Winter weather perfect for annual prairie work day
BRADY TWP — Frozen ground covered in snow created the perfect conditions Saturday, Jan. 17, for the annual “Prairie Improvement Day” at Jennings Environmental Education Center.
Working on frozen ground reduces the impact the 90 volunteers had on the prairie habitat, said Miranda Crotsley, program coordinator at Jennings.
The other reason the work day has taken place on the third Saturday in January for the last 25 years is the endangered massasauga rattlesnake is in hibernation, she said.
“This is the perfect time of year and perfect weather for this,” Crotsley said.
The volunteers gathered at 9 a.m., fueled up for the cold day with breakfast sandwiches prepared by Boy Scouts from Prospect, and were divided into groups led by park staff before heading into the woods.
Armed with chain saws and clippers, the volunteers cut woody shrubs to manage the prairie ecosystem. The cuttings were then carried to wooded areas surrounding the prairie and placed in piles to create habitat for birds and other wildlife. Before settlement, grazing animals like elk would have eaten the shrubs and kept the prairie land open, Crotsley said.
“This is a tremendous help,” she said, adding that the park has only one maintenance worker during the winter.
She said the Scouts, as well as some of the volunteers present on Saturday, have helped at the improvement day since it began.
“It’s a committed group of folks,” Crotsley said.
Three friends who volunteered for the first time said they came because they love the outdoors.
“We’re hikers and this is a perfect complement to that,” said Polly Goettler of Butler, who came with friends Donna Blasko, of Meridian, and Connie Shoemaker, of Cabot.
The three are members of the Orchard Hill Church women’s hiking group and thought the improvement day would make a fulfilling service project.
“Everybody here loves being outdoors. This is a natural way to give back,” Goettler said.
Goettler added that exercise and making new friends are bonuses.
An outdoor enthusiast, Goettler said she recently joined the North Country Trail Association and has completed the nonprofit Pennsylvania Parks and Forest Foundation’s “See Them All Challenge” that involves visiting all 124 state parks and 10 state forests.
Shoemaker said the improvement day was a great addition to the list of new experiences she is seeking. She said she her goal to do 60 new things before her 60th birthday.
“I’m doing six new things per month until I turn 60 in October,” Shoemaker said.
The women also said they learned a lot about the park’s history, geology and activities at the park’s education center before they started working.
