Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway (FOGVG) members and Trail Adopters will be marking Earth Day by working on the Greenway. Many trail adopters have scheduled their spring clean up sessions for the Saturdays around Earth Day, April 21 and April 28. "Our trail adopters are critical to keeping the Greenway in a safe and usable condition. Yet, most people may not realize that last year volunteers devoted more than 1,200 hours to trail work. We hope that by getting as many adopters as possible all working on the Greenway on the same day that it will help raise the public visibility of their very important efforts," commented FOGVG Executive Director Fran Gotcsik.

On April 28, the Northern committee will be working on the Greenway in Chili to check the trail for downed branches, trash or other debris and paint gates where needed. Anyone wishing to help should meet at the Greenway Brook Road parking lot, located approximately one-quarter mile west of Scottsville Road, at 9 a.m.

Early spring efforts are important for removing the branches, downed limbs, and tangles of vines that the winter winds have caused to fall upon the trail and which can make bicycling or walking difficult. Spring work days are also an opportunity to begin pruning bushes like honeysuckle, multiflora rose and tree of heaven which can intrude on the trail, and to assess the condition of the trail, the locks, and culverts and alert project partners, the State Department of Environmental Conservation and State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, of any problems that need to be addressed.

For information on becoming a trail adopter and assisting with trail work on April 21, call the Greenway office at 658-2569.