Guest for this program in the series Third Thursday, Exploring the Outdoors is Martha Becton from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC).  Martha Becton, PATC District manager C&O Canal at Great Falls, chainsaw instructor with National Park Service and USFS; Co-Leader of Potomac and  member of Cadillac crew, two of PATC‘s trail crews. Together with her partner, Robert Fina, Martha has built trails by hand as well as with machinery in the mid-Atlantic area, Ohio and Alaska.  She has attended and taught at conferences with the Professional Trail Builders Association (PTBA)and American trails. She teachers trail maintenance workshops, sustainable trail design and layout, rigging for trail work and she heads the PATC chainsaw certification program.

PACT members are the Trail Guardians for over 1000 miles of trails in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia & Virginia, including 240 miles of AT. Their territory begins in Central Pennsylvania at Pine Grove Furnace, continues thru Maryland through Harpers Ferry and West Virginia, and extends to the southern end of Shenandoah National Park. Martha will talk about maintaining these trails  as well as building new trails. 

Program Series Host Susan Tschirhart will lead this conversation.  There will be opportunities to send questions to Susan and Martha during the live program. This program is sponsored by Mountain Trails in Winchester and Front Royal, Virginia.