Park love: Ways to give back to green spaces that carried us through the pandemic
Written by Jim Deegan on May 31, 2021
Park love: Ways to give back to green spaces that carried us through the pandemic
By Megan Frank
May 31, 2021
Pennsylvania’s parks have been the place to be during the pandemic.
State parks saw an increase of more than 7 million visitors last year and the trend is expected to continue.
There are ways to return the favor to your favorite green space.
Rob Neitz is the park manager at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center in Nazareth.
Neitz says the 1,200-acre park saw a 200% increase in visitors last year.
“We have 121 state parks across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Neitz says. “…It’s absolutely a positive thing that people were finding refuge here in our parks.”
He suggests volunteering as one way for those guests to give back.
“The resource that kind of saved you during the pandemic, you can give back to directly. We can always use an extra hand with litter pickup and with other projects that we have throughout the year,” Neitz says.
Many parks in the region host volunteer days, he says, including opportunities to plant trees or to pull invasive weeds.
He also suggests donating to park projects that repair walking and biking trails.
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