to twenty young men, armed with shovels, Pulaskis, rakes and other tools, spend the weekend in BLM's Fort Stanton Special Management Area maintaining the Petroglyph National Recreation Trail. The hours are long, the work is dirty and no one gets paid to do it.

Who are these young men? They are the Boy Scouts of Troop 72 from Roswell, New Mexico. Troop 72 has "adopted" the Petroglyph Trail. The troop annually rebuilds the steps, constructs soil erosion barriers and repairs general wear and tear. Last May was different though. Under the direction and organization of Scout Greg Brewington, the 15 Scouts and four adult leaders of Troop 72 built a footbridge across the Rio Bonito. Brewington, 16, arranged for materials to be donated and delivered to the work site, tracked the time spent on the project, organized the Scouts into work teams, and acted as overall supervisor of the construction.

Starting Saturday morning, the Scouts excavated the footings for the bridge, built the forms and poured the concrete. After setting the log stringers and spacers in place, the decking was nailed down. The bridge was complete by noon on Sunday.

Before completion of the bridge, hikers on the Petroglyph Trail had to wade the Rio Bonito to get across. Now hikers can view the petroglyphs that give the trail its name without getting their feet wet. The weekend was a fair trade between BLM and Troop 72. BLM received a new footbridge. Greg Brewington organized and conducted this community service project to complete one of the requirements for him to attain the rank of Eagle Scout. Was it a good weekend and did the Scouts have fun? Well, just look at the faces of the Scouts as they pose on the completed bridge.