Helping out in the park

I volunteer with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy to deal with invasive, non-native plant species that are crowding out native species in the parks. It was the PPC who restored the beautiful fountain and garden area at the Highland Avenue entrance to the park.

Today I removed 2 large bags of garlic mustard from two places in the park: one came from the foot bridge at the Connecting Trail and the other came from the western part of the walkway around Reservoir #1. Volunteers like me are called Urban Eco-Stewards--and you can be one too if you're interested in helping out.

The PPC is also responsible for creating new trails in the parks. With the help of other organizations such as the Student Conservation Association they have created or restored:

• The Babbling Brook and trail from the Microfiltration Plant down the hill to the rear of the swimming pool
  
• The Elm Grove trail which leads from Elm Grove on Lake Drive (near the Stanton Avenue entrance to the park) down to the Velodrove on Washington Boulevard.
• The Connecting Trail which starts at Connecting Road below the Farmhouse and leads to the "seven bumps" area between Jackson Road and Lake Drive
• Bigelow Trail from the outer loop of Reservoir Drive just over the top of the hill from Reservoir #1 down to the area near the volleyball court; and there's an extension to this trail that connects to Bigelow Grove