THE INTERNATIONAL APPALACHIAN TRAIL / SENTIER INTERNATIONAL DES APPALACHES: THINKING BEYOND BORDERS

The International Appalachian Trail/Sentier International des Appalaches (IAT/SIA) extends from Mt. Katahdin, Maine northward into the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and ends at Crow Head, the northernmost tip of Newfoundland/Labrador.

The IAT/SIA was envisioned on Earth Day 1994 by Richard Anderson, former Commissioner of Maine's Conservation department, and was made public during the gubernatorial campaign of Joseph Brennan. Brennan captured the international essence of the IAT/SIA with, “This narrow trail connecting the special wild places in each of our political jurisdictions will serve as a reminder that the rivers and forests are our real heritage, our common biological and geological bond” (Brennan, 1994; Portland, Maine).

Tectonic plates hosting continents and ocean basins have been moving over the surface of the earth for billions of years. Approximately 300 mya, drifting continental landmasses collided and merged to form the ancestral “Appalachian Mountains” and a single, unified supercontinent called Pangea.

About 200 mya, Pangea broke up and dispersed, forming the modern continents. The margins of the newly formed continents, now separated by the newly formed Atlantic Ocean, carried terranes of original Appalachian (Pangean) Mountains (Van Staal, 1998). This origin and dispersal of the ancestral Appalachian (Pangean) Mountains confirms the truly international nature of the Appalachian Trail which exists with its own trail names in many countries rimming the North Atlantic basin.

Volunteer driven, the IAT/SIA is making considerable progress working with landowners, hikers, and outdoor conservation organizations and the local, regional and international governments. Since 1998, 86 people have thru-hiked the trail from Mt. Katahdin to Cap Gaspe and 11 have finished the hike at Crow Head, Newfoundland/Labrador. IAT/SIA chapters in Maine, and the maritime provinces have recently formed an IAT/SIA Council to facilitate and coordinate trail development and policy on the longest international hiking trail in the world and to respond to the increasing international interest by other countries around the Atlantic basin.

See: www.internationalat.org