News

Volunteers needed: Plans set for 40th annual Earth Day cleanup at Mill Creek MetroParks

About 150 Boy Scouts from the Youngstown area are pitching in to clear litter and winter debris from the Mill Creek MetroParks, in recognition of Earth Day on April 22. But with more than 40 MetroParks locations in the area, they’ll need some help, according to a Thursday news release from the Boy Scouts of America Great Trail Council. The 40th Annual Mill Creek MetroParks Earth Day Cleanup is set for 9 a.m. to noon April 23 — rain or shine — throughout the MetroParks. Coordinators are expected to retrieve supplies from the Wick Recreation Area’s Bresko Pavilion, 1861 McCollum Road, before meeting with teams around the MetroParks.

More volunteer help is needed along the MetroParks’ shorelines and creeks, the release states. Cleanup efforts will be focused around Mill Creek Park, Yellow Creek Park and the MetroParks Farm. “In 39 years, more than 13,000 participants have volunteered more than 40,000 hours to clean various areas of the MetroParks,” the news release states. “Just in the past 20 years, more than 23,000 bags of trash and 1,500 bags of recyclables along with numerous loose items such as tires, toys, furniture, pipes, wood crates, electronic items and even the proverbial kitchen sink, have been removed. Each year, there are fewer bags of trash but more bags of recyclables.”

The Mahoning County Green Team’s recycling division is expected to provide supplies like trash and recycling bags, gloves and reacher tools. For more information or to sign up yourself or your church group, school, business or family to volunteer, click here to email cleanup chairman Mike Kupec, or call 330-519-3988 by April 11.

Read the original article at Mahoning Matters.

Mill Creek MetroParks clearing half of bikeway for winter walkers

Mill Creek MetroParks is making it a little easier for winter walkers on the bikeway.

They are plowing half of the bike trail between Metro Parks Farm and the Mahoning Avenue Park and Ride facility.

While one side will be cleared for walkers, the other side will remain snow-covered for cross country skiers that frequent the trail.

“Our hope is certainly that more people will get out during the winter months. When you’ve got the amount of snow that we have it can make it difficult but our efforts are to balance the bikeway for as many users as possible,” Mill Creek Metroparks Director Aaron Young told 21 News.

Young says the decision to plow half of the bikeway is being made to keep the MetroParks an appealing destination over all four seasons.

This is the first year the MetroParks will attempt to create a hybrid bike path during the winter season.

View original article at WFMJ.