Volunteers still working to remove trees from hiking, biking trails in Bluefield

Yahoo

20-04-2025

bluefield — Mickey Pellillo estimates as many as 300 fallen trees have been removed to date from the walking and biking trails at Bluefield City Park. But there is still more work to be done.
She, and a team of dedicated volunteers, have been working since last October to remove trees that were toppled onto the trails by the remnants of Hurricane Helene. Pellillo said at least 50 more trees must be cut and removed before all of the walking and biking trails are clear.
'We've just been working as hard as possible,' Pellillo said Friday morning, as she and several volunteers were preparing to remove more trees and branches from a walking trail high above Lotito Park. 'I would say we are about 95 percent complete.'
Equipped only with chainsaws and rakes, the volunteers have spent countless hours working to reopen the hiking and biking trails. The Family Friendly Trail, which is a beginner trail that loops around city park, is now clear of trees and recently reopened to the public.
'We have 50 to 60 more to go,' Pellillo said of trees that must be removed. 'We are heading up to do more today.'
Not only are trees being removed, but parts of the walking and biking trails that were flooded — during both Hurricane Helene and the Feb. 15 flood — are being refilled with gravel. Pellillo said two mission teams from the Wade Center assisted with that effort just last week.
Many of the trees that were blocking the trails had to be cut with a chainsaw.
'Carol (Scott) and I got tired of watching the guys with chainsaws, so we bought our own,' Pellillo said, adding that she and Scott, another volunteer, now use a smaller, battery-operated, chainsaw to cut the fallen trees.
When the remnants of Hurricane Helene slammed into the region last September, trees were toppled across the two-state region by tropical force winds.
At city park in Bluefield, many of those trees that were toppled by Helene are still visible near the entrance to the park. But even more trees fell in the mountainous area high above Lotito Park where many of the popular walking and biking trails are located, according to Rick Showalter, director of parks and recreation for the city of Bluefield.
'The trail volunteers at city park, they opened up the Family Friendly Trail, which was there first goal,' Showalter said of the beginner trail that is now clear of trees.
Showalter said the volunteers spent 'hours and hours' removing trees and tree branches from the trails.
The trails, and the log cabin at the entrance to the walking trails, are largely maintained by volunteers.
'Those volunteer groups are amazing,' Showalter said. 'Mickey Pellillo, she is the main leader. She's wonderful. They are trying to recruit more people, especially those who are interested in mountain biking. They do a ton of work. They run the cabin, which is for the visitors and folks there. They run that and staff it in the summer with part-time people.'
The cabin, which also serves as a welcome station, is located at the entrance to the Family Friendly Trails, just across the road from the new playground. Pellillo said the cabin is open the same hours as the Ridge Runner Train, which is each Saturday and Sunday beginning Memorial Day weekend.
Additional volunteers are needed to help with the ongoing maintenance of the trails and to help maintain the kid's stations located along the trail, according to Pellillo.
Pellillo and the volunteers who have been working since last October to remove the fallen trees are members of the Bluefield Recreational Trails Committee, of which Pellillo serves as chair.
Back in 2002, Robin Leffler, who was then director of Parks and Recreation for the city and Richie Mullins, a local bike owner, began the long process of obtaining a grant from the West Virginia Department of Transportation to build and maintain the hiking and biking trails at city park that now thousands across the region enjoy each year, Pellillo said.
At the time, Pellillo said many obstacles had to be overcome. She said the biggest was getting the state of West Virginia to understand that some of the land where the trails were to be located was in Virginia while the park was maintained by West Virginia.
Around 2004, Pellillo said the long journey was nearing an end and a committee was needed to help revise the grant and then be in charge of the program — helping to ensure the grant was carried out as awarded. Pellillo said she and Walter Shroyer had expressed an interest in helping with the project at that time. With the city's approval, Lefler appointed Pellillo, Shroyer and Mullins to the committee and the process began to find additional qualified members.
Planning continued and in November 2005 the group received its first grant of $30,000, which was a 20-80 matching grant. Later in 2007, the International Mountain Biking Association was engaged to evaluate and make recommendations for improvements to the trail system. That became the master plan for trail development for several years.
Later on former City Manager Andy Merriman reached out to the Community Foundation of the Virginias, which gave the trails committee permission to establish a fund there to support current and future projects, according to Pellillo. She said more than $30,000 was raised for the fund through local foundations, grants and donations. Those funds were used to purchase the trail cabin for a visitor center and tool storage area and to finance numerous improvements to the trails.
Pellillo said numerous mountain bike races have been held over the years on the trails. Other improvements have continued as well, including the addition of kid's stations, signage for the trails, picnic tables, a hammock area and much more. About half of the trails are now marked with new signage.
But no one could have anticipated the remnants of a hurricane hitting the park — and the two-state region — in late 2004.
Hurricane Helene slammed into Bluefield on Sept. 24, 2024 with torrential rainfall and tropical storm force winds.
While emergency officials across the region prepared for flooding — the powerful and destructive winds ended up being the main problem. Thousands of trees and power lines across the area were toppled by those winds, including many that fell on homes and vehicles.
Thousands across the region were left without electricity for more than a week after the storm hit.
Showalter said visitors to Lotito Park can see many of the trees that were toppled by the storm near the entrance to the park. He said many others fell on the road that circles through the park.
'If you drive in there and see all of the damage up on the hillside, then imagine the road going around (the park) and the amount of trees (that fell) going around the road,' Showalter said.
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