SOMERS — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks held a tree planting volunteer event that brought out many people wanting to lend a helping hand at Somers Beach State Park on Saturday.
“It's good for the soul, very healing,” Park Steward Kelli Whalen said.
Volunteers came out in droves to plant native trees that will provide a few different perks in the future.
“We are sort of focusing on the area around our developments here to provide some shade, some screening of our facilities, and to sort of improve the aesthetics of the park,” Montana FWP Park Manager Tony Powell.
Volunteers found marked spots in the park to dig, plant, fertilize and water the saplings that will continue to grow for decades.
“And then as they start to grow up, we can come in and say, 'hey I think we planted that tree,'” Volunteer Katie Marsonette said.
Montana FWP acquired Somers Beach State Park in 2021.
“We had been working with the Sliter family who was the previous owner for about 5 to 10 years… they wanted to see the property remain accessible to the public and have it not be developed,” Powell said.
With hundreds of acres of land and thousands of feet of shoreline, it takes a lot of help to upkeep the park. Making it lean on volunteers like Katie Marsonette who spends much of her time volunteering for one reason.
“To make a difference, to give back, I just think that if you give back to the community that you live in there's a lot of pride in that," Marsonette said.
