GREENFIELD – Calling all nature lovers: volunteers are needed to help clear Hancock County’s trails for the spring and summer seasons.
Local opportunities are coming up for those who don’t mind getting their hands a little dirty to clear public parks and pathways of invasive species.
Pennsy Trails will have a work day April 20, where honeysuckle will be cleared from 9 a.m. to noon along the trail from Hancock County Road 400 west to 300 West. Bring your own gloves and drinking water, said board President Mary Ann Wietbrock, and help prepare the trails for safe travel throughout the warm months. The meetup address is 424 S. 400W., Greenfield.
Then on April 27, the Pennsy Trail will have a work day on a Monarch butterfly waystation. The event is 9 a.m. to noon just west of Washington Village Apartments. Visit pennsytrails.org to sign up and connect.
In Greenfield, a weed wrangle is coming up at Thornwood Nature Preserve and volunteers are needed to rid the park of garlic mustard.
The event is at 1 p.m. April 27 at the city’s nature park, 1606 S. Morristown Pike, Greenfield. It’s organized by the Hancock County Master Gardener Association and the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Bring gloves and dress for the weather.
But the event is not all work: learn more about the environment while you’re there. Participants will learn about the native plants springing up as they bloom in their habitat. Elaine Whitfield, a master gardener; and Jenni Leary, master naturalist, will lead a wildflower identification walk to see the full spectrum of the spring flowers in bloom.
The mission is to increase knowledge and awareness about the threat that invasive plant species have on the environment. For more, call Hancock County Purdue Extension at 317-462-1113.
