CAMBRIDGE, Vt. (WCAX) – A Vermont organization is working to make connecting with nature more accessible. The Vermont Land Trust has been working on a series of projects to make it easier for people with disabilities to access their network of trails.
Crews at the Brewster Uplands are laying down sand to spiff up their walking trails. The goal is to make the vast network more accessible to people with disabilities.
“I feel that I am challenged, as opposed to handicapped. I think we all have challenges, and my particular challenge is I have to use a wheelchair,” said Berni Kuntzelmann of Jeffersonville.
Kuntzelmann was diagnosed with a kind of muscular dystrophy and says it can be hard to find accessible recreation opportunities in the area. He’s thrilled to hear the Vermont Land Trust is working to make Brewster Uplands’ Pond Loop Trail accessible for wheelchairs.
“It makes me feel so wonderful that I am in a community that’s loving and cares about everybody in it. That they are trying to make do for everybody so everybody can be involved and be part of the community,” Kuntzelmann said.
The Vermont Land Trust is collaborating with the Cambridge Trail Committee to restore the 1-mile Pond Loop Trail. They’re laying down compacted crushed stone to create a more stable, smooth surface. The trail now has a wide corridor so more people can access the path.
“There are only a few dozen universally accessible trails around Vermont. You know, only a few of them really get you out into the woods like this trail so, providing opportunities for wheelchair users, people who use other mobility devices to really get out,” said Annalise Carington of the Vermont Land Trust.
Kuntzelmann says he can’t wait to use the trail once complete.
“I can go with my son and my grandchildren and our dog, Maple. We have fun just going out, playing back in the woods again,” he said.
The Vermont Land Trust wants to do more projects like this in the future. Their next project is scheduled in Duxbury.
This project should be wrapping up right before Labor Day Weekend.