15th National Public Lands Day is September 27
Over 120,000 Americans are expected to celebrate National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 27, 2008, and honor the 75th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) with a day of volunteer work in America’s parks, mountains, streams and hiking trails. National Public Lands Day is sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. for the tenth consecutive year.
Part of the work will be an effort to plant one million trees on public lands, according to Robb Hampton, Program Director for National Public Lands Day.
More than 120,000 volunteers across the nation, including those from nine federal agencies, are expected to be involved at 1,500 sites. Clean ups, fix ups and other volunteer events will take place in parks, forests, rivers, lakes, wetlands, cultural and historic sites and other public lands.
Hampton said, “Our nation has benefited immensely from the impressive work performed by the Civilian Conservation Corps 75 years ago. The Civilian Conservation Corps is one of the driving forces that has inspired National Public Lands Day for the past 15 years, and National Public Lands Day volunteers work together to achieve the same common goals and mission. This includes planting more trees, removing invasive plants, building trails, and many of the other activities that your National Public Lands Day site is working on. For this reason, in honor of the 75th anniversary, we are launching our initiative to plant one million trees across the country. Now is our opportunity to honor the legacy of these CCC environmental heroes by continuing to improve, protect and maintain our nation’s public lands.”
Last year, the combined efforts of National Public Lands Day resulted in labor worth more than $12 million, going to benefit our public lands. President George W. Bush issued a commemoration for those who participated in the coast-to-coast effort to beautify our shared spaces.
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a federal program that aided those who desperately needed a job during the Great Depression. It enrolled three million Americans between 1933 and 1942. Young American men were put to work at camps in every state, building roads, trails, bridges, dams, cabins, and other park facilities. Nearly three million benefited from the program while contributing to the improvement of America’s public lands.
National Public Lands Day began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. In 2001, alumni of the Civilian Conservation Corps passed on their legacy to National Public Lands Day at a ceremony in Shenandoah National Park.
National Public Lands Day gets bigger every year with the most recent one drawing close to 110,000 volunteers at 1,300 sites. Volunteers removed over 500,000 pounds of trash, built and maintained over 720 miles of trails, and planted over 55,000 trees among many other tasks.In honor of National Public Lands Day, participating parks will offer free admission for an entire year to volunteers. In previous years, clean ups have been done at some of our best-known outdoor recreation areas: Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park and Shenandoah National Park. National Public Lands Day locations spread across all 50 states and attract as many as 5,000 volunteers per site.
“The best reason to volunteer: anyone can participate,” Hampton said.
Those interested in organizing a project or volunteering should visit www.publiclandsday.org. The website offers tips for site organizers and more information for the news media.
The Natioanl Park Service has declared National Public Lands Day a "Fee Free Day" and all National Park Service sites will offer free visitor admission on September 27, 2008.
posted September 13, 2008
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