Alternative Fall Break — Emory Students and American Conservation Experience
When you think of a fall break from college, you might think of a ski trip, or going camping, or spending time with your family — but you probably wouldn’t think about doing volunteer work. The students of Emory University have different ideas. Over a September holiday weekend, they drove up from Atlanta to do just that. On Monday, Sept. 13th, SAHC welcomed 21 students to the Community Farm for an entire day of trail work and invasive plant removal. The students came from all grades and fields of study; including neuroscience, Arabic, and dance.
In addition to the Emory students, SAHC was lucky enough to have five representatives from the American Conservation Experience (ACE) along for the work day. ACE is a non-profit that provides environmental service opportunities through conservation corps, conservation vacations, and volunteer outings. Started in Arizona in 2004, the organization has worked with the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service. This year, they started a branch in North Carolina lead by Adam Scherm. The organization specializes in trail building, invasive plant removal, fencing construction, and wildlife monitoring.
The students split into two groups and worked on building erosion control devices along the trail and removing overgrown vegetation from the livestock fencing. As a team, they moved logs, dug drainage swales, and pulled multi-flora rose. Students exclaimed about how much they felt like they accomplished. At the end of the day, the group excitedly talked about how much they would like to come back again for next year’s fall break trip. Adam explained how the day was also valuable for his organization in that it “was a great leadership opportunity for Max and Lindsey,” two ACE AmeriCorps volunteers. SAHC hopes to continue building partnerships with these two groups at the Community Farm and throughout our properties.
