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NEWS

Volunteers to Improve Harvest Square on National Public Lands Day

October 10, 2024
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Land Trust of North Alabama celebrated National Public Lands Day and kicked off the final year of a significant three-year project to enhance Harvest Square Nature Preserve with support from Toyota and the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) on Saturday, September 28.

Improvements and repairs were made to boardwalks and docks around the preserve, adding final touches to the significant trail projects completed over the past two years.

National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event for public lands. Created and coordinated by NEEF, NPLD is held annually on the fourth Saturday in September and brings out thousands of volunteers to help enhance parks, forests, and waterways around the country.

Throughout the morning, volunteers helped complete a variety of trail and infrastructure improvements at Harvest Square Nature Preserve. Projects included constructing and repairing benches alongside the trails, completing maintenance and additions to boardwalks and docks around the preserve, tending to the pollinator garden, installing a rain collection system at the garden, and improving trail signage. This effort is part of a multi-year project made possible with grant funding provided by Toyota and NEEF and focused on improving accessibility throughout the trails, enhancing the natural environment, and providing unique educational features and programs on this property.

A gutter and two rain barrels were installed around the kiosk and storage shed near the trail entrance. This rain collection system will support garden maintenance needs.

Harvest Square Nature Preserve, a 69-acre property open from dawn to dusk daily, provides a much-needed natural escape for wildlife and people in a highly developed area of our community, including over two miles of trails for the public to enjoy and two naturally-stocked ponds for fishing. Near the trail entrance, just behind the information kiosk, you’ll find a native plant pollinator garden designed to provide food and habitat for critical pollinators and help educate the community about the importance of implementing native gardening practices in your own yard.

Volunteers from Toyota joined us to help with the project, including adding a bench to the new boardwalk along Terry Pond.

Plan a visit to Harvest Square Nature Preserve to see and enjoy these improvements first-hand. Trails are free, thanks to support of Land Trust members, and open dawn to dusk daily. Trail map and information at landtrustnal.org/harvest-square-preserve.

Benches throughout the preserve were repaired and resurfaced using composite material that will withstand the elements better over time.