Everything is organized because each of the 27 operational sections has a certain number of paths to monitor and maintain, but the richness of the paths that Friuli Venezia Giulia boasts justifies the exhortation that the coordinator of the Carnica Paths Commission of the Cai Fvg, Giovanni Cozzarini, issues at the beginning of the summer season: «We ask for the collaboration of all hikers: if you report to us any significant problem you find on a CAI path, we can intervene more quickly and, above all, quickly update the website on which each of our paths is described in detail”.
They are well 650 CAI paths that in a region that is characterized by the well-known red and white trail signs, safety for the hikers who undertake them and constant work for the volunteers who monitor the total 4,200 kilometers of walkways that branch out everywhere, from the karst areas of Trieste and Gorizia to the entire regional mountain, from the Pordenone area to Tarvisio. «In Trieste and Gorizia – says Cozzarini – we work all year round for monitoring and necessary interventionswhile in the mountains operations on the paths are carried out mainly between March and October”. However, the volunteers of the twenty-seven CAI sections have eyes throughout the year because, when the climate does not allow maintenance interventions, «we proceed with inspections and reconnaissance, in order to draw up the most obvious and demanding jobs that need to be carried out. plan», continues the coordinator.
COMPLICATED SITUATIONS
Among the peculiar characteristics of many paths, that of being “wild”, says Cozzarini, “because they climb up rugged, beautiful and fascinating but also tiring slopes, both for hikers and for those who have to take care of their maintenance”. The team of CAI volunteers dedicated to this task are mostly pensioners who make their time available to intervene with materials and equipment purchased with regional funds. «The Region provides around 170 thousand euros a year to support the purchases necessary for the maintenance work carried out by the volunteers», updates Cozzarini. Added to this figure are one hundred thousand euros for the CAI refuges. The combination of the areas of intervention with the CAI sections of reference is historic, even if a review of the subdivisions is now underway, above all to be able to maintain the balance between the tasks and the forces in the field. Even among CAI volunteers, in fact, age is advancing and it is not always a given to find replacement, especially for similar tasks. In fact, the “load” varies depending on the area. If, for example, the Pordenone section monitors 25 paths, the one in Forni di Sopra has 50 to maintain. Maybe shorter than those at the foot of the mountains, but generally certainly more challenging. With the exception of the routes that cross the Friulian Dolomites Park and the Julian Prealps Park, where the organization takes care of the cleaning of the vegetation and the CAI of the signs, all the paths belonging to the Italian Alpine Club are looked after in every aspect by the network of 27 regional CAI sections.
THE INTERVENTIONS
Operationally each section «has a list of numbered paths on which the last intervention and its type are noted, so as to be able to program cyclical work. For unpredictable situations, however, the contribution that hikers can give is important”, reiterates Cozzarini, inviting everyone toare the reports ([email protected]) with photos accompanied by the path number and some information in order to quickly identify the point where the critical issue is located. «Having received the information, I activate the local section for an inspection – reconstructs Cozzarini – and for the arrangement intervention. Unless the problem turns out to be very important right away, in which case we activate a forestry company.” If necessary, the information relating to that path reported on the CAI website is updated in parallel. Where, in the programs, the GPS tracks of all the Cai Fvg paths should be included. «They have already been rebuilt and are present on Infomont, the national CAI website, but we plan to make them available on the regional one too», concludes the coordinator of the commission Giulia Carnica Sentieri.
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