Volunteers remove trash, invasive plants from bike trails

LOMBARD, Illinois — Approximately 150 volunteers removed trash, buckthorn and garlic mustard from the Illinois Prairie Path and Great Western Trail during the Lombard PRIDE Week clean-up Saturday. The cleanup takes place each Spring around Earth Day.

Volunteer groups came from the Jaycees, Kiwanis, Lions, Westin Hotel, Village of Lombard, Clarke Mosquito, NYK Line, PTC Company, Glenbard East Ecology Club, Glenbard East Key Club, the Deicke Home, Sierra Club, Westmore School, Calvary Episcopal, Congregation Etz Chaim, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and dozens of individual residents and families.

The work was coordinated by Lombard's Environmental Concerns Committee under a permit from DuPage County, as the owner of the trails.

The committee's chair, Trustee Laura Fitzpatrick, expressed her gratitude.

“This time honored tradition of Lombard Pride Clean-up took on a whole new responsibility this year of removing invasive species. The Committee appreciates the large effort by staff and community members in planning and executing this awesome task. A special thanks to landscape architects Jason Cooper and Dustin Smith, from our Environmental Concerns Committee, for their leadership roles in this effort,” she said.

For more information or to be added to the list of volunteers for next year, please contact Lombard Public Works at (630) 620-5740 or publicworks@villageoflombard.org.