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Bureau of Land Management
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National Public Lands Day 2000
National Public Lands Day: a Public/Private Partnership
Federal managers design hands-on workdays for volunteers, who build trails and bridges, make facilities universally accessible, renew tired buildings, improve wildlife habitat, remove invasive plants to make room for native species, restore shorelines, protect cultural resources, and perform many other priority projects that would not be accomplished without this fruitful partnership. It is also a day devoted to environmental learning and the need for stewardship of America's irreplaceable treasures. Involvement in National Public Lands Day has grown from one agency, three sites and 700 volunteers in 1994, to a projected 250 sites in every state in September 2000. The nine Federal partners are the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation, chartered by Congress in 1990, coordinates the various Federal agency activities relating to National Public Lands Day. Private organizations contribute to the National Public Lands Day Partnership by providing leadership and volunteers who are willing to roll up their sleeves and build sweat-equity in public lands. Current private partners include Leave No Trace, Public Lands Foundation, American Hiking Society, The Roundtable Associates, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, League of Women Voters, The Garden Club of America, Keep America Beautiful, General Federation of Women's Clubs, Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement, National Parks Conservation Association, Trust for Public Lands, National Association of Service and Conservation Corps, and the Student Conservation Association. National Public Lands Day is a growing, successful partnership between the public and private sectors to accomplish needed work that could not be done without effective managers and dedicated volunteers. This workday produces real results to improve shared public places while also educating volunteers about the environment and the importance of public lands. "The volunteers gain an awareness and an understanding of public lands and their inherent value while establishing a sense of community pride and ownership for these lands," notes NPLD site coordinator Arthur Callan of the Bureau of Land Management in Carson City, Nevada. National Public Lands Day also builds support for public lands and their managers within communities, with local businesses often providing tools and materials to make the effort a success. In the past six years 57,000 NPLD volunteers and their community partners have contributed $7.6 million to restore and enhance the nation's public lands.
National Public Lands Day has reinvented how we care for our nation's most
extensive natural resource: our public lands. Federal managers call on those who use and enjoy the lands to join them and their staffs in shared stewardship to restore and enhance these valued places. National Public Lands Day is a partnership of Federal agencies with State and local governments, private businesses, and citizen volunteers, who are invited to invest in our nation's public lands. This annual event -- now in its seventh year--takes place on the fourth Saturday of every September.
Last Updated: February 1, 2001
For questions about our programs contact Elizabeth Rieben
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Bureau of Land Management
Environmental Education and Volunteer Programs