This weekend, an environmental organization will host multiple events in Wissahickon Valley Park, hoping to reduce casualties in this popular woodland area.

The non-profit outdoor ethics innocence center has designated Philadelphia Park as One of its annual “hot spots” Suffer serious man-made influences. It cited excessive garbage, path erosion, and destruction of vegetation and trees. It has developed a plan that will help restore Wisahickon and take preventive measures.

“The high concentration of tourists leads to tourist conflicts, pet litter problems and excessive litter, and many other effects,” Leave No Trace wrote on its website.

This weekend, the organization will lead a series of seminars, outreach programs and community events.

Activities include a clean-up of the park from 9 am to noon on Saturday. It will focus on Valley Green parking lot, Devil’s Pool and Magargee Dam. After that, the volunteers can guess the weight of the garbage collected during the service day and participate in outdoor games at the Green Inn.

on Sunday, From 9 am to noon, there will be a water walk and a public seminar to discuss community building and highlight the “leave no trace” approach.People can sign up for free events online.

According to statistics, Wissahickon Valley Park’s attendance rate has doubled in the past ten years Ruffian Tittmann, Executive Director of Friends of Wisahhiken. The total number of tourists each year now exceeds 2 million.

Attendance surged During the COVID-19 pandemic so much that at some point Mayor Jim Kenny considers closing the park. But this is mainly to prevent people from contracting the coronavirus.

Kenny stated in April 2020: “We are trying to give people the ability to exercise and get some time out of imprisonment through appropriate precautions. But it’s not impossible. If it continues, we will start to see The number is more worrying than it is now. This is of course one of our choices.”

In addition, the park often seeks Reduce the flow of people to the Devil’s Pool, A popular rock jumping basin, flows into Wesahiken Creek, mainly because of the danger it brings. But rubbish is also piled up there.

This 1,800-acre park was named a “hot spot” by the Leave No Trace Center, along with some of the most affected parks in the country. Patch report.

Leave No Trace receives multiple applications for the title of “hot spot” every year, and selects 10 parks to help. Wissahickon was nominated in 2019, but the pandemic delayed its official designation to 2021.

“We look for sites that are in danger of being loved to death,” Erin Collier of “Leave No Trace”, Tell the Philadelphia Inquirer.