The trails are empty at Lost River Cave, which has been closed for the past month because of the coronavirus pandemic, but there is still plenty of activity throughout the 72-acre park.

Executive Director Rho Lansden said staff members are catching up on projects that normally would have been pushed aside with daily traffic from tourists. She said core staff members are chipping in with shovels, sprayers and rakes to complete backlogged projects designed to improve the area.

“Protection of the cave and valley is always first and foremost in our workday,” Lansden said. “Providing safe trails and upgrades in trails, a better visitor experience, is always in our minds every day. To have a chance to catch up on the backlog of tree trimming and brush removal and invasive removal, all of this is very important at this time. We are the stewards of this 72-acre park and cave, (so) we are better preparing the property.”

Lansden said the staff expects to complete about 30 percent of a constantly evolving list of projects by the end of May.

“With a park, things grow and regrow, no matter how many times you pull them out,” Lansden said. “There is always a list of improvements you can do, especially when planning for the future.

“We are in the process for developing a 25-year strategic plan that will be broken down into five-year increments. What we talk to ourselves about all the time, the board and the staff, is, ‘What will the park be in 25 years and what is the project I can do in 2020 to begin the process of getting to that end goal?’ ”

Lansden said the park has seven ecosystems and it is a massive undertaking to restore an urban forest to where it was before the surrounding area developed.

Historically, they are able do this type of work during the tourism offseason, but Lost River has fewer staff members during those times, making it harder to tackle the projects.

“It’s gratifying to be able to keep our staff on the payroll for the time being and give them really important things to do,” Lansden said.

Lansden said much of the work – which includes invasive removal throughout the property – cannot be done while people are in the park. She noted that the trend of nice weather during this time has made it easier to tackle these projects.

“You have to watch for wind conditions sometimes and be prepared to pull off a project that you might be doing if the wind picks up, but by and large this has been a beautiful spring,” Lansden said. “It’s really made it possible for us to dig in and get work done out on the property.”

Alongside the physical upgrades, Lansden said that with help of teachers and principals in the area, the staff is also working to improve the park’s educational outreach.

“We can go back and catch up on ideas for programming that they would like to have here,” Lansden said. “We do not develop any program without the help of … teachers and principals and curriculum coordinators. We have a backlog of projects at any time where we can sit down and do the research and the drafting and development of school programs based on what teachers do and what they need help with.”

When Lost River Cave does reopen, Lansden and the staff are hopeful this work will provide visitors with a better experience.

“It may not be as recognizable at first glance, unless you are out there looking for a specific wildflower, but as time goes on and we start making a dent in these projects, then the quality in our school program goes up another notch and that will be a notch in our belt,” Lansden said.