UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. (AP) — In a rugged patch of the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee, volunteers size up a massive, gnarled tree lying on its side. Its tangled web of roots and dark brown soil, known as a root ball, is roughly the size of a large kiddie pool.
The collection of volunteers and staff from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and local organizations, doesn’t plan to move the tree. Instead, their job is filling the gaping holes left by it and many other downed trees along iconic East Coast trail.
Almost a year since Hurricane Helene tore through the mountains of the Southeast, restoration is still ongoing. In places like the Appalachian Trail it’s powered primarily by volunteers, at a time when…