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| Beautifying the Backcountry and Building Bridges August 2003
Nestled in the countryside of Virginia, half way between Richmond and Charlottesville, lies Lake Anna State Park, with more than 13 miles of hiking trails, lake fishing, swimming beach, children's play area, boat ramp, bathhouse, and a children's and handicap-access fishing pond. Unfortunately, Virginia ranks 50th among the states in terms of its per capita spending on state parks. In addition, Lake Anna had just recently lost three park staff. Jason Wonn and Mike Corell learned about Lake Anna's needs when Jason read an article about the various Friends of Lake Anna State Park (FOLASP) projects in a Lake Anna newspaper. When the men called Jo Finch, President of FOLASP, to volunteer, arrangements were quickly made. During their volunteer week in May, Jason and Mike restored the handicap-access fishing pavilion, completely rebuilt a footbridge over a small ravine, and cleaned and repaired the concession building for the Memorial Day opening. "I think volunteering at Lake Anna gave me a great sense of accomplishment, from the many building and restoration projects that Mike and I took on, as well as a feeling of being part of the community," reports Jason. He enjoys spending time at the lake and found this was a great opportunity to give a little back to all of the people who also enjoy it. "Sure, I had to work hard at the lake, but I enjoy being outdoors. And now I have something to show for it!" FOLASP expressed great appreciation for the week Jason and Mike spent volunteering. Finch says, "Given the level of funding provided to Virginia's State Parks, volunteerism is absolutely necessary. Thanks to MITRE and to Jason and Mike, the Lake Anna State Park was more prepared for opening day than it could have possibly been without their services. We hope to see both men again and would welcome any other MITRE employee that would like to spend their community time in a state park." The Friends of Lake Anna State Park is a non-profit organization created to maintain the natural beauty of the park at Lake Anna. Volunteers from the area are organized to complete "nature-friendly" projects at the park, which allows the park to positively affect the ecological system of Lake Anna. FOLASP completes many of the projects Lake Anna State Park lacks funding for, such as helping to maintain and keep the park open to the public. Its next focus is to save the eroding shoreline with bio-logs. A bio-log is a manmade log formed out of natural materials to control erosion. Once they are put in place, plants can actually grow on them by pushing their roots down in them. Mike Corell passed away on January 13, 2008.
Page last updated: January 16, 2008 | Top of page |
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