Trail makeover with Friends of Deckers Creek

On April 22nd (EARTH DAY!) I arrived in Morgantown, WV to meet with Friends of Deckers Creek (FODC) OSM VISTA, Doug Gilbert.  FODC is a nonprofit watershed organization that strives to improve the water quality of Deckers Creek through water remediation projects, community outreach and public education.  It is FODC's goal that by 2020 Deckers Creek and its tributaries will be healthy enough to provide clean, safe, and accessible areas for water-related recreation (e.g., kayaking; fishing).  

Doug introduced me to a couple of the staff at FODC and then informed me we would be hosting a volunteer outing for a group of West Virginia University students.  The day's mission: to widen a walking trail at FODC's Outdoor Learning Park (OLP), a local green space adjacent to Deckers Creek that is used for light recreation and education opportunities.  Apparently the width of the trail was restricting the amount of people that could walk on the trail and if someone were to meet another individual while walking on the trail they would have to step off the trail rather than simply walking by them.  The City of Morgantown's Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners provided equipment so that we could complete the task. 

Arriving to meet the Friends of Deckers Creek Executive Director, Liz Wiles, and Water Remediation Project Manager, Tim Denicola.

 We met the group at the OLP and got right to work!  With only a few hours to work we focused heavily on moving the existing rock border and removing grass in order to widen the trail.  The students worked diligently and really seemed to enjoy getting the opportunity to spend Earth Day outdoors doing something that would benefit the community.  Unfortunately the goal of completing the project in the allotted time proved to be a bit ambitious.  The group did put a huge dent in the amount of work that needed to be done, and if I was not a paper doll I believe I could have better contributed to the project.  Doug says that he will work with FODC's Volunteer Coordinator to recruit community members to finish the project in May.  

While we were unable to complete the project our efforts did receive good press coverage.  Both the Dominion Post and the Daily Athenaeum, the City's newspaper and WVU's student newspaper, respectively, covered the event.  It was exciting to see how interested the media was in covering the collaborative work between FODC and WVU students.  

West Virginia University students and OSM VISTA Doug Gilbert after a hard day of trail construction.