16th Annual National Public Lands Day

On Saturday, September 26, tens of thousands of Americans will volunteer in their communities for the 16th annual National Public Lands Day (NPLD), the nation’s largest hands-on event that helps clean up and restore our public lands.

We caught up with National Public Lands Day Program Director, Robb Hampton, as he traveled to New York City to promote NPLD at a Central Park event where director Ken Burns also unveiled his new 12-hour film, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” (we were only slightly jealous). Here’s what he had to say about National Public Lands Day (NPLD), a creation of EarthShare member National Environmental Educational Foundation (NEEF).

First, what are public lands?
One-third of the nation is made up of public lands – meaning, lands that are traditionally federal-, state-, and locally-owned properties.

Why is it important to protect our public lands and water?
“These are the lands where everyone goes and enjoys the outdoors – backpacking, biking, fishing and hunting,” said Hampton. “They need a little help too. Why not give back?”

Why is this year’s NPLD focus on our nation’s waterways?
Approximately 180 million Americans rely on streams, creeks, and rivers in our nation’s forests and public lands for fresh water in their homes.

But how do we make sure that water is clean before it arrives in our tap? This year, NPLD will focus on cleaning these waterways to help ensure fresh, clean drinking water for the large population that relies on it, as well as the wildlife that rely on these bodies of water for their well being. Also, 75% of our outdoor recreation takes place near a source of water. Preserving this natural resource will only help provide us with clean drinking water and outdoor recreation for years to come.

Other NPLD projects will focus on eradicating evasive species, restoring historical sites, and planting trees.

How many sites have been registered this year? How many volunteers are expected?
More than 130,000 volunteers should be helping to clean up on 1,800 registered sites. Many larger parks or sites have multiple projects to cover different areas of conservation.

How have natural disasters like the California wildfires and the recent floods in Georgia impacted volunteer activities in those areas?

Both are locations of signature sites – large-scale cleanup projects in some of our nation’s most popular public lands. So far, none of the Georgia sites, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site cleanup, have canceled.

In California, volunteers have a special and unique opportunity to help rebuild in the aftermath of one of southern California’s largest wildfires.

“The Forest Service decided it was a great opportunity to get volunteers up to the Angeles National Forest and do some work that was related to the fire. We also want to educate the public that goes up there and give them a unique perspective on what a forest goes through after a fire,” explained Hampton. “The chief of the National Forest Service will be attending the Angeles National Forest event and volunteers will be taken on a tour of the areas devastated by the fires.”

What do you hope volunteers take away from this event?

“What we hope is that NPLD is a catalyst event that gets people involved not only with volunteering, but also with connecting to a local land they didn’t even know was in their community,” said Hampton.

If you haven’t been convinced to volunteer yet, check out this video from the Kenilworth Aquatic site coordinator Alan Spears who’s been organizing his local clean up for 10 years. Find out what kind of things he’s fished out of the Anacostia Watershed in Washington, D.C. over the years – you won’t believe it!

Get involved, and then send us your photos from your experience! For more information about volunteering for National Public Lands Day, visit their site and use the map locator or zip code finder to find sites near you. Send your volunteer stories and photos to info@earthshare.org – with your permission, we may feature you and your good work on our website and social media channels!