IATGreenland

GREENLAND BECOMES SEVENTH CHAPTEROF THE INTERNATIONAL APPALACHIAN TRAIL

By

Wilfred E. Richard

International Appalachian Trail – Maine

Paul Wylezol, President

Council of International Appalachian Trails

History

In 1994, the idea of the International Appalachian Trail was put forth by Richard B. Anderson, formerly Maine Commissioner of Conservation, Maine Audubon Director, fisheries biologist, and first President of the Council of International Appalachian Trails. The original Appalachian Trail was established in the 1930s That trail exists in the mountains and in the hills of the eastern United States – from the State of Georgia in the south to the State of Maine in the north.

But, the Appalachian Mountains do not stop in Maine. These mountains continue across the United States / Canada border into Atlantic Canada with northern terminus of trail at L’ Anse aux Meadows; this is where the Greenland Norse landed about one thousand years ago. The Appalachians continue as the Caledonides in Greenland, the islands of the North Atlantic (Faroes, Shetlands, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales) and onto Norway.

Since 1994, both length of trail corridor and number of chapters of the International Appalachian Trail continued to increase. By 2009, trail corridor and chapter members included the State of Maine and the Canadian Provinces of New Brunswick, Québec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Maine to Greenland

For about 10 years IAT – Maine Board Member Will Richard and wife Lindsay have continued to be frequent visitors to Western Greenland with many of those visits to the town of Uummannaq. It was here that Ann Andreasen, Director of the Children’s Home of Uummannaq and of the Uummannaq Polar Institute, became a solid supporter of Greenland as member of the IAT, with the initial trail corridor being located in the mountains and valleys of the Nussuaq Peninsula, a prominent land feature of Uummannaq Fjord. Director Andreasen views establishment of the trail as good for the local economy. Even more importantly, the young people of the Children’s Home use the trail to develop outdoor and personal skills.

Greenland to Maine and Nova Scotia

In late August of 2009, Ann Andreasen, Ole Jørgen Hammeken, René Kristensen, and a dozen students from the Children’s Home visited Maine. Through that visit, plans developed for Greenland to apply for chapter membership. Then in April of 2010, René Kristensen and Hans Gundel came as delegates to Maine and then onto a meeting of the Council of International Appalachian Trails to petition for membership

In April, the Council of International Appalachian Trails at its Annual Meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, announced the IAT seventh chapter, Greenland

Greenland has elected its chapter board with René Kristensen as Director and Founder, Ann Andreasen as Financial Manager and Co-Founder, Lars Poort as Photographer and Co-Founder, Hans Gundel as Member and Trail Hiker, and Jonas Nielsen as Member. IAT – Greenland has written a trail development plan, and established a website (www.IATGreenland.blogspot.com).

. --This summer, IAT- Greenland will have a two- or three-week hike on the Nussuaq Peninsula

The main purpose of the 2010 hike is trail development on the Nussuaq Peninsula and to find solutions for some of the problems we encountered during the hike in 2008 with crossing of rivers and areas with snow. During the hike, we will produce a trail description to be published on the website. As well, news and pictures will be featured on IAT-Greenland website.

The participants in the 2010 hike will be five young boys from the Children´s Home in Uummannaq together with two educators. Three of the hikers are IAT Board members, Hans, Lars, René, who also completed the hike in 2008 as well.

Future Growth of the IAT

At the time of this writing, Scotland announced that it was accepting an invitation to join the IAT. The next likely candidates for this trail which links the mountains of the North American continent with the island states of the North Atlantic are the Faroe and Shetland Islands.

WELCOME GREENLAND!!!

For further information on the International Appalachian Trail Greenland, contact www.iatgreenland.blogspot.com or iat.greenland@gmail.com.

26 May 2010