February 2024 News
Park Updates, by Jeanne Barsanti
Heritage Park Eleagnus Removal
On Tuesday February 13 we had 15 hard workers: Lisa Williamson and Gary Burton, Jim the retired forester, Dayle Faulkner, Karen a retired nurse, and 9 UGA students from the College of Business, and me. We destroyed many plants along the creek. It is so much nicer to ride along the horse trails without the invasive olive crowding the trail. Dayle also debermed and further improved the trail going down to bridge #3, the switchback area.
On Tuesday, February 27, we had 8 volunteers: Lisa Williamson and Gary Burton, Dayle and Wendell Faulkner, Carrie who works with the native plant program at the Botanical Garden, Russell and Ryan Greene (my brother- in- law and his son), and me. We killed more plants along the creek, the plants around the barking dog house, and a large number of plants along the back horse trail.
These were the last work dates for this season, but we will be back in the fall. We have made great progress. Many areas of the park are now free of Eleagnus and we have to go farther into the park to find it.
Hard Labor Creek State Park Trails
Hard Labor Creek trails are reopening. The green/grey trails are open. We did reroute around the deeply eroded early part of the trail. A new picnic table has been placed where the old one was crushed by a tree. This is the table that Kel-Mac donated.
The section of blue trail between miles 13 and 15 (between the yellow and red loops) are still closed. We hope to mark a detour soon. The red loop is open and you can ride the orange loop as long as you come back the same way as you go in. The back trail across Fambrough Bridge Rd is open, but the big creek crossing is badly eroded. The creek has been deep, so this crossing is best avoided by using the white trail. We did do a reroute along the steep hill near the swamp so this section is improved.
If you see a problem while riding at HLC, please call the office to report it. They now own a Polaris and can get out on the trail to remove trees and examine problems.
Heritage Park Eleagnus Removal
On Tuesday February 13 we had 15 hard workers: Lisa Williamson and Gary Burton, Jim the retired forester, Dayle Faulkner, Karen a retired nurse, and 9 UGA students from the College of Business, and me. We destroyed many plants along the creek. It is so much nicer to ride along the horse trails without the invasive olive crowding the trail. Dayle also debermed and further improved the trail going down to bridge #3, the switchback area.
On Tuesday, February 27, we had 8 volunteers: Lisa Williamson and Gary Burton, Dayle and Wendell Faulkner, Carrie who works with the native plant program at the Botanical Garden, Russell and Ryan Greene (my brother- in- law and his son), and me. We killed more plants along the creek, the plants around the barking dog house, and a large number of plants along the back horse trail.
These were the last work dates for this season, but we will be back in the fall. We have made great progress. Many areas of the park are now free of Eleagnus and we have to go farther into the park to find it.
Hard Labor Creek State Park Trails
Hard Labor Creek trails are reopening. The green/grey trails are open. We did reroute around the deeply eroded early part of the trail. A new picnic table has been placed where the old one was crushed by a tree. This is the table that Kel-Mac donated.
The section of blue trail between miles 13 and 15 (between the yellow and red loops) are still closed. We hope to mark a detour soon. The red loop is open and you can ride the orange loop as long as you come back the same way as you go in. The back trail across Fambrough Bridge Rd is open, but the big creek crossing is badly eroded. The creek has been deep, so this crossing is best avoided by using the white trail. We did do a reroute along the steep hill near the swamp so this section is improved.
If you see a problem while riding at HLC, please call the office to report it. They now own a Polaris and can get out on the trail to remove trees and examine problems.
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A new picnic table was installed on February 26 on the green trail at Hard Labor Creek State Park. This new table replaced the one that was crushed by a tree last year. Thank you Kel-Mac volunteers! |
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