News : AmeriCorps members helping improve Nature Trail, county parks

Mayor John Watson met with AmeriCorps members who are working on local park projects.

AmeriCorps NCCC members will spend a few weeks helping Benton Co. Conservation.

Vinton Mayor John Watson visited the Oak 5 AmeriCorps NCCC team on Tuesday, as they worked on clearing invasive species from the tree lines at Rodgers Park. The team will also widen the Old Creamery Nature Trail and has been conducting controlled burns on some park areas.

Team members also helped at the Easter Egg Hunt at Rodgers Park on Saturday; one of the guys even put on the costume and played The Easter Bunny.

More about the project and NCCC:

The NCCC team of 10 from the North Central Region campus in Vinton, Iowa is widening and otherwise improving the Creamery Trail, cleaning up local watersheds and removing invasive vegetation while reintroducing native species. Much of these tasks are necessary due to the damages caused by severe windstorms in 2011.

Through their service, NCCC members are creating safer, more aesthetically appealing and more accessible natural areas for recreation. In addition, the team’s service keeps Benton County’s natural environment in pristine condition and its waters purer.

“I am really excited to help out on the Creamery Trail because I love trail maintenance, nature and sight-seeing,” says NCCC team member Cameron Chiles from Fort Worth, Texas

Benton County Conservation began in 1956 and is dedicated to providing educational and recreational opportunities while protecting the quality of the county’s sustainable natural resources and its natural heritage. Benton County Conservation offers quiet and serene natural areas, hiking and river trails, campgrounds and Hannen Lake Park, one of Iowa’s first county parks.

The AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and its FEMA Corps units engage approximately 2,800 young Americans in a full-time, 10-month commitment to service each year. AmeriCorps NCCC members address critical needs related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, and urban and rural development; FEMA Corps members are solely dedicated to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery work. The programs are administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). CNCS is the federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads President's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov.