BOZEMAN — It was a rainy, gray-sky morning at Gallatin County Regional Park, but that didn’t stop volunteers from coming out to Gallatin Valley Land Trust’s (GVLT) National Trails Day volunteer event.
“I love Bozeman, and I’m super stoked that we have so many volunteers helping out, even though the weather’s bad,” said volunteer Colleen Drake.
Drake moved to Montana in February to work for Montana Conservation Corps.
“We work on a bunch of the public lands, fixing up trails and what not, so this event is, like, perfect for us,” said Drake.
WATCH: Volunteers brave the rain for GVLT's National Trails Day volunteer event
Drake says she has always had an interest in the outdoors.
“I just, like, love public lands, love hiking and all the community spaces,” she said.
That’s why she decided to come out GVLT’s volunteer event on Saturday.
“They’re super important for the community because it just helps people, like, connect to nature and connect to their city, and I think it gives you a sense of pride when you put in, like, a little bit of work into the community spaces,” said Drake.
Drake helped with re-mulching the playground and climbing areas to make them safer. There were also several volunteer projects across the park, from cleaning up dog poop to building new trails, as well as a barbeque to celebrate.
“National trails day is an annual event that happens all across the country, and this is our opportunity to gather volunteers and give them a chance to give back to the trails and the parks that they love,” said Matt Parsons.
Parsons is the Trails Director at GVLT, a non-profit founded in 1990 that seeks to conserve private lands and trails in Gallatin Valley. Parsons says the organization has been hosting this event for decades.
“National trails day is really, kind of, our biggest event of the year," said Parsons.
The event is also the kickoff GVLT’s Summer Trails Challenge, which encourages the community to log the miles they spend on the trails, with every mile logged unlocking $1 for trails and open space. The goal is for the community to log 100,000 miles total by June 30th to unlock $100,000 of funding sponsored by local organizations.
“This is typically the kickoff to our trail season,” said Parsons.
Overall, Saturday’s event was a success, bringing more than 80 volunteers together.
“It’s a great opportunity for the community to give back,” said Parsons.
“It’s great to see so many people just helping out in the community,” said Drake.
For more information about GVLT’s Summer Trails Challenge, visit this link.
