Community Corner
Happier Trails at Carlsbad's Lake Calavera
Volunteers come to Lake Calavera to clean up and fix up, as part of National Public Lands Day
To help clean up Lake Calavera in Carlsbad, city leaders and volunteers showed up on Sept. 25 and put forth some collective muscle to improve the look of this nature preserve.
Students from two clubs at Carlsbad High School and almost 50 volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent the morning picking up trash and clearing overgrown plants from the the trails.
Volunteer Heidi Willes said, "It's important to take care of our beautiful preserve. We love our community." Willes said she's on the trail all the time. "You live out here and you have all this available to come out ... every morning and walk and run and enjoy this. Why not pick it up? … There's plenty of trash around."
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Another volunteer, Ann Tanner, said she found some interesting things on the trail—dead fish, cigarette butts, part of a rattlesnake skin. But she's glad for the chance to pitch in and help. "It's nice that we have the chance to help with the work and keep the park and natural environment clean," she said.
As part of this cleanup project for National Public Lands Day, 14-year old Varsity Scout Adam Hallet of Team 706 worked on a project to earn his Eagle Scout Award. He organized a group of friends and family that helped him install almost a dozen directional signs along the trails that circle the lake.
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Hallet said the directions are needed. "Some people come here for the first time, and don't know where to go," he said. "We've come here and noticed that there isn't any directions, and I've been confused myself. ... This will help them out, and tell them where to go."
One other aspect of the day was to planting five species of native plants in a area called the coastal sage scrib habitat. Organizers say these plants are crucial for creating a new breeding habitat. Pete Trotta of Habitat Restoration Sciences said the native plants will create a new breeding habitat for an endangered bird called the California Gnatcatcher.
Carlsbad City Councilman Mark Packard said he didn't mind getting his hands in the dirt to help out by planting some new plants. He said many local residents want to make this lake a more beautiful place.
"People care in Carlsbad. They care about where they live, they're proud and pleased with where they live," Packard said. "And they want it to stay a wonderful place, so they are willing to give a little bit of themselves to make that happen."
