Volunteers are invited to Cloudland Canyon State Park on Saturday to build a tree identification trail in celebration of National Trails Day.
Cloudland officials said there's also a project to build a butterfly garden and backyard habitat with paths lined with native plants that will attract butterflies and birds.
Christine Rose, an interpretive ranger and naturalist at Cloudland Canyon, hopes volunteers will be inspired to create similar homes for plants and birds around their own houses.
Ms. Rose said the tree trail will feature identification posts corresponding to a brochure that lists the name and essential information about each marked tree and plant.
For Kyle Waggener, director of education and lead naturalist at the Chattanooga Nature Center, this process couldn't be more essential to the enjoyment of nature.
By placing identification signs along the trail, "people's understanding will increase, their appreciation will increase, and so their willingness to protect it (nature) will increase," Mr. Waggener said.
"If you don't know the names of things, a walk in the forest is like a walk through an art gallery with 90 percent of the pictures turned toward the wall," he said.
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