On the week of August 15, volunteers from around the country took a Sierra Club working vacation right here at Wildlands Trust! Sierra Club offers these volunteer vacations to "give back to Mother Nature" on public lands across the country. Organizers began planning their trip with Wildlands Trust almost two years ago, and we were all very happy to see it come together at last!

Our week began at Emery Preserve East, on Ship Pond Road in Plymouth. This preserve helped launch Wildlands Trust (then Plymouth County Wildlands Trust) back in 1973 and is now part of the Davis-Douglas Conservation Area. Before we started work on Monday morning, the trail system at Emery East was in need of repair, and the small yet serene Cotton Pond was barely accessible to the public. With twenty two eager volunteers, we knew we could put a trail system here that would do this property justice!

Volunteers armed with hand tools spent hour after hour, day after day cutting, raking, pulling, and hauling. By the end of the week we were able to officially open a trail system ending in a loop to Cotton Pond, which we fondly call the Cotton Pond Trail. Posted signage helped make the opening official! However, there is (always) more work to be done there. If you're interested in helping widen the trail, put in benches, and install steps make sure to check out the September 10 Trailblazers work day!

During the week, these dedicated volunteers not only restored Cotton Pond Trail, but spend time doing service projects all over Plymouth. Here at the Wildlands Trust headquarters, they completed of a compost bin, benches which will be installed on various preserves, and the transplant and seeding of a new pollinator garden. The next morning, a giant pile of wood from a washed up dock and other trash was hauled about a half a mile from the beach to the trail head at Plymouth's Center Hill Preserve.

All of us at Wildlands Trust would like to extend a very big Thank You to the volunteers and organizers of this wonderful trip! We hope to work with the Sierra Club in the future on more projects throughout our service region.

Click here to find out more about Sierra Club working vacations.