BUFFALO, N.Y. -- On Monday, it finally seemed like spring was actually here. The warm weather had Western New Yorkers soaking up some sun. It also gave parks crews access to areas previously buried under snow.

"There's a lot of snow removal, especially from the November storm," said J.J. Thomas, Erie County Parks Superintendent. "It's easier for the crews to get around. Sometimes it is harder because we have park users trying to get into the areas we're cleaning, so that part is a little difficult sometimes."

"The first nice day, everybody wants the sports fields open. Everybody wants to be in the park, and this is really the first chance we've had to really get in to clean the parks, start scrubbing them out," said Bob Stotz, the Olmsted Parks Conservatory Parks Superintendent.

As crews begin their cleanup efforts, they're also assessing the winter's damage. 

"It was just the longest winter ever. A lot of damage from the snow, the weight of the snow on trees, on bushes, plow damage because you couldn't see where the roads were, the pathways, so a lot of damage from our own plowers," said Stotz.

"Just because it took so long for the snow to melt and it took a while to get into certain areas, we're probably a week or so behind," Thomas said. "It's our normal maintenance. We had about 20 percent more tree damage than previous years, just because of the November storm, mostly in the lower section of Chestnut Ridge, the Newton Road side."

While the cleanup is obviously well underway, at this point, officials say it's too soon to tell how much damage has been done, and it will be quite a while to get final numbers.

"The golf course, I'm not sure what kind of damage we're going to have because there was just a heavy casing of ice on the greens which is not good for them at all. We're finding damage as we go. A lot of snow mold in the turf areas," said Stotz.

Olmsted Parks crews said they will also have to replace a lot of bushes and plants that weren't budgeted for. 

Olmsted Parks Conservancy is still looking for experienced groundskeepers for the summer season.