HS National Park to hold volunteer events for Trail Recovery Project
Hot Springs National Park starts the first of three public volunteer events today as part of its Trail Recovery Leaders Project.
The project, which started in 2021, is organized by Luke Greer, the park’s community volunteer ambassador, to bolster community engagement and stewardship of Hot Springs National Park.
Last year, the Trail Recovery Leaders Project contributed more than 400 volunteer hours, Kendra Barat, Hot Springs National Park volunteer coordinator, said. The program also cleared invasive species from almost 1.5 miles of trail and removed graffiti from two historic stone overlooks.
Another purpose of the project is to empower youths in the community, providing leadership experience and fostering an appreciation for public land stewardship, she said.
As such, each event will be led by a small group of trained youth volunteers from the Hot Springs community.
“So Luke has recruited … six youth volunteers from the community to run the events,” Barat said. “As National Park Service staff, we’re going to be there to support and help, but it is primarily the job of these youth volunteers to conduct or lead the whole event.”
She said they “can build leadership skills, they can kind of gain confidence. They learn about the National Park Service mission and preserving and protecting our park and how to be ambassadors for that kind of stewardship in their own community.”
The three volunteer events will be held on three consecutive Saturdays beginning today with a trail trash cleanup, which is a new addition to the program.
“We’ve added a trash cleanup. This year we’re going to start on West Mountain, on one of the overlooks, for the trash cleanup,” Barat said.
July 30 will be dedicated to invasive plant species removal, and Aug. 6 will be dedicated to the removal of graffiti from HSNP’s historic stone overlooks. All events will be held from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. each day.
“We want to get the Hot Springs community involved in the park. And these are kind of tangible volunteer events that they can look at and say ‘Yes, I picked up trash from the park’ or ‘I helped curb invasive species,” Barat said.
People of all ages and skill levels are welcome to participate. Water and snacks will be provided by Friends of Hot Springs National Park. All participants should bring their own reusable water bottle to reduce the usage of single-use plastics.
To sign up for one, two, or all three events, sign up on http://www.volunteer.gov. For more information about the Trail Recover Summer Volunteer Days, call Barat at 501-620-6702 or email her at hosp_volunteers@nps.gov.