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Dear NPLD Site Managers, Partners and Volunteers,
National Public Lands Day, now in its 17th year, has become the largest single-day volunteer event for our nation's public lands. This year September 25 promises to be the biggest and best yet with an anticipated 175,000 volunteers pitching in at over 2,000 volunteer worksites. Mark your calendars now!
This year, you can find educational resources on our website about the connection between climate change and public lands for site managers and volunteers.
National Public Lands Day will also be focusing on the recreational opportunities and health benefits that public lands offer. This year, we are encouraging site managers to invite volunteers to enjoy a hike, bike ride or other popular recreational activity after a day of volunteering.
Site managers can register their event now at www.publiclandsday.org and benefit from planning tips provided throughout the spring and summer. While you are at our web site, check out some of the other activities the Public Lands Program has been up to. We have just announced our Capacity Building Grants and we will be holding our second capacity building webinar through our Power of Friends Network. These resources will assist public land managers and members of friends organizations to continue to develop and improve their programs and efforts.
Thank you for your continued support and participation in the Public Lands Program and National Public Lands Day. We look forward to another wonderful year celebrating our public lands. Get out there!
Robb Hampton,
Director, National Public Lands Day |
| Register Now for National Public Lands Day -
Sept. 25, 2010 |
 Site managers can now register their event and receive their FREE promotional materials and other resources in time for our first shipment in June. Materials will be sent out in four to six shipments throughout the summer and early fall.
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The Power of Friends Network
Save the Date for Webinar #2 - April 1, 2010, 3:00 p.m. EST |
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 Providing Authentic Programs and Experiences through Partnerships will explore ways to assist site managers and members of friend organizations to make personal connections to public lands through workshops, seminars, field experiences and school-based educational programs. Participants will learn how to identify and create programs for different audiences and age levels, market programs to captivate public interest and develop resources for sustaining programs.
Webinar #1, The Power of Friends: Building and Maintaining Partnerships That Work is available online. The Public Lands Program has also developed a list of resources on increasing organizational capacity, strategic planning, fundraising feasibility studies, evaluation tools and consultant relations. |
| Public Lands Program Capacity Building
Grants Awarded |
 The National Environmental Education Foundation's Public Lands Program has awarded 10 nonprofit public land "friends of" groups $1,000 Capacity Building Grants. These grants will provide funding to strengthen the organizational effectiveness of these community-based nonprofits who serve our public land sites throughout our nation.
These Capacity Building Grants will assist groups with strategic planning, branding, communications and marketing, volunteer management, improved fundraising and help advance the organizations' abilities to carry out their strategic goals and make them more sustainable. |
Let's Move!
Get Outdoors and Get Fit on Our Nation's Best Playgrounds |
 This year, First Lady Michelle Obama introduced Let's Move! The initiative is designed to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity and inactivity. Children and adolescents are becoming increasingly unhealthy, both physically and mentally as they spend more time sitting indoors and less time recreating outdoors. Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children.
Public lands are often your best resources for getting active. Outdoor play time and activities such as hiking, skating and bicycling are beneficial to a child's physical and mental well-being. Regular exposure to the natural environment can increase physical activity, help childhood development, act as a coping mechanism for attention disorders and reduce stress.
National Public Lands Day is a gateway for discovering recreational opportunities at our parks. Volunteers can explore new activities such as hiking, biking and swimming, while getting healthy in America's backyard. |
| Climate Change and Public Lands
Learn More About Climate Change's Effects On Our Parks |
 America's public lands - almost 700 million acres total - are experiencing the effects of climate change including increased flooding, storms, droughts, wild fires and an influx of invasive species altering the ecosystems within our nation's parks, forests, refuges and shorelines. These changes could create new pressures on plant and animal communities. In the absence of adaptation, this might lead to a loss of these irreplaceable natural resources. Learn more and find resources to teach others. |
| Site of the Month
The JAYCEES of Kent County, Rhode Island
National Public Lands Day 2009 |
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 The Kent County Jaycees and a host of diverse community volunteers celebrated National Public Lands Day 2009 by sprucing up the Jaycee's Riverwalk Corridor and Arboretum in the Riverport Community Park in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
The town-owned arboretum is filled with hundreds of flowers, shrubs and trees and provides an enjoyable place to unwind for visitors and horticulturists alike. Since 1998, the Jaycees have been assigned the responsibility of managing and maintaining the park. The arboretum forms the portal entrance to the riparian buffer, the Senator Donald E. Roch Riverwalk, a nearly two-mile stretch of wilderness trail that meanders along the confluence of the Pawtuxet River - Rhode Island's longest waterway.
