STAMFORD, Conn. (Jan. 20, 2017) – Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a green, clean and beautiful place to live, will provide it’s National Youth Advisory Council members with the chance to experience Manassas National Battlefield Park in a unique way – by mapping “Trees of Significance” throughout the park.
The National Youth Advisory Council will gather at the Visitor Center on Monday, Jan. 23, and receive an orientation to the battlefield by park historian Hank Elliott before conducting a ‘Trashless Tree Trails’ project in the park. “Trashless Tree Trails” is a component of the Keep America Beautiful Schools initiative, in partnership with Texas A&M Forest Service, that involves measuring existing trees (i.e. height, crown spread, circumference), mapping them, and calculating their annual economic and environmental impact.
Youth Advisory Council members will create a “Trashless Tree Trail” within the park that includes “Trees of Significance,” which are trees that mark special places or times in the park. The youth will also clean up trash along the way and input litter measurements online at https://texasforestinfo.tamu.edu/treetrails/.
Keep America Beautiful’s National Youth Advisory Council provides a unique opportunity for high school students from diverse backgrounds across the nation to participate in a service-learning and leadership development program. Keep America Beautiful selects 10 students nationwide to contribute to and inform Keep America Beautiful on programs, while acting as ambassadors and leaders for youth service in their communities. The Youth Advisory Council is gathering in Washington, D.C., from Jan. 24-26 for Keep America Beautiful’s annual National Conference.
The members of the 2016-2017 Youth Advisory Council class come from across the nation:
- Eugen Cotei, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Riley Dehr, North Platte, Nebraska
- Sammi Dorfan, San Diego, California
- Sarah Gain, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Reagan Gifford, Danville, Illinois
- Maegan Mikkelson, Cape Coral, Florida
- Brady Millwood, Boaz, Alabama
- Elena Prenovitz, Erie, Pennsylvania
- Nicholas Ranieri, Palm City, Florida
- Cyan Simmons, Chicago, Illinois
About Keep America Beautiful
At Keep America Beautiful, we want to ensure that beauty is our lasting signature. A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. We envision a country in which every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise, programs and resources to help people End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America’s Communities. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 620 community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. To learn how you can donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.
About Manassas National Battlefield Park
Manassas National Battlefield Park preserves lands and resources associated with two major Civil War battles, First and Second Manassas (Bull Run). The 5,000-acre park is located approximately 25 miles west of Washington, D.C., in Northern Virginia.
###