Press release: This Saturday, September 26, celebrate National Public Lands Day by heading to a national park to play, learn, serve, or work. The 22nd annual event will feature free admission to every National Park Service site, as well as special activities and volunteer work projects across the country.
“National Public Lands Day is a unique opportunity for visitors and volunteers to reflect on their important role as stewards of America’s public lands,†said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “As the National Park Service approaches our centennial in 2016, we look forward to engaging a new generation of Americans in a second century of caring for America’s Best Idea – National Parks. I encourage all Americans to spend some time volunteering or enjoying your national parks and public lands on Saturday.â€
Sponsored by the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, National Public Lands Day is the largest single-day, hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance federal, state and local public lands in the country. Last year, about 175,000 volunteers worked at 2,132 sites in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Visit www.publiclandsday.org for more information and a list of project sites.
Volunteers will lend a hand at more than 100 national parks in 37 states. They will support efforts including a Family Hiking Day at multiple sites along the Appalachian Trail, restoring historic structures at George Washington Carver National Monument, participating in the Yosemite National Park facelift, cleaning up debris at Cumberland Trail National Seashore, and restoring native vegetation at Grand Canyon National Park. Anyone who volunteers for a National Park Service work project during National Public Lands Day will receive a free pass for a future visit to a national park.
The following national parks, listed by state, are among those that will host volunteer projects on National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 26:
Alabama: Russell Cave National Monument
Alaska: Sitka National Historical Park
Arizona: Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Saguaro National Park, Tumacacori National Historical Park- Juan Bautista de Anza Trail
Arkansas: Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
California: Channel Islands National Park, Pinnacles National Park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Sequoia and Kings Canyon national Park, Yosemite National Park
Colorado: Dinosaur National Monument, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument,
Connecticut: Weir Farm National Historic Site
Delaware: First State National Historical Park
Washington, DC: National Capital Parks- East, National Mall and Memorial Parks
Florida: Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, Gulf Islands National Seashore
Georgia; Chattanooga National Military Park, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Indiana: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Iowa; Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
Kansas; Fort Scott National Historic Site
Louisiana; Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve/Chalmette Battlefield
Maryland: Catoctin Mountain Park, Fort Foote Park, Fort Washington Park, Greenbelt Park
Massachusetts: Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, Cape Cod National Seashore, Lowell National Historical Park, Minute Man National Historical Park
Michigan: River Raisin National Battlefield, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Minnesota: Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Pipestone National Monument
Mississippi: Natchez Trace Parkway/Blackland Prairie National Scenic Trail, Vicksburg National Military Park
Missouri: George Washington Carver National Monument
Nebraska: Homestead National Monument of America, Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
Nevada: Lake Mead National Recreation Area
New Hampshire: Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
New York: Fire Island National Seashore, Gateway National Recreation Area, Governors Island, Saint Paul’s Church National Historic Site
North Carolina: Appalachian National Scenic Trail – Fontana Dam, Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Ohio: Cuyahoga Valley National Park, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, William Howard Taft National Historic Site
Oregon: Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
Pennsylvania: Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Flight 93 National Memorial, Gettysburg National Military Park, Independence National Historical Park, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River
South Carolina: Congaree National Park
South Dakota: Mulberry Bend Overlook and Trail, Wind Cave National Park
Tennessee: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, Fortress Rosecrans and Old Fort Park, Shiloh National Military Park, Stones River National Battlefield, Fortress Rosecrans
Texas: Big Bend National Park, Padre Island National Seashore, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
Utah: Arches National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Dinosaur National Monument