Hartig Park and Wildlife Reserve, Gallatin County's newest park, is comprised of over 530 acres of unspoiled beauty. But to keep this much park looking “unspoiled” takes a lot of effort! This is why the Hartig Park Working Group (organized through Gallatin County Extension) sponsors two Hartig Park Clean-up Days each year.

These clean-up days give park users and the general public a chance to take some ownership of the park by paying out some sweat equity. These days also allows a lot of the little jobs to get done; the jobs that are important, but not as critical as trail maintenance or dead tree removal. Examples of the jobs that have been done on the clean-up days include: marking or remarking trails, painting posts or barriers, invasive species control, campsite clean-up, weed eating, and many other tasks.  

Over 40 volunteers showed up at our most recent clean-up days! The volunteers were a mixture of regular park users, occasional park users, and several who had never visited the park before those days. The volunteers were of all ages and skillsets. The members of the park’s working group did a great job of matching people with jobs.

During the provided lunch, nearly all of the volunteers said that they want to be a part of future clean-up days. Several volunteers even mentioned that they would like to take a more active role in the park by joining the park’s working group.

With 535 acres, 32 hiking trails, a canoe and kayak launching area, and 10 primitive campsites, it takes a lot of people to keep Hartig Park and Nature Preserve looking good. If these clean-up days are any indication, the park is going to continue looking good well into the future.