Dick O’Brien Leads a Hands-on Boardwalk Design and Construction Workshop at Greenfield Community College’s Sage Education Center with Terramor’s Walker Korby

This December, Dick O’Brien co-led a hands on workshop to teach trail builders from around Massachusetts the techniques involved in building ecologically responsible, sustainable, and accessible boardwalks in wetlands. Attendees included Greenfield Community College students, staff from various non-profit conservation organizations including Mass Audubon, Mount Grace Land Trust, Kestrel Land Trust, and the Broad Brook Coalition, and trail stewards from local committees. The site was the Outdoor Learning Lab at GCC’s Sage Education Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and is to be used as a teaching node for wetland habitats, a micro-orchard, 10 or more organic garden beds and three to four large botanical beds. The workshop resulted in the construction of a 30 foot boardwalk and a 12 by 16 foot viewing platform, permitted through the Greenfield Conservation Commission.  The project was funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Recreational Trails Education Program, and matching funds from GCC. Walker Korby, adjunct instructor at GCC and owner of Terramor LLC was the workshop co-leader.