Naval Air Station Whidbey Island participated in the Armed Forces Day Volunteer Project on Saturday, May 19 to repair the Bluff Trail at Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve.

Base Commander Capt. Geoffrey Moore and Executive Officer Cmdr. James Rankin of NAS Whidbey helped with the repairs along with several members from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command environmental team and members from the Navy Occupational Safety and Health department.

“This trail is getting 600,000 users a year,” said Roy Zipp, the operations manager of National Parks Services for Ebey’s Reserve. “We are having to address the incredible increase in visitation, and our goal today was to arrest the erosion that’s taking place and try to prevent the bypassing of switchbacks that’s occurring because people are not staying on the trail.”

The day began with everyone hauling the needed tools and supplies up the cliffside and along the trail to the various designated locations. The beachside team began closing off the bypass trails by erecting blockades at each possible entrance while filling the bypass trails with driftwood that will encourage soil buildup and therefore enable plant life to return and cover the path.

The bluff team constructed footboards along the trail that prevent water erosion and also provide stable footing for any hikers that may be traversing the steeper aspects of the trail.

“We’re really interested in getting people out to the parks, especially parks people may not know about,” said Rob Smith, the northwest region director for the National Parks Conservation Association.

“(We are) also trying to fill the need through volunteer work that the parks can’t afford to do,” Smith said. “What we were able to do today would take a crew of a couple people all week, and we were able to knock it out in a matter of hours.”

“We appreciated the opportunity to come out and work with our former heroes in The Mission Continues, but also to work with our partners at Ebey’s Reserve,” said Moore.

“OLF Coupeville is part of Ebey’s Reserve so it’s important that we work together and continue our hand in the history of the Reserve and the history of naval aviation in the reserve as well.”