From Emory University Athletics

Members of the Emory University Cross Country and Track & Field teams partnered again with the South Fork Conservancy this past week for a community service project. The Eagles spent time on two separate occasions completing stairs on a trail and removing non-native species near Emory Road.

Sophomore Andrew Kliewer provides more detail on the recent community service projects.

On the morning of Martin Luther King Day, twenty-five members of the Emory Men's Cross Country and Track & Field team woke up early and braved the cold weather to assist with a service project for the South Fork Conservancy. Under the guidance of the Conservancy's Development Chair Sally Sears, the team worked with nearby neighbors and students from Druid Hills High School to remove invasive species along the dirt path that parallels Peavine Creek. Volunteers hacked away bamboo and privet, dug out stumps, and hauled vegetation to the curb over the course of two hours, ultimately carving out two hundred yards of brand-new trail that community members can now access from Emory Road. This is the third time that the team has worked with the Conservancy to extend the trail along Peavine Creek and won't be the last, as the ultimate vision is to create a series of dirt paths connecting Druid Hills with Buckhead. Both runners and community members will realize the benefits of this project in the form of uninterrupted soft surface trails through previously underutilized natural areas. In addition, the removal of non-native species will improve the health of the Peavine Creek watershed, preserving it for the use of future generations.

Earlier in the week, six Men's Cross Country and Track runners completed a series of wooden steps that lead from Emory Road down a steep slope to the trail and creek below.  The team had started constructing the steps last year, and they provide a helpful access point from the neighborhood to the trail, preventing erosion and making it safer for community members to walk the trail.  From the steps, the trail heads north along Peavine Creek for a half-mile, ending opposite of Emory's Candler Fields at Kaminsky Park.

For more information about the South Fork Conservancy and their work, please visit their website at http://southforkconservancy.org\.