In a recent windstorm, two large trees on the river trail split creating a serious danger to hikers.  A section of the trail was closed last week, and the trees were taken down on Monday, October 21.  All is well until the next storm. 

The Hanover High School group, Youth in Action, scheduled a work day in Pine Park on Saturday, October 12, 2024, which was organized by David Viazmenski.  About 10 students and faculty advisor Rachel Donegan joined several park trustees for brief introductions at the park entrance.  The students worked to clear invasive plants from an area along Girl Brook that had been heavily impacted by demolition of a high bridge that had connected the two sides of the golf course.  Shown are David  Viazmenski and Sebastian Bujarski clearing vines and weeds from the edge of the brook. Park president Linda Fowler noted that: “The students worked incredibly hard and efficiently, and with the invasives cleared away, new plantings can be added to that section of the park.”

Longview Forestry completed a major project to remove piles of large logs in the forest by the river to a carbon storage area up the hill off the Rope Ferry Trail.  The logs—leftovers from the operation in 2019 to remove dead and dying trees—were so pervasive in places that they were preventing new growth from emerging.  We expect that the newly cleared areas will begin to regenerate next year.

The Hopkins Center and Office of Sustainability sponsored a program on mushrooms in Pine Park in conjunction with an outdoor dance performance, “You Seem Like a Fun Guy.”

Another bench overlooking the river has just been installed.  A short access path from the River Trail leads you to the shady site.