Invasive plants at South Cumberland* Japanese privet* English ivy* Japanese honeysuckle* Multiflora roseSource: Friends of South Cumberland State Recreation Area
MONTEAGLE, Tenn. — Under cold but brilliant sunshine, about 20 volunteers worked themselves warm Saturday in South Cumberland State Park.
“I call this trail karma,” said Anne Wesley as she scooped up trash and pulled up invasive Japanese privet from the Fiery Gizzard Creek bank. “I hike this trail a lot, and this is a way for me to give back to it.”
Saturday’s once-a-year cleanup day at the park was spearheaded by Mary Priestley, a longtime member of the Friends of South Cumberland State Recreation Area and the curator of the Sewanee Herbarium.
She and other “Friends” were joined by members of the Tennessee Trails hiking group, members of Tracy City Boy Scout Troop 12 and off-duty rangers and park managers.
Ms. Priestley said the volunteers came from as far away as Tullahoma and Signal Mountain.
Ms. Wesley, a medical technician from Goodlettsville, Tenn., and member of the Tennessee Trails hiking group, carried a trash bag and a hand saw. After she pulled a privet shrub from the ground, she waved it in the air and declared it “my first privet kill.”
The plant is a non-native and invasive species.
South Cumberland Park ranger Jason Reynolds said the group’s help is much appreciated because there is more than enough work for the park caretakers.
The group also helps in other ways, he said.
“The main thing the Friends do is help buy land around the park edges that help us preserve the wilderness views,” he said.
The bluffs surrounding the park include views of Savage Gulf, Collins Gulf and other Cumberland Plateau scenes.
Ken Simpson, scoutmaster of Troop 12, said he brought two teen-aged Scouts who were fulfilling their service hours requirements.
After a morning of brush hauling, he figured the teens are “pretty tired now,” he said.
Sandy Newkirk, of Fayetteville, Tenn., said she has just rejoined the Tennessee Trails hiking group, and she came to help out.
“You can’t just enjoy things all the time. You have to give back some, too,” she said.