Earth Day attracts volunteers for planting trees in the park
The weather showed blue skies and provided shade from a few clouds for the crowd of more than 100 tree planters.
Last Saturday, the Denzil Stewart Nature Park, located in a secluded spot in southeast Logan, became the gathering spot for anyone interested in contributing to the environment for Earth Day. At 10 a.m. the event opened with signing waivers and a brief explanation of gardening tips. By 11, most had found their spot in the park, ready to work.
Karen Rutel, a resident of Logan who learned of the event through newspaper, stood around a small shrub with her husband Marvin and father-in-law Al, and said, “They told me this is a cherry tree.” She then explained that she was not too familiar in categorizing trees but when she heard about the event she wanted to make sure to be there.
“I’m always looking for theses kinds of outings. I just like to do anything to make a difference in the environment,” she said. The Rutels had never been to Denzil Stewart Nature Park before and described the scenery as beautiful and worth coming back to.
Since March 21, 1970, Earth Day – initiated in San Francisco – has been globally celebrated as an opportunity for people to give something back to the environment. In 1994, people in Logan gathered to do projects for Earth Day, but after a couple years, the event died off. Then, in 2002, the Utah Conservation Corporation decided it wanted to make an annual tradition of celebrating Earth Day.
“This year, we wanted to give the community a chance to do a project that has meaning, to plant native shrubs back into Logan to preserve Logan’s native feel,” said Sean Damitz, program director of the UCC.
Damitz also commented that this has been the best attendance they’ve seen since 2002, attracting just more than 100 volunteers. He said that every year the UCC will be certain to offer Cache Valley residents a chance to enjoy such a rewarding activity, making Earth Day a tradition in Logan.
The UCC received help from several sources. Carrie Wyler, the volunteer coordinator of UCC, said Tree Utah was generous to donate the 75 trees and plants for the event – all native to Logan. The list of trees included snow cherry, alder-leaf, mountain mahogany, rubber rabbitbrush, Apache plum, mountain sage, fernbrush and west sand cherry.
Wyler also said Caffé Ibis, The Old Griss Mill and Crumb Brothers helped in donating the food for the event as well.
“It took a lot of phone calls and getting out advertisements,” she said. “But, the work put into getting this organized is rewarding.” Wyler had moved to Logan a year ago because of Cache Valley’s distinctive scenery and got involved in the UCC immediately, she said.
At least half of the volunteers present that day were students from Utah State University, said Hayley Olsen, a senior in environmental studies. Olsen explained that this was her third year participating in the event.
“I guess it’s pretty obvious why I’m here,” she said. “It’s a good excuse to get outside, especially on a nice day like this. I also just like to plant trees.” Olsen also clarified that the work was not as hard as it may sound.
“No one usually plants a tree by themselves,” she said. “People usually do it in good-sized groups for an opportunity to hang out with friends.”
Sean Damitz said the UCC was also sponsoring another event this summer on June 4 for National Trails Day. For anyone interested, he said they would be cleaning up trails and any other spring cleaning activities that would be needed. They are meeting at First Dam in Logan Canyon at 8:30 a.m., and Damitz invited anyone interested to come.
-bretpmorley@cc.usu.edu
Students and members of the community dig holes and fill them in with newly planted trees at Denzil Stewart Nature Park Saturday morning for an Earth Day activity sponsored by the Utah Conservation Corps and Tree Utah. The trees are all native species to Cache Valley. (Photo by Michael Sharp)
Brian Wiebler of Tree Utah discusses the proper burial depth for planting trees during his demonstration. (Photo by Michael Sharp)
Children at the tree planting created an Earth Day poster as part of the children´s activities. (Photo by Michael Sharp)
Andreé Walker from USU´s Water Quality Extension, helps children and adults collect and identify aquatic microinvertibrates like crane flies and mayflies (Photo by Michael Sharp)