Girl Scout restores Finch’s nature trail for the blind

When 18-year-old Darlea Chatburn decided to undertake a community project to earn Girl Scout’s highest award, the Gold Award, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

Chatburn’s project was to restore portions of the Touch and See Nature Trail at Finch Arboretum. The trail is designed for blind people and is in the 57-acre tree preserve at Sunset and Woodland boulevards. The trail loops around a hill, with a guide rope strung between posts. Nearly every post has a plaque with descriptions of the plants written in Braille and text.

“I chose the project because I’d been around it since I was really young. When I was in a Brownie troop, and later on when I was a little older, we did a ‘green it and clean it’ service project there, where you clean up a park or some place outside, to renew it for spring.

“Through that process I noticed that the trail was really a mess and so when it came time to do my Gold Award that was the first thing I thought of. There was no question,” said Chatburn, a Lewis and Clark High School graduate and Eastern Washington University freshman.

“Many of the poles were rotting and falling over. Large chunks of rope were entirely missing and the rest of it was beginning to grow moss. The trail itself was quite uneven with large rocks and roots sticking up which would have been easy to trip on. There also was one broken plaque on the trail. I replaced all of the rope and the rotten and missing posts. I replaced the broken plaque and evened out the trail by adding dirt and removing some of the large rocks,” Chatburn wrote in her project summary.

Before she could even begin to work on the project, Chatburn spent two years earning numerous badges, pins and awards. It took her 85 hours to complete her Gold Award project.

Chatburn said that the Parks and Recreation Department supported the project, and she and Sally Sullivan, Finch Arboretum gardener, created a plan of perpetual care for the trail.

A party was held Dec. 4 with family, friends, mentors and project helpers to celebrate Chatburn’s Gold Award. She credits Western Wood, Ziggy’s, Inland Northwest Wildlife and the Spokane Central Lions Club with helping make the project possible.

“I was amazed at how many people came through and used the trail while we were working on it. There are a lot of really nice things at the arboretum for people to see if they haven’t been there,” said Chatburn.