Volunteers Build Benches, Boardwalks, and Native Seed Pots on Local Trails

Twelve benches and 31 floating boardwalk pods now stand ready for the Brown Bridge Natural Area after more than 30 volunteers gathered Tuesday morning at the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy headquarters in Traverse City for a two-hour conservation push tied to the Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism.

The boardwalk pods are bound for the Brown Bridge Quiet Area, where muddy, eroded stretches along trail corridors make footing treacherous after rain and push foot traffic off-path onto sensitive ground. The benches will be distributed across conservancy lands based on stewardship need, giving families and older hikers reliable rest points on routes that previously had none. Volunteers also produced goldenrod seed balls, small native-plant starters packed with soil that will be scattered across conservancy properties to stabilize disturbed ground and restore habitat.

The crew included participants from Michigan Cares for Tourism alongside volunteers from TART Trails and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Their presence in Grand Traverse County this week is anchored to the Governor's Conference on Tourism, a three-day gathering running through Thursday at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme.

"We just try to look for small projects that will make a big impact in those local communities," said Dianne Stampfler, a board member of Michigan Cares for Tourism.

The program, which launched in 2013, has now completed nearly 70 projects at tourism and conservation sites across the state. Tuesday's two-hour workday added to that ledger with output that would typically require multiple dedicated maintenance weekends: a dozen trail furnishings built from scratch and three dozen structural boardwalk components ready for installation.

The Brown Bridge Natural Area, located off Brown Bridge Road south of Traverse City, is one of the region's most-used inland trail systems. Once the floating pods are installed along its wet sections, hikers will be able to navigate those stretches without the ankle-twisting detours onto surrounding vegetation that currently define the experience after spring rains.