MILWAUKEE — Community members are encouraged to help the environment this Earth Day by participating in events happening this weekend across Milwaukee County.
McGovern Park is hosting several activities on Saturday, including a super cleanup event organized with Milwaukee Riverkeeper.
Julian Pfeiffer, a community coordinator with Milwaukee County Parks, advocates for green spaces in the city.
Watch: Celebrating Earth Day at McGovern Park:
"You can come, clean the park, get in the lagoon over here, walk through our trails, and yeah, have a good time with the community," Julian said.
The Taylor Made Foundation is also hosting a wellness walk at the park from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Milwaukee County has over 154 parks, which rely heavily on community support and volunteer groups to maintain the grounds.
At McGovern Park, volunteers have already made a significant impact by removing invasive buckthorn. Previously, the invasive plant blocked views of the park's lagoon and woods. Volunteers and corporate sponsors also helped plant over 300 new trees across the park's bridge.
"Before you couldn't see the lagoon behind us or the lagoon around us and even into the woods," Patrick Chavez said.
"There was buckthorn everywhere. And thanks to all the volunteers, we were able to remove a good chunk of that," Patrick said.
The county parks system is free to use and features over 100 miles of the Oak Leaf Trail. The trail connects to other routes within the Wisconsin state system, such as the Glacier Trail that runs to Madison and the Ozaukee Trail that reaches Sheboygan.
Residents looking to help get the parks in shape for summer can sign up online by searching for Milwaukee County Parks volunteer cleanups. People can also help by picking up trash in their own neighborhoods and clearing storm grates to prevent flooding.
"Honestly, just grab a picker, go out there, grab some trash in your parks and even in your neighborhoods," Patrick said.
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