Douglas County invites volunteers to plant trees at Castle Rock park

Douglas County used Arbor Day week to recruit volunteers for a practical fix at Fairgrounds Regional Park in Castle Rock: more trees, more shade and a stronger long-term canopy for one of the county’s most visible parks.

The county’s Dougnad event was held Friday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to noon at Douglas County Fairgrounds Regional Park, 500 Fairgrounds Road. County materials said the Arbor Day edition included tree planting, donuts, coffee and swag, with all necessary equipment provided for volunteers who showed up to help.

That matters because tree planting at a public park is not just a ceremonial gesture. At Fairgrounds Regional Park, it is a stewardship task tied to comfort, park health and the way county leaders want residents to experience public land over time. More trees can mean more shade for people using the park, better-looking open space and a stronger landscape as the county keeps building out and maintaining its recreation system.

Douglas County has also used Dougnad as a broader volunteer brand, not just a one-day Arbor Day promotion. In the fall, the county applied the name to projects helping older adults with minor exterior home improvements, including planting flowers, pulling weeds and raking leaves. That same format has made volunteer work easier to package into a few hours instead of a full-day commitment.

The county’s spring 2025 Dougnad tree-planting event at Bayou Gulch Regional Park showed the scale the program can reach. According to a county manager report, 71 volunteers logged 213 hours of service and planted 45 trees. That kind of turnout gives the county a low-cost way to add labor, improve park assets and build public ownership of land that otherwise would depend entirely on staff and contractors.

The effort also fits with Castle Rock’s own Arbor Day emphasis. The town says volunteer tree planting is part of its Tree City USA commitment and says trees help bring cleaner air and water, cooler streets and healthier neighborhoods. At Fairgrounds Regional Park, those benefits translate into a basic local question: how does a county keep a heavily used park comfortable and resilient as the community grows? Tree planting is one answer, and Dougnad is how Douglas County asks residents to help do the work.