Boone County Conservation District, Comcast Cares sponsor annual Long Prairie Trail clean-up

By Matt Helm

Reporter

POPLAR GROVE ─ The Boone County Conservation District teamed up with Comcast Cares for the annual Long Prairie Trail Clean-Up on Saturday, April 23 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

“We’ve been doing the Clean-Up for over 25 years now, it was the first event I attended when I started working for the district,” Executive Director of the Boone County Conservation District Dan Kane said.

“Folks come out and volunteer to pick up trash along the route, which stretches 15 miles across the county. It’s a good spring cleaning opportunity and it helps people familiarize themselves with what’s in their own back yard.”

About 125 people registered to help clean up the Long Prairie Trail.

“The amount of trash depends from year to year, but there’s usually around four to five pick-up trucks full,” Kane said. “We are hoping to separate recyclables.”

Comcast Cares sponsored the event. This is the first year the Boone County Conservation District has had a sponsor for the Long Prairie Trail Clean-Up.

“Comcast Cares is a yearly day of giving where Comcast employees, friends, and family members come together with a non-profit partner to complete a project,” Government and Community Affairs Manager at Comcast Joan Sage said.

“Working with the BCCD happened naturally and works very well with the Earth Day connection. Comcast feels strongly that we need to give back to the communities that we do business with. It’s a part of our DNA.”

Comcast Cares provided t-shirts and refreshments for the volunteers.

“We are thankful for Comcast Cares because they are a media outlet and they really helped get the word out there about the Clean-Up and generated interest,” Kane said.

Comcast Cares will give a grant to the Parks and Conservation Foundation based on the number of volunteers at the Long Prairie Trail Clean-Up.

“We are happy today because the weather is beautiful and because we are getting a lot of work done,” Sage said. “Volunteerism is so important and we are lucky so many people came out to accomplish this project.”

The Boone County Conservation District has 35,000 acres of land, most of which is open to the public.

“The trail is wonderful and it is one of our natural resources, people can walk, run, take their baby out for a stroll and just enjoy the fresh air,” Sage said. “Being outside is a wonderful thing and the district has been such a good steward of the land.”

The BCCD opened registration for its summer camp programs Camp Ducktail (ages four to five), Camp Redwing (ages six to 11) and Camp Redtail (ages 12 to 15) which are available on their website www.bccdil.org.

“We have many great passive recreational features for our community to enjoy,” Kane said. “The Long Prairie Trail is just one of many places we have for people to immerse themselves in the environment and the natural part of our world. We hope people get out and enjoy what we have.”