Local Park Holding Third Annual Public Cleanup

Middlesex Fells Reservation is joining thousands of parks across the country for a nationwide park cleanup day.

Participants will remove invasive plants, clean up the park’s trails, sites and bodies of water on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Middlesex Fells Reservation, 4 Woodland Road, in Stoneham, is one of 2,200 National Park sites participating in National Public Lands Day, the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in the United States.

The event allows for people to become familiar with the park and help improve the park’s ecosystem, said Rich Sanford, volunteer coordinator of Friends of the Middlesex Fells.

“It gives people a reason to come back and spend time in the park,” he said.

Middlesex Fells Reservation has 3,400-acres of parkland that spans across Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham and Winchester.

This is the park’s third year participating in National Public Lands Day. Previous years have brought in about 70 cleanup volunteers. Sanford expects a similar amount of volunteers to attend on Saturday.

On the same day, Middlesex Fells Reservation is also participating in Coast Sweep, where volunteers clean up bodies of water and collect what they find.

The park will focus most of its cleanup on Spot Pond. “We’re going to have crews working in different parts of the shore and recording what they find,” Sanford said.

Individuals, groups and families are expected to assist in the cleanup. Some Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops have already registered for Public Lands Day in advance, Sanford said.

To register in advance, email Sanford.

Events in every state can be found on Public Lands Day website. There will be events held in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC.

Entry into all National Parks is free on Saturday. All volunteers will receive a coupon to visit any participating National Parks for free in the next year.

Photo Credit: Friends of the Fells Facebook page.