Attendees of the Adopt a Pond of Path launch hot dog roast gather around the Grasslands Naturalists display table in Kin Coulee Park on Sunday.--NEWS PHOTO ANNA SMITH
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
As the weather warms and plants begin to sprout up along the Gas City’s ponds and paths, so do local naturalists passionate about keeping these spaces clean.
This past Sunday saw the launch of the sixth year of the Adopt a Pond or Path initiative, as run by a new committee of Grasslands Naturalists members.
The creator of the initiative, Martha Munz Gue, is still spearheading the project, but she is pleased to be able to share the work with others to better co-ordinate attempts to keep the city’s natural areas clean and free of invasive species.
“This all started in 2021 during the pandemic. We all got outside and enjoyed some place close to home that was in nature. I checked it out on Google Maps, and there are 20 ponds in Medicine Hat,” said Munz Gue. “And I thought, that first year, maybe if we got three or four of them adopted, that would be a good start. And by June, they were all adopted.”
The project has expanded to include all 20 ponds in the area, as well as along the creek in Kin Coulee Park and along the South Saskatchewan itself, as well as much of the trail spaces that wind through the city.
Volunteers commit to visiting the space they have selected, “Often enough to fall in love with it,” which Muz Gue suggests is roughly every other week at minimum, while picking up any trash they might find and reporting out-of-place plants.
“The weeds, we would like you to report on an app that we provide, because that gets confirmed that it is indeed a weed, and then the people who confirm it send the information to the landowner. In this case, it would usually be to the City of Medicine Hat. If it’s, say, at the college pond, it would be to the college, and so forth,” said Munz Gue.
This allows for trained professionals to accurately, safely and thoroughly deal with any invasive plants that may be found in the area.
As of the time of writing, the initiative has more than 90 volunteers, each with their own small section of the city to love, but they are always looking for more people with a passion for nature.
Anyone interested is encouraged to call the Nature Centre at 403-529-6225, which is also run by the Grasslands Naturalists, to be better directed on how they can participate. Munz Gue expects to create a dedicated email for the new initiative committee in the near future.
