CLIPPARD STUDENTS, RIVER HILLS GARDEN CLUB PLANT TREES TOGETHER

What was once a fleeting wish became a reality for Darlene Duben Thursday when she and other members of the River Hills Garden Club, some 50 Clippard Elementary School students and employees of the Department of Conservation planted trees to make the Cape Woods Conservation Area look more "natural."

Duben said she enjoys walking within the 37-acre government-owned area, situated east of Mount Auburn Road and north of Hopper Road, because it "takes you away from civilization." During a particular walk last fall, she noticed that workers constructing the Cape LaCroix Hiking-Biking Trail had disturbed the view by knocking down a number of trees.

The bike trail is an eight-foot-wide asphalt trail being extended north from Arena Park through Cape Woods to the Osage Community Centre. Depending on the weather, the section could be in use in mid-summer.

"I just saw the damage from the trucks and thought it would be nice to get it back like it was," said Duben. "I'd read about other cities doing this as a quality of life issue so people could get out and enjoy it."

Making the wooded area appear more natural wasn't as easy as Duben expected. After obtaining the support of her garden club, she had to perform a feasibility study to discover who owned the land, whether they wanted the trees replaced, and what the cost of the project would be. Afterwards, she had to find the trees and manpower to get them planted.

Several months and numerous phone calls later, Duben had both -- thanks to a collaboration with the Department of Conservation and sixth grade teachers at Clippard Elementary.

The groups met Thursday to plant seedlings of sweet gum, cherrybark and other oak trees they hope will grow along the bike trail. The trees were covered to protect them from deer, groundskeepers and others who might pass through the area.

"We'd been thinking of doing some reforestation here for awhile, and she thought of bringing the children into it and pulled everything together," said natural history biologist Janeen Laatsch, who was instrumental in helping Duben obtain enough trees to keep students actively involved. "We wanted to get some of the native hardwoods and other trees that would naturally grow back down here."

Laatsch said the trees will benefit the area because they will slow erosion. Although nearby Cape LaCroix Creek and its tributaries don't flood Cape Woods very often, erosion still takes place because the ground is very damp, she said.

"Bottomland forests can vary from flood plains to areas where the ground just stays fairly wet," she said. "Cape Woods is an urban wild forest, and this is just a good effort to protect the land."

Duben said she was happy just to see the students express an interest in the project. The garden club has committed to a second planting next spring to bring even more natural hardwoods to the area, she said; hopefully, within a short period the view will return to its natural beauty.

"It's such a beautiful area I just didn't want to see it destroyed," she said. "Maybe now when the kids walk down that trail or when their kids walk down the trail, they can feel it's a part of their neighborhood. It's a legacy project."