BLM Celebrates NPLD with Gunston Elementary School
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) and Gunston Elementary School are teaming up to celebrate National Public Lands Day (NPLD) on Sept. 26, with a workday on BLM trails connecting to the schoolyard. Registration for the event will begin at 9 a.m. at the school located at 10100 Gunston Road, Lorton, Virginia. The event will wrap up at noon with a volunteer appreciation lunch. Nearly 200 volunteers are expected for the event including teachers, students, BLM employees, Boy and Girl Scouts, Meadowood Friends Group and local Lions Club members. Participants will receive a NPLD t-shirt and one Fee Free Pass for any public land recreation site where an admission fee is charged.Volunteers will work on an outdoor classroom for local students and improve the schoolyard garden habitat. They may also pick up debris along the BLM-managed Eagle Trail connecting the schoolyard with a system of trails on the Meadowood SRMA, including the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail."This is a great opportunity for BLM to assist a local school in our community, build partnerships and celebrate volunteerism," noted Lower Potomac Field Station Manager, Zach Reichold.year, NPLD events will share information about Every Kid in a Park (EKiP), the President' initiative to protect our nation's unique outdoor spaces and ensure that every American has the opportunity to visit and enjoy them. The EKiP fee-free pass is a chance for fourth graders from every background to be outside and get to know the lands and waters that belong to them. The pass grants free entry for them and three accompanying adults (or an entire car for drive-in parks) at more than 2,000 federally-managed sites.NPLD is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands Americans enjoy. Last year, 175,000 volunteers built trails and bridges, removed trash and invasive plants, planted trees and restored our water sources. For more information, please visit www.publiclandsday.org or contact Theresa Jefferson, phone: 703-339-3467, or e-mail to: tjeffers@blm.gov.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.