If Polk County Trails Coordinator Seth Young is not in his office at the Mill Spring Ag Center, he’s most likely somewhere in Polk County creating a new hiking trail or remarking boundaries and surveying existing trails.

Young works for the county’s recreation department and was hired in September through AmeriCorps, a nonprofit program designed to help adults engage in public service work with the goal of helping others meet critical needs in the community.

“I grew up in rural, central Pennsylvania,” he recounted. “I grew up being outside a lot because there wasn’t really a whole lot going on in my hometown. I grew to love and enjoy being out in nature and after graduating high school I knew I wanted to do something in the conservation or outdoor recreation field.”

Before graduating from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania with a double major in geography and environmental science, and a minor in geographic information systems (GIS), Young immersed himself in a trail club internship through the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, which he needed in order to graduate.

“I worked with a trail crew on the Appalachian Trail in Maine for a summer,” Young said. “That was sort of my introduction to trails and how to build trails and what all went into all of that — camping and building trails every day.”

Following his college education, Young said he applied for a position at the Montana Conservation Corps based in Helena, Mont. and was accepted to do more trails projects and trail construction.

He then received a position the following season with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in West Virginia doing boundary work to remark trails that already exist. According to Young, his position with the county through AmeriCorps is part of a larger program called Project Conserve, which Young said promotes conservation and environmental education in western North Carolina.

“I wanted something that was more like management type stuff to get a new perspective into what goes on into trails and communities,” Young said.

Young said the appeal of the coordinator position is being able to mold the job as he sees fit with his supervisor and Polk County Recreation Director Jerry Stensland.

“He’s been able to leave it open to me day by day, so it’s been great to learn some new skills and stay busy with a variety of projects,” Young said. “One day I could be out building or clearing a trail and the next day I could be working on one of my projects in the office like building a webpage, running our Facebook or overseeing the after school hiking program at the middle school.”

The after school hiking program at Polk County Middle School known as Nature Navigators was created in the fall last year, according to Young, by sixth grade science teacher Rowann Hoy. Each Wednesday, a group of eight to 15 sixth graders get the opportunity to hike one of the county’s nature trails to learn about the local flora, fauna and history.

In addition to the new Nature Navigators club, Young said the middle school is working on adding a new, 2.5-mile system of trails to the recreation complex behind the school.

“We believe this trail system will be a valuable asset to the hiking club, the middle school mountain bike club, teachers with their classes and citizens who want to go for a hike or quick ride on their mountain bike,” Young explained. “Many of the trails have been a part of the community for a number of years, but this does not mean that the network of trails here in Polk is done expanding.”

Young said a database of the county’s trails is found at polktrails.org where visitors have access to the county’s network of trails complete with specific information and photos. Visitors to the website can also check the weather, and obtain a calendar of outdoor events in the area.

Copies of the trails brochure, created by Polk Fit, Fresh and Friendly, are available at Stearns Gym in Columbus, Young said.

“Many of the students had never been on trail prior to joining the hiking club and the main intention of the club was to introduce trails as a place to go to relieve stress, get some exercise and foster a bond with nature as they grow into adults,” Young explained. “There are many ways to get involved with trails here in Polk.”