When Jeff Ashley of Bala Cynwyd arrived at the Forbes State Forest office in Laughlintown, he quickly gravitated to an informational kiosk just installed by a group of college interns.

“That’s exactly what we wanted to happen,” said Ed Callahan, district forester at the office. “We’re hopeful that people will see our kiosk when they pull into our office.”

“I love this area, with all the state parks,” said Ashley, a first-time visitor on Monday with his wife and two children. “Are there hiking trails?”

The kiosk is a finishing touch that offers information about plants to be found in the adjacent Bob Ache Memorial Forest and Arboretum. Developed last year with funding from several foundations, a mile-long walking trail invites visitors to explore 16 tree species, as well as pollinator-friendly wildflowers, that add interest to the site honoring a former district forester.

“We want people to come and use (the trail), not only for exercise or peace and solitude, but to learn about pollinator habitat and some of our native tree species,” said Callahan.

Trail plantings, as well as wild flora and fauna, provided an educational experience for Pat Treacy, 21, of Pittsburgh and three fellow interns who helped with summer tasks at the state forest.

“We’ve been taking notes of the insects we’ve been finding,” said Treacy, a senior environmental engineering major at the University of Pittsburgh. “There were some monarch butterfly caterpillars the other day.”

Interns are employed through the Loyalhanna Watershed Association’s Youth Conservation Corps, which has been supported for three decades by annual grants from the Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation. This year’s funding of about $18,000 provided college stipends of $2,500 each for corps members and covered other costs as they performed manual chores benefiting both the forest and the watershed.

Between digging post holes, setting a concrete foundation and assembling wooden pieces from a state Bureau of Forestry kit, building the kiosk took more than a week and taught crew members new skills. A Bureau of Forestry forklift raised the shingled roof into place.

“Learning to use hand tools was something I’d never been exposed to before,” said Camryn Keeno, 20, of Derry Township, a junior environmental science major at Chatham University. “It was a lot of hard work. It was difficult to learn, but I got there.”

Though the interns were eased into manual tasks, “you do push yourself a little bit because it’s something you’re passionate about, to get the job done,” said Sydney Damon, 19, of Ligonier Borough, a sophomore neuroscience major at Pitt.

“They did a fantastic job,” said Callahan.

This year’s conservation corps program was shortened from eight weeks to six weeks because of a delay in the release of state guidelines, during the covid-19 pandemic, and two prospective interns were unable to wait for the delayed start, according to veteran crew leader Bill Repko of Unity Township.

With the forestry office short-staffed and unable to schedule usual volunteer work days, the corps’ labor proved more valuable than ever for helping to manage natural areas.

“Bill and his crew have picked up a lot of that,” Callahan said.

“It’s different every year,” Repko said of the crew’s work itinerary. “There’s always a lot to do.”

The to-do list interns worked on included installing a sign near the Laughlintown office that features an image of Smokey Bear and alerts residents to the relative risk local conditions pose for potential forest fires.

The corps also helped clear away tree growth encroaching on ponds and trimmed back brush along hiking trails.

This week they are scheduled to complete their final task — blazing a new connector between Roaring Run and Tower Road trails, to encourage more hikers to use the latter path, which is relatively easy to maintain.

The students jumped at the chance to intern with a program that would keep them outdoors while helping to protect the local environment and promote recreation in the wild.

“Being able to work on the trails was a lot of fun, especially since a lot of them were places I’d never gone,” said Damon. “I just love being outdoors and being able to give back to the state forests that I love to use.”

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