Corps invites volunteers to improve Foster Lake trail

PORTLAND, Ore. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invites local volunteers to roll up their sleeves Saturday, Sept. 28, and devote their morning to cleaning up the shoreline and improving a trail along Foster Lake near Sweet Home, Ore.

The volunteer project supports National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest annual, single-day volunteer restoration effort for America’s public lands.  The Foster Lake event is co-sponsored by the Corps, Linn County Parks, U.S. Forest Service and Sweet Home Trails Group.

Volunteer orientation begins at 9 a.m. at Sunnyside Campground.  Participants will be assigned to work at various locations around the lake.  Work will be completed by 1 p.m.  Everyone is encouraged to wear sturdy closed-toe shoes and long pants.  Gloves, tools, drinking water and snacks will be available.

For their efforts, volunteers are invited to stay in the Sunnyside Campground group area at no charge the night of the event.

Volunteers will also be rewarded with a pass good for free entry any day during the next year at a public land site managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Foster Dam and Reservoir is one of 13 dam and reservoir projects operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Willamette River drainage system.  Each dam contributes to a water resource plan designed to provide flood damage reduction, power generation, irrigation, water quality improvement, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation and navigation on the Willamette River and many of its tributaries.  For more information, visit http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Locations/WillametteValley.aspx.

For more information and to pre-register for this event, contact a Corps park ranger at 541-942-5631.  View a list of NPLD sites, activities, contacts and downloadable photos at http://www.publiclandsday.org.