Be a member of the IBDW has its privileges, and one of those privileges is having the
opportunity to join the Union Sportsman Alliance.
The USA isn't just about putting on fun shooting events like this, they are also dedicated
to uniting Union Sportsmen and Women to volunteer their time and skills to conservation projects.
IBDW Our Power has the opportunity to visit one of these projects.
Watch and see how IBDW Local 716 and other unions are helping to make 9 miles of trails
accessible in the Trinity River Wildlife Refuge.
This refuge is 25,000 acres of bottom land hardwood forest that is teeming with wildlife,
plants, and other creatures.
It is an area that numerous families and outdoor enthusiasts love to visit, but with over 60
inches of rain a year, the trail system that connects various areas of the park were frequently
flooded and inaccessible.
To fix this problem, the US Fish and Wildlife Service teamed up with the Union Sportsmen's
Alliance, the IBDW, and other unions to build an elevated boardwalk.
This boardwalk is going to provide access to the entire trail system in this area.
Right now the trail is made up in two parts, a small half mile loop and then an approximately
12 to 13 mile multiple route through this area.
This trail will get folks to the longer part of the trail and they'll be able to see various
types of wildlife, deer, unfortunately they'll probably see some wild hogs out here, an occasional
snake and hopefully a lot of birds.
There's been different phases of the boardwalk, mainly the first phase getting across one
section of the park and then we've got another section so it kind of gets high so this is
kind of basically a boardwalk that covers some of the low points of the park and it's
going to be able to give people access to different parts of the park than they'd normally
be able to get to because of the water.
To build each phase of this boardwalk, the crews had to deal with some very unique challenges.
It's been a real challenge, some of these blocks weigh 70, 80 pounds and the lumber
and the metal, everything was hand carried in here, the generators to run the saws, it's
been a long process but we've had a lot of good folks breaking their backs to help us
get it out here.
We anticipate the project to be done hopefully by Thanksgiving but depending on weather and
the availability of crews, it could go beyond that but with the holidays coming up it's
going to be tough, we're going to work at the best we can if we get 15, 20, 25 people
like we have today, it's going great.
The progress is being made with the help of these Union crews but the question remains,
why would these hard working men and women give up their weekend to go work in a hot
bayou?
We got involved with the Union Sportsman Alliance because they believe in our youth, we're
about the youth, they're about safety, they're about preserving the wildlife, giving kids
other options, other things to do besides playing video games so it's a great organization
that believes in wildlife and the youth of our country so it's something that we both
have in common.
The workforce on the ground gives us great opportunities to work with other unions, fellowship
between brothers and sisters from all crafts and trades so it gives us opportunities to
meet, they're again building teamwork, realizing that no matter what trade or skill that you're
a part of, there's things that we can work together with and this is one great project
to be able to do that.
Well, I've been asked why I'm involved in this project several times and I guess my
answer would be the same that any Union brother would answer is that we want to give back
to the community, we want to present ourselves in a positive aspect and show the general
public that unions are good folks and we do a lot of things that's going to benefit the
whole community, not just unions.
The work going is pretty great, it's really nice working with other brothers and sisters
from different trades, different locals in the area.
Giving stuff back to the community, we're fortunate enough to get out and make a good
day's pay and there's just so many people that's unfortunate to have some of the opportunities
we got so anytime we can get out and give something back we try to.
This is the biggest project that's going on, it'll take the longest, it needs the most
staff power out here and without these guys it wouldn't have ever been completed, this
could have not been done with the normal volunteer, there are skills out here to get this boardwalk
completed that we could not have done on our own, we're very fortunate to have the sportsman's
alliance out here to really work on this and get it done right.
For IBEWH, I'm Matthew Walton.
