LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas park has gotten a little greener thanks to volunteers from the Vegas Golden Knights, City of Las Vegas, Southwest Gas, and the Southwest Gas Foundation.
On Saturday, more than 100 employee volunteers visited Ansan Sister City Park, in the west part of the valley, to plant 25 trees and remove trash and debris.
"It's about creating a more sustainable environment, making our parks and our public areas just more enjoyable for families to come out and be together," said Julie Williams, Senior VP of Continuous Improvement and Optimization, Southwest Gas. "We worked with the City of Las Vegas to identify a park that needed to have some additional trees planted and they chose this park."
The City of Las Vegas has an initiative to plant 60,000 trees throughout the city by 2050 to combat urban heat island effects. The objective is to expand the area's tree canopy, which enables cooler temperatures, improves air quality, and supports habitats for various animals species.
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In addition to tree planting, Williams said April is also Safe Digging Month.
"What that is is a nationwide campaign that urges the public to contact 811 whenever they're doing a digging project, whether it's small or large. It really helps utilities like Southwest Gas be able to come out and mark the lines so that they can be avoided when the public is digging and everyone can stay safe and we can avoid damage to property."
According to Southwest Gas, there were 97 incidents across Nevada last year that led to pipelines being damaged due to people digging and not calling 811. Damaged pipelines can lead to serious injuries, service disruptions, and costly repairs.
You can learn more about Safe Digging Month and calling 811 here.
