 Well, encouraging kids to explore nature is the objective for a new type of playground at Lake Bemidji State Park. In this week's community spotlight, our Josh Peterson shows us how a group of volunteers is working to build a natural playground. Throughout the year, many people get out and explore Minnesota's state parks. And through a new concept, the friends of the Lake Bemidji State Park hope to encourage kids to step off the playground and into the woods. That's going to be a way for kids to get out in the environment a little bit, interact with natural elements that a lot of us grew up with as kids. The sound of shovels could be heard as friends and volunteers work together to install a weed barrier spreading and leveling gravel and putting some place scape elements into the ground. We live in the woods. I mean, that's the place we live. But a lot of people that come to this park don't. Many, many people come from cities and don't have any place like this. So to encourage them to get into this part of it is excellent. The group of friends are no strangers to hard work. They've spearheaded the construction of the first playground and now have an ambitious vision. The overall objective is to get kids beyond the playground and into the woods to go and explore and learn. For the friends of Lake Bemidji State Park, this project made sense and has been in the works for a long time. But with a project so large, it will be built in phases. It's definitely going to be something that evolves over time. It's going to change a little bit. The thing is going to be added from time to time. So it's never going to be really a static thing. It's going to be kind of going through different phases over time. But if it wasn't for the hard work of volunteers, this project would have never happened. For the friends, the group hopes that this project will inspire more people to join their efforts. We need some younger people and people that are willing to give us their ideas and get in and start new things. This is really something that couldn't have happened without them. Friends' group is so important to the park. They allow us to do things that we normally wouldn't do. With this week's Community Spotlight, in Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.