Tagged: White Mountain National Forest

The White Mountain National Forest is getting some help with repairing damage done by Tropical Storm Irene.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

The White Mountain National Forest got some good news from the non-profit National Forest Foundation Wednesday.

That’s according to Tom Wagner, the White Mountain National Forest supervisor.

“They hope to raise a $1 million of private funds that would be matched by a $1 million of Forest Service funds.”

Tropical Storm Irene’s heavy rains did more serious damage to trails in the White Mountains than any storm in decades, says one of the authors of the new 29th edition of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s White Mountain Guide.

“It was only a limited number of trails, but the ones that were damaged were damaged very badly,” said editor Steven Smith of Lincoln. “It was mainly restricted to the trails that run along streams.”

The White Mountain National Forest will be getting $4 million in federal funds to repair road and bridge damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene.  But that will still leave the enormous recreational area well short of what it needs, an official said.

It is still a bit of good news for the economy of the North Country.

Some of the work will be done by WMNF crews but help from outside contractors will be needed, said Tiffany Benna, a spokeswoman for the WMNF.

The money is available from the Federal Highway Administration, said spokesman Doug Hecox.