Hitting the Trail

The Lackawanna River Heritage Trail is one of the treasures of the area, but it needs constant attention. That's the job of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail Ambassadors a volunteer group that works to maintain the trail.

Last weekend the "Great NEPA Cleanup," sponsored by the the Northeastern Pennsylvania Conservation Alliance and the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority (LHVA), was the occasion for the beginning of trail cleanup activities that will carry through to the fall.

The Great NEPA CleanUp is part of the Great American Cleanup of PA. Pennsylvanians across the state turned out to clean up trash and debris from neighborhoods and communities, roads, business districts, streams and rivers and parks and forests.

Despite sometimes raw weather volunteers, including ninth-grade science club students from Mid Valley High school and members of the local Trout Unlimited chapter, gathered to conduct the cleanup of the trail.

One of the focuses of this year's efforts is the removal of an aggressive and invasive plant species, Japanese knotweed. The plant spreads through an aggressive root system. The LHVA recently learned about the successful techniques being used by a group of professionals at the Wayne and Pike County Conservation Districts. Len Grover, of the Wayne County Conservation District, recently accompanied Ashlyn Haglund Gomez of the LHVA, spending a day talking to students at the Mid Valley. The students are planning to "adopt" a section of the trail.

Residents who would like to learn more about the Trail Ambassadors program can attend the group's meeting on Tuesday, May 10, at 6 p.m. at the Valley Community Library, 739 River St., Peckville.

For more information, visit www.LHVA.org, call Gómez, LHVA's director of community engagement, at 963-6730 ext. 8212 or email her at agomez@LHVA.org.

Sign up for Text Alerts

Sign up for e-mail newsletters