Exciting Project at the Stewart Park Natural Area To Start This Weekend!

This Saturday we are going to start an exciting project at the Natural Area behind the Duck Pond in Stewart Park. We have heard from a lot of people in the community that they do not feel safe going to the Natural Area. Some of the reasons included the illegal encampments, drug use and the trash that had been deposited all throughout the area. Over the past several months we have shut down and cleaned up all the camps. One thing that still needs to be done though is a serious amount of pruning of low lying branches on trees and removing noxious weeds like black berry bushes, poison oak etc. This will improve line of sight and thus safety throughout the entire area and make ongoing maintenance much easier for parks staff. It will also make the area much more enjoyable for the community to use. We want to get lots more people walking, jogging, bird watching and enjoying this area. So this Saturday from 2-5pm we are going to start working in the area along Garden Valley and work towards Stewart Parkway. There will be some trash pickup to do and we will also start the pruning process and making piles for the parks staff to come back and chip. It’s going to be a lot of fun and we will have pizza afterwards. We had a lot of fun at the Winchester Cleanup and this is going to be a walk in the park compared to that project! Let me know in the comments below if you are planning on going and I will reach out to you with a form to sign. Shout out to Nate Frosland for all your help with this! Also want to thank Tracy Pope and Brendon DeMuth and the rest of the Parks Department for all your help!