Young volunteers have been working in local parks and forests to build hiking trails and improve wildlife habitat along rivers and streams, as part of the Mountains to Sound Greenway’s summer volunteer program.

“Over 100 young volunteers are giving 3,000 hours of community service to nearby natural areas this summer,” said Margaret Ullman, Volunteer Program Coordinator for the Greenway Trust.

“They are truly giving back to their communities.”

At Tiger Mountain, volunteers helped repair popular trails by resurfacing, brushing, fixing drainage issues, and building stairs.

In addition, volunteers remove invasive plants, especially huge invasive holly trees, so that native trees and shrubs can thrive.

Michelle Szeto, Sophie Coleman, Frances Kato, Anne Robertson, Gigi Pearce and Zakaila Savage were part of the team which removed invasive weeds at Lake Sammamish State Park, improving rates of survival for native salmon populations and creating natural habitat for other native wildlife in the park.

Greenway Summer Camps run between June and September: www.mtsgreenway.org/volunteer/youth.