Get Healthy Carson City: Parks and Recreation Month

Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space is celebrating Parks and Recreation Month in July. Since 1985, communities across the United States have been promoting building strong, vibrant and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation.

This year’s theme from the National Recreation and Parks Association is “Where Community Grows,” and the Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space department would like to take a moment to talk about the importance of volunteering in our parks and open spaces. Our parks and open spaces manage over 7,000 acres, and we recognize that volunteers are an integral part of our community and provide on-the-ground services that assist with the daily operations of our public lands and contribute to keeping them clean and safe for others to enjoy.

Volunteerism is simple and provides opportunities for everyone to discover new places and, most importantly, get people outside. Volunteering outside has innumerable health benefits, and it doesn’t have to be long. Spending just 20-30 minutes outside several times a week reduces anxiety, depression, stress, and blood pressure while providing opportunities to enjoy Carson City’s public lands.

In the past, we have offered various programs to engage the public. Volunteers participated in trash cleanups, cottonwood tree wrapping to protect trees from beavers, group trash clean-ups as part of the Adopt-A-Trail programs, burn scar restoration, pollinator planting, beautification of parks and cemeteries, and weed removal. Our volunteer programs range from one-hour to no more than a three-hour commitment and are often easy to access for individuals and families to participate.

The Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space Department is looking to develop programs that assist our staff with stewardship efforts, which include outreach, monitoring, and reporting in our parks and open spaces. In addition to program development, we are bringing back a popular volunteer event series. Starting in July, we will be restarting the Weedy Wednesday program.

We invite the public to assist with invasive weed eradication and awareness every Wednesday during the summer. In the fall, we plan on hosting a series called “Thistle Thursday” to remove invasive thistles. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with us, contact Chelsea Kincheloe at chkincheloe@carson.org.

We have an active Range Safety volunteer program at the Rifle and Pistol Range. Volunteers assist the Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space Range coordinator and employees with the day-to-day operations of the range. Volunteers are needed during the week and on weekends. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering at the range, contact Nick Artam at nartam@carson.org.

We would like to extend our thanks to all the volunteers that have helped us so far in 2023. Thank you to The Lions Club, Common Grounds Church, Mountain Baptists Church, Kiwanis of the Sierra Nevada, Target, Carson Fly Fishing Club, Boy Scout Troop 341, Muscle Powered, Patagonia, Lakeview Estates Working Group, River Wranglers, The Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada and Friends of Prison Hill OHV. We also want to thank all our individual and group volunteers who show up for our events, including the overly successful ‘Move with the Mayor’ beautification and clean-up at Lone Mountain Cemetery last October.

The Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space department is overwhelmed by how much our community cares and shows up. We truly do have a growing community of compassionate people and are encouraged by those who care about their public lands.

Keep a lookout on our social media for upcoming volunteer opportunities, or email Chelsea Kincheloe to be added to a volunteer newsletter blast.

Chelsea Kincheloe is a volunteer coordinator for Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space.