MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – As rain fell on a cold Saturday morning, volunteers laced up their boots and traveled to Coopers Rock to revitalize Mother Nature.
Attendees planted trees next to the overlook parking lots before restoring the Trout Pond and the daytime parking trails in the afternoon.
“The next generation of forest isn’t going to happen naturally, so we’re intervening,” Adam Polinski, project coordinator and founding member of the Coopers Rock Foundation, said. “There’s too much soil compaction from all of the human activity from April. 1 through November 31 – when the gate is open, that’s a very popular area. They also mow, so anything that might come up naturally would have been accidentally mowed down.”
When pulling into the daytime parking lot, one could not miss the blue pickup with the bright yellow flag: ‘Coopers Rock Foundation,’ in bold, black type stretched across the front. Shovels and rakes were spread around the site, patiently waiting for someone to use them.
Two students were with Polinski at the end of a set of wheelbarrow tracks, working to spread and set gravel on the beat up trail. The group also dug water drainage paths along dips in the trail.
Tools lean against a tree at the entrance of the day parking trail, waiting to spead and set gravel. 
“Think globally, act locally. I would hope that every park and forest has people that really like it and consider it a vital part of their lives, so they want to pitch in to improve it; that’s just kind of become my life at this point,” said Polinski. 
“I’ve been at it so long, and come up here to work all seasons of the year. Trails are just a fundamental part of it. It would be tough to tear myself away from doing this at this point in my life,” said Polinski. 
Adam Polinski, a founding member of the Coopers Rock Foundation works on a drainage ditch for the trail. “In 1987, there was the threat of a tram being built across the gorge, about 200 yards from the Overlook. This caused a big uproar among the local populous, and people thought the view that everyone enjoys shouldn’t be spoiled. There was a huge citizen grassroots gathering of people who were against [the tram],” Polinski said. 
Polinski continued, “It was sort of a David and Goliath battle, but David won – there’s no tram. That was pretty formative for me, because I was in undergrad. To be part of a big movement like that was a neat experience, and one I never taken for granted because you don’t always win – but we did. 
Forrest Moreland, a forestry student from Hampshire County volunteered with the Coopers Rock Foundation to help his friend get community service hours. 
Moreland works on moving loose dirt and gravel before setting it in place. “I just decided to tag along [with Stephen] because I didn’t have anything else to do today,” 
Stephen Pugh shovels gravel into a wheelbarrow before taking it to the work site. 
Stephen Pugh spreads gravel before setting it on the day parking trail. 
Left to right: Forrest Mooreland, Adam Polinski and Stephen Pugh work on spreading and setting gravel. 
Polinski breaks up the trail’s topsoil so his team can easily set the gravel. 
Forrest Moreland spreads gravel before setting it in place. 
The team used wheelbarrows to move gravel from the parking area to the work site. 
On Earth Day 2017, the Coopers Rock Foundation hosted restoration projects at Coopers Rock State Park. In the morning, volunteers planted trees near the overlook parking lot, and later moved to the Day Parking trail.
“I should be out here working with you,’ a passing jogger said to Polinski. “Thank you for what you’re doing.”
This story was completed in April 2017 for The Daily Athenaeum, WVU’s independent student newspaper. Photos by Andrew Spellman.
