Help Make a Difference: Entry Fees Waived at National Parks, Forests, Seashores on National Public Lands Day

 

National Public Lands Day. This year it's on Saturday, September 24th and entry fees will be waived at national parks and other federal public lands, including national monuments, forests, recreation areas, seashores, wildlife refuges, historical sites, battlefields, and grasslands. 

National Public Lands Day is a great day for a visit, and it also is the nation’s largest single day of volunteering for parks and public lands. Kids are a big part of the volunteer effort. Parents and guardians can find 500 volunteer events and other fun activities in almost every state at https://www.neefusa.org/npld-event-search  

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) partners on NPLD with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, the USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other federal agencies, state and local parks, plus corporate sponsor Toyota. 

There are volunteer events to choose from that are closer to home  and also some of the most iconic places in the U.S. too. Some examples among the hundreds of volunteer locations: Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument, Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Pikes Peak, White Point Nature Preserve in Los Angeles, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Enchanted Forest in North Miami, Bears Ears National Monument, Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument, Arches National Monument, George Washington Carver National Monument, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, Andersonville National Cemetery (GA), Everglades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Harvest Square Nature Preserve, and Golden Gate National Park.

Check out this video:

Some of the interesting things volunteers will do: 

• The Student Conservation Association and other volunteers will plant shrubs and dig holes to restore the habitat for the endangered New England cottontail rabbit at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Scarborough, Maine. The "Rabbitat Planting Party" expects 250 volunteers. 

• Clean the wall of names at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

• At Yosemite rock climbers will rappel from great heights to pick up litter on the face and edges of the iconic massive rock formations in the park. There will also be less daring trash pickup by hundreds of volunteers throughout the park.

There are also many educational events and celebrations, such as hundreds gathering at Vermillion Cliffs National Monument (AZ) to see the release of captive-bred California Condors, the largest birds in North America.