Volunteers Focus on Merrisach Lake Campground for Public Lands Day

Studies have shown that spending time outdoors helps reduce stress and anxiety, improves short term memory, and it contributes to your physical wellbeing. Not only is it beneficial to your health, but the colors in nature inspire creativity.

More than thirty volunteers gathered together at 8:00 am on Saturday, September 23, to give back to the public land at Merrisach Lake Campground located on the banks of Merrisach Lake and the Arkansas Post Canal. Each year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Arkansas Post National Memorial partner together to give back to the public lands in eastern Arkansas. This year’s focus was Merrisach where the volunteers applied a fresh coat of paint on the canopies in the D camping area and planted Bald Cypress trees along the shoreline to help prevent the ground from eroding.

At noon, the volunteers were provided lunch courtesy of the Friends of Arkansas Post National Memorial.

National Public Lands Day, held on the fourth Saturday in September, is the nation’s largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and organizational volunteers join together to help restore America’s public lands. Those public lands include national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, and forests, as well as state, county, and city parks that are manage by public agencies but belong to and are enjoyed by everyone.

If you were unable to volunteer during this year’s event, you can still do your part by picking up any litter you come across and dispose of it properly or contact the US Army Corps of Engineers or Friends of Arkansas Post National Memorial to inquire about future volunteer opportunities.