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News, Updates & Events

Moat Clean-out a Success

at Birch State Park

Friends Group Raises board chair, Jim Ellis. “What was once completely
impassable due to years of debris now has several feet of
Funds to Restore Moat water flowing through it again for the first time in many
years.” Park manager Jennifer Roberts agrees. “We are
at Birch State Park grateful to the Friends of Birch State Park for their advocacy
and fundraising because it helps make environmental
The Friends of Birch State Park recently completed the restoration projects like this possible,” says Roberts.
clean-out of the park’s 800-foot long moat; it had For more information, visit birchstatepark.org or call
previously been clogged with debris and muck and is now
Friends of Birch State Park Executive Director Gale Butler at
once again open for recreational use with canoes, kayaks 954-566-0660.
and paddle boards. The clean-out took place over a three-
month period and involved removing large plant debris
followed by a de-mucking process that resulted in
harvested organic material that can be used as fill material
elsewhere in the park. Numerous volunteer groups assisted
in this effort, including those representing Bank of America,
Citrix and Progressive Insurance.

The clean-out was made possible in large part by a
$37,000 ECO Broward grant provided by the following
funds at the Community Foundation of Broward: The Wil
and Susan Greaton Fund, Rick and Rita Case Fund and
Community Impact Fund. A grant from Bank of America
also assisted in this effort, as did dollars raised by the
Friends of Birch State Park through fundraising events.
“Being able to paddle through the moat adds a sense of
excitement and discovery,” says Friends of Birch State Park

Friends executive director Gale Butler with CFB charitable funds manager Angelica
Rosas, park manager Jennifer Roberts with Friends of Birch board chair Jim Ellis and
CFB board member Paige Hyatt with CFB board chair Steve Hudson

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