In the spirit of Environmental Stewardship month during AmeriCorps' 20th Anniversary, several NFHC members spent a recent Saturday serving at the Stephen C. Foster State Park, located within the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Upon arriving at the park, we met Bud, the ranger who had planned our project for the day. He explained that our service would be a huge help to the park staff, which has only two full-time maintenance workers, to prepare the park for their busy months full of eager community members trying to enjoy nature. We cleared dead logs, fallen branches, and other debris from walking trails and a recreation area, accomplishing in just hours what it would have taken the two maintenance staff several days to complete.
NFHC members had to canoe across the swamp to get to the part of the wildlife refuge they helped to restore!
As we served, we had the chance to learn from the park director about the history of Okefenokee, including the wildfire that occurred there in 2007. While fires are a normal part of the lifecycle of a swamp ecosystem, this fire was much more extreme than usual. It lasted for months and burned over hundreds of thousands of acres, destroying plant life and threatening the natural habitats of many animals. The fire was eventually contained and extinguished, but it will be many years before the swamp returns to its previous state.
Learning about the natural history of the swamp was eye-opening. It put our service into perspective – although we were simply clearing branches and debris, our efforts were part of a larger cycle of sustainability that will ultimately keep the swamp healthy. As the day went on and we experienced more of the park, it became clear to us why this swamp is worth protecting. Okefenokee has a beautiful landscape and diverse wildlife, and it was the perfect place for us to spend a day of service dedicated to environmental health.
In the spirit of Environmental Stewardship month during AmeriCorps' 20th Anniversary, several NFHC members spent a recent Saturday serving at the Stephen C. Foster State Park, located within the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Upon arriving at the park, we met Bud, the ranger who had planned our project for the day. He explained that our service would be a huge help to the park staff, which has only two full-time maintenance workers, to prepare the park for their busy months full of eager community members trying to enjoy nature. We cleared dead logs, fallen branches, and other debris from walking trails and a recreation area, accomplishing in just hours what it would have taken the two maintenance staff several days to complete.
