Kalamazoo Parks Beautification 2025
April 12 @ 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
This spring we are launching the beginning of our Kalamazoo Riverside Parks Beautification Project. This is a build from last year’s Kalamazoo River and River Valley Trail Cleanup events where hundreds of volunteers cleared thousands of pounds of litter, trash, and other unwanted debris, from our Kalamazoo River and adjoining greenways.
Our focus will be making improvements to our flagship Mayors’ Riverfront and Verburg parks. Work will include the clearing of litter and trash, eradicating invasive trees and bushes, creating generous river overlooks, and plating of native trees, bushes, and grasses to beautify the landscape.
This riverside parks beautification project is a collaboration between Michigan Waterways Stewards, Kalamazoo Parks and Recreation, and Barry, Calhoun, Kalamazoo Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area. This high-impact, community-wide, volunteer resourced event, will change the landscape of Mayors’ Riverfront and Verburg Parks.
It includes two 2025 seasonal projects. The work will result in the greater integration of the Kalamazoo Valley River Trail with the Kalamazoo River. We will be creating improved sight lines, river overlooks, and improve biodiversity via the planting of native trees, bushes, and grasses. The later will create a more resilient landscape and restore the food web to attract and maintain wildlife and essential pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and beetles.
The first event is slated for this spring, the weekend of April 12 and 13. Another this fall, on a date not yet determined, which will include reforestation in the form of an Adopt A Tree program.
SPRING 2025 – APRIL 12 & 13 10AM – 3PM
• Eradicate invasive trees, bushes and other unwanted flora. Those identified include: Buckthorn, Tree of Heaven… Privet, Honeysuckle, and Autumn Olive
• Create generous sight lines to integrate the Kalamazoo River with Kalamazoo River Valley Trail.
• Create Kalamazoo River overlooks to improve the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail experience.
Fill out the form on the event page to register to volunteer or to become an event sponsor.