Volunteers help remove invasive plants at Ute Valley Park

Visitors come to Ute Valley Park for the views, wildlife, and trails. Volunteers help keep those places healthy, often in ways visitors may not notice from the trail.

This week, a volunteer team from Orthopedic Rehabilitation Associates, also known as ORA, joined Friends of Ute Valley Park for an afternoon of invasive plant removal and litter cleanup near the South Rockrimmon Trailhead.

Six volunteers worked with two certified crew leaders to pull hundreds of invasive plants and collect about one 42-gallon bag of trash. The crew focused on plants that compete with native grasses and wildflowers, reduce habitat quality, and spread fast when they reach seed.

A single invasive plant may not look like much. A hillside full of them can change the park.

Each invasive plant volunteers remove gives native vegetation a better chance to grow. Across a season, volunteer days help protect wildlife habitat, improve trailhead areas, and keep Ute Valley Park’s native landscape intact.

Volunteers also saw blooming prickly pear cactus along the hillside, a bright reminder of the landscape this work protects.

Thank you to the ORA volunteers and crew leaders who gave their afternoon to the park.

Volunteer days are open to the community, and you do not need previous experience to help. Friends of Ute Valley Park provides guidance, tools, and project leadership.

Want to help protect Ute Valley Park? Join us at an upcoming volunteer event and help keep the park wild and beautiful for everyone.