By Jordan A. Bowman
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
June 13, 2020
On August 14, 1937, the backbreaking work of hundreds of volunteers and state and federal partners made the impossible a reality: the final link of the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) was completed, fully connecting the footpath from Georgia to Maine.
As we look back on that accomplishment, it becomes clear that this was only the first chapter in the history of A.T. volunteers. The A.T. needed an army of volunteers to maintain and protect the Trail from the impacts of weather, encroachments, visitor use and other factors that would erode, diminish or endanger the A.T.