September 2007

This Land is Our Land

On Sept. 29, volunteers will take to the nation's parks, forests, rivers, lakes, wetlands, cultural and historic sites, and other public areas to get involved in the effort to clean and fix up facilities—getting in a little recreation along the way. It's all part of the 14th annual National Public Lands Day, organized by the National Education Environmental Foundation, a private nonprofit organization chartered by Congress in 1990 to develop and support environmental learning programs to meet social goals and build partnerships among government, the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

The annual event first took place in 1994, with three federal agencies and just 700 volunteers. Last year, nearly 100,000 people worked in over 1,000 locations and in every state. National Public Lands Day helps educate Americans about critical environmental and natural resources issues, as well as the need for shared stewardship. It also helps build partnerships between the public sector and local community, while improving public lands for outdoor recreation.

This year, the event's theme is removing invasive species. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the United States spends $120 billion every year on the control and impact of more than 800 invaders that threaten the environment, human health and the economy. National Public Lands day volunteers who remove invasive species help lower that cost tremendously.

This year, event organizers aim to increase the number of volunteers by 10,000 participants. One group of participants is helping to raise that number—and it's not just grownups.

Last year, about 3,700 Girl Scouts volunteered at 175 sites across the country, and already more than 1,500 from 50 troops are signed up so far to take part this year, a number that's growing every day. Girl Scout activities will include installing bird boxes, painting picnic tables, weeding plant nurseries, planting flowers, repairing stream banks, collecting rubbish and making other outdoor contributions.

"Whether the girls volunteer for two hours or all day long, the experience provides endless leadership opportunities to learn about nature, and it allows the girls to feel a sense of accomplishment for the work that they are doing," said Jodi Stewart Schwarzer, project manager, GSUSA's outdoor and environmental program.

Girl Scouts of the USA's participation in National Public Lands Day is part of a larger program initiative called Linking Girls to the Land, a partnership between Girl Scouts of the USA, the Elliott Wildlife Values Project and federal natural resource agencies. The partnership encourages joint conservation efforts to inspire 2.8 million girls to learn about environmental protection.

For more information about National Public Lands Day and to learn how you can get involved, visit www.publiclandsday.org.