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America’s Tropical National Rainforest - A Highly Valued Forest Under Duress
Hurricanes Irma and Maria passed over Puerto Rico in September 2017 and left a swath of destruction across the Forest. From the massive number of downed trees to crippled facilities and severely impacted infrastructure, Forest recovery operations will require an increased dedication and a long term collective community effort.
Initial assessments and clean up efforts to El Yunque National Forest ecological resources and facilities are underway and the planning for recovery activities/ projects has begun following the impacts of hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Through the El Yunque Stewardship Fund, the National Forest Foundation (NFF), the U.S. Forest Service and community partners are working together to expand restoration efforts while increasing the collective capacity of local groups to engage in hands-on stewardship and recreational infrastructure improvements.
This National Forest Foundation effort will help to support stewardship activities to restore important sites on the Forest, repair damaged trails, impaired watersheds and habitat, while connecting citizens and communities to the land through collaboration, volunteering and learning opportunities.
The primary objectives for efforts are to:
- Develop partnerships - increasing the amount of funding from businesses and other state and private sources
- Build stewardship capacity - creating programs that increase the number of organizations and individuals working and volunteering
- Increase the number of recreation/trail improvement and forest health projects
Some of the Initial Projects funded were:
- Increased funding through El Yunque’s Friends organization to further rehabilitate the El Toro Wilderness Trail in the Summer 2018
- Rebuild the Bridge on Angelito Trail. This has been funded through the efforts of the Wyndham Rio Mar Resort.