A trip to the beach or manual labor doing trail work? That is the choice seven college students made for their spring break this year.
College students from Emmanuel College in Boston, Mass. will be traveling to Douthat State Park on Sunday, March 8, 2009, to volunteer for a week during their spring break vacation.
Douthat State Park teamed up with a national organization, the American Hiking Society, to find volunteers for the park this summer. When a representative from the American Hiking Society offered Douthat the opportunity to host a group of students for spring break the park jumped on the opportunity.
“We’re really looking forward to having this group of students come to the park and help our staff with various projects,” said Douthat State Park Manager Charlie Conner. “Volunteers in this age group willing to give up their spring break in order to perform public service projects will hold a bright future.”
The students will have a brief orientation Monday morning and then hit the trails to start work. Their week will consist of a variety of trail repairs which include: surface erosion, re-establishment of water crossings, foot-bridge construction, trail route definition, and trail marking.
Douthat State Park has over 42 miles of trails built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corp. and is a National Historic Landmark.
The group will also participate in planting native Virginia hardwood trees towards the southern end of the park.
The group will be supervised by Douthat State Park District VI Resource Specialist Peter Barlow and Park Ranger John Nicely.
Any one interested in volunteering at Douthat State Park needs to contact the main office at 540-862-8100.
For general park information go to www.virginiastateparks.gov, contact the park office at 540-862-8100 or email Douthat State Park at [email protected]. Douthat is located at 14239 Douthat State Park Road, Millboro, Va. 24460.