Saturday is National Public Lands Day, and parks across the country are gearing up for their yearly tradition, volunteering while connecting with nature.
National Public Lands Day, established in 1994, is known as the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands. The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) created the day in cooperation with the Department of the Interior, Department of the Army, and Department of Agriculture.
The day, and even the weekend, brings out thousands of volunteers to help improve, preserve, and restore national parks and public lands.
NEEF says that this day celebrates the connection between people and green space in their community, inspires environmental stewardship, and encourages the use of open space for education, recreation, and health benefits.
As an effort for people to get outside to help, there is free entry at national parks and public lands.
There are 423 parks in the National Park System, encompassing more than 85 million acres across the country. The National Park Service and NEEF are urging anyone and everyone to join in these efforts to help preserve our national parks and public lands.
Below are descriptions from the National Park Service about each park and a FOX Weather forecast for each location for National Public Lands Day.