Volunteers Take The Lead At Montgomery County Parks

SILVER SPRING, Md. (WUSA) - Saturday, April 4, more than 1,000 volunteers cleaned up at more than 35 Montgomery park locations as part of the 21st annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, www.PotomacCleanup.org

"Our sincerest thanks to all the volunteers cleaning up in the parks this past Saturday," said Department of Parks Group Volunteer Coordinator Lynn Vismara. "But don't worry, there are lots more opportunities this spring to get your hands dirty by lending a hand!"

Throughout April, the Montgomery County Department of Parks has a variety of volunteer opportunities available:

- Garlic Mustard Challenge, various park locations and times, April 18, 25, and 26

An exciting community challenge to pull all the Garlic mustard- an invasive weed that kills park trees you can, with chances to win prizes. For a complete list of times and locations, see www.WeedWarrior.org<>.

- Anacostia Watershed Earth Day Cleanups, various park locations times, April 18 and 19

Our Earth Day park cleanups focus on the stream areas that affect the Anacostia Watershed. Cleanup sites include Long Branch, Matthew Henson Trail and several locations along Sligo Creek, part of the Friends of Sligo Creek's annual "Sweep the Creek." For more information see www.AnacostiaWS.org.

- Muddy Branch Greenway Trail Construction, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm, April 18

Come help finish the newest portion of this long-distance trail from Gaithersburg to Blockhouse Point and the C&O Canal. This workday will focus on excavating and flattening the trail surface with hand tools between Esworthy and River roads. For more trail volunteer opportunities, see www.MontgomeryTrails.org.

- Black Hill Regional Park Trail Maintenance, 9:30 am 1:00 pm, April 19

Join Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE) for a day of great spring work in one of our most popular regional parks. Work will entail deberming edges with hand tools to improve drainage, minor rerouting, painting tree-blazes to mark the trails and other tasks as needed. For more trail volunteer opportunities, see www.MontgomeryTrails.org.

To volunteer with the Montgomery County Department of Parks and to find more about these and other opportunities, visit www.ParksVolunteers.org.