Every year we mark April 22 as Earth Day in recognition of the importance of preserving the state of this fragile planet that we all call home. This year, to mark Earth Day and to improve a little part of our planet, the Durham Mountain Biking Association (DMBA) organized a cleanup of the Glen Major, Walker Woods and Durham Forest trail heads and the shoulders and ditches of the Uxbridge 7th  Concession from Goodwood Rd. to Glen Major.  24 club members, working for 3 hours, in teams of 2-4, gathered 25 bags of garbage including some construction refuse, 15 bags of recyclables, 4 tires, 2 box springs, a mattress, a broken picnic table and a boom-box.  What a tragedy of trash!

This is something the mountain biking community does every year to show our appreciation to the conservation authorities and the local community that share their trails and neighborhood with us. Sadly, we seem to have to re-do this every year.  So the DMBA has entered into an agreement with Uxbridge Township to formally adopt this section of road and organize semi-annual clean-up events to maintain it year round.  We’ll be inviting the 7th Concession residents to join us for the next clean-up day so we can get to know each other better and share in the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day.

In the meantime, trailhead and forest users please help us keep the parking areas and trails litter free.  Let’s all think of every day as Earth Day and do our part to pack out everything we take into the forest and pick up any other litter we notice in the parking areas or on the trails.  Then we can all enjoy our beautiful part of the earth looking its best every day.