Community Volunteer Day in Franklin Park
This natural area is home to beautiful rock outcrops, heritage trees, and miles of wandering trails. However, it needs our help to stay healthy and remain an important park for us and future generations. We hope that by bringing people together to work towards restoring the ecological health of the Wilderness, we can showcase this area's beauty and potential.
There is limited street parking near the entrance we are meeting at, so we also encourage you to bike, walk, or take public transit. There is also public parking at the Playstead and Giraffe Gate of the zoo, which is about a 10 minute walk to the school street entrance.
The focus of the event is to cleanup trash and glass from the site, clean up trails, and remove invasive understory plants like knotweed, all of which are done to improve overall forest health and increase visibility into the woods. There will be lots of learning opportunities for residents of all ages and backgrounds.
The event will happen, rain or shine. We will cancel in the case of extreme weather such as thunderstorms.
Staff will provide all the tools, supplies, and instruction needed for the project(s). Please dress in comfortable & weather-appropriate clothing, as well as closed toe shoes. We recommend participants bring their own water, snacks, sunscreen, and bug spray. All ages are welcome, we just ask to note if any children will be joining for the day!
For the understory plant removal aspect, expect to be utilizing hand cutting tools like loppers and pruners, moving brush, raking, and maybe even kneeling/crouching. Please let us know in the form if you have any special accommodations or needs in order to joyfully participate!
We would also love to hear your ideas for future projects!