GREAT FALLS — Giant Springs State Park and First People’s Buffalo Jump State Park are looking for volunteers to help clean and maintain nature trails.
On May 1st, Giant Springs and Buffalo Jump will host a beginner training session for those interested in volunteering. The training event will acquaint volunteers with the parks, while describing their trail maintenance needs.
“Basically, we’re looking for volunteers because, especially here at Giant Springs, but First People’s Buffalo Jump as well, has an extensive trail network,” said Alex Sholes, manager of Giant Springs State Park. “Giant Springs has nearly 30 miles of trail and it’s a lot for our small staff to maintain, so we’re really hoping to get some help from the public and maintaining those trails.”
The event will start at 9 a.m. at the Giant Springs State Park Ranger Station on May 1st, and will wrap up around noon.
There will be an overview of common tools used, and volunteers will be able to get hands-on practice with trail maintenance techniques.
After the volunteers are educated on maintaining the trails, they will be responsible for helping to keep the trails clear and clean.
There will also be additional trail maintenance events throughout the year for the volunteers.
“I think, especially this year with Covid, we’ve all come to appreciate the outdoors even more so than we did before, it was kinda that escape and that release, so we really think that with all that nature has given us in the past year or so especially, it’s some way to give back and kind of get involved and learn a little bit more about the area that we live in,” said Kylee Meyer, AmeriCorps Education & Interpretation Steward at First People’s Buffalo Jump State Park.
There’s no limit to the number of volunteers needed for trail maintenance, but if you’d like to attend the event and sign up to be a volunteer, you must register for the event by contacting the Giant Springs Ranger Station.