For the past five years, the Jaycees have recruited 80 to 100 volunteers from area colleges, schools, scout groups and other citizens to celebrate National Public Lands Day. Last September, teenagers, grandparents and everyone in between pitched in to care for the arboretum. They planted fall flowers, trimmed trees, pruned shrubs, restored planting beds, painted fences, shored up trails and maintained educational signs.
The United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees) gives young people between the ages of 18 and 41 the tools they need to build the bridges of success for themselves in the areas of business development, management skills, individual training, community service, and international connections. With the focus of the nation on volunteerism, from the smallest towns to the largest cities, the Jaycees are enlarging areas of opportunity for young people.
The Jaycees are just one of many youth volunteer groups that pitch in on National Public Lands Day. NPLD also works with the Student Conservation Association, the Corps Network, City Year, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and many youth conservation corps across the country. |
| National Public Lands Day Network
Celebrating Public Lands Year Round |
 Are you planning a cleanup or other work activity sometime this winter or spring? We want to hear about it! The National Public Lands Day website includes a calendar of volunteer events happening throughout the year.
View the NPLD Network Calendar
Volunteer coordinators are invited to submit information about their work projects planned over the next few months. Volunteers can check out the calendar to find events throughout the country. |
April 11-17, 2010 |
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NPLD land managers, "friends of" groups and volunteers are invited to participate in National Environmental Education Week (EE Week). A program of the National Environmental Education Foundation, EE Week is the nation's largest environmental education event held April 11-17, 2010, inspiring environmental learning and stewardship among K-12 students. EE Week connects educators with environmental resources to promote K-12 students' understanding of the environment.
 Our nation's water and energy resources are increasingly important topics of discussion not just in the news, but in classrooms and homes as well. Recognizing the importance of conserving both water and energy to protect the planet and reduce costs - and acknowledging the connection between water and energy - EE Week's 2010 theme is Be Water and Energy Wise.
Join a national network of educators dedicated to increasing environmental literacy and promoting environmental learning by registering at www.eeweek.org/register. | |
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) provides knowledge to trusted professionals who, with their credibility, amplify messages to national audiences to solve everyday environmental problems. Together, we generate lasting positive change.
NEEF partners with professionals in health, education, media, business and public land management to promote daily actions for helping people protect and enjoy the environment. Through our primary programs- Classroom Earth, National Public Lands Day, National Environmental Education Week, Business and Environment, Earth GaugeŽ, and Health and Environment- we offer Americans knowledge to live by. To learn more, call (202) 833-2933 or visit www.neefusa.org.
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Our Programs
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National Public Lands Day is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve America's public lands. NPLD began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. The Public Lands Program aims to increase the capacity of public lands stewards to engage local communities to help care for our public lands. The Public Lands Program provides online training resources, networking opportunities and small grants to increase the capacity of friends groups. |
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| National Sponsor |
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Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. operates under a Global Earth Charter which was set forth to promote environmental responsibility for every aspect of the company and significantly reduce the impact that Toyota's vehicles have on the planet. In line with their commitment to environmental responsibility, Toyota has sponsored the National Public Lands Day program for 12 consecutive years. They have also sponsored Tour Grants and the Public Lands Program Capacity Building Grants.
Toyota encourages employees to get involved in NPLD activities by helping to care for parks, forests, rivers, beaches, shorelines and other public lands. Read more about Toyota's strong commitment to the environment and their support of National Public Lands Day. |
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| Corporate Sponsor
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Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Through its partnership with National Public Lands Day, Northrop Grumman employees across the nation will join together to improve and enhance public lands, supporting the company's corporate responsibility efforts in embracing green initiatives and translating values into action. |
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| Public Lands Education Resource Center
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NPLD has an extensive library of information, activies and resources to educate children and adult volunteers about the natural world:
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| Fee Free Day |
National Public Lands Day is a fee free day on many federally managed lands. Volunteers who participate on National Public Lands Day at federal land sites are rewarded with coupons for free entry into their favorite federal public land areas. Learn more. |
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| Girl Scouts
and Boy Scouts |
NPLD has a special partnership with both the Girl Scouts of the USA and the Boy Scouts of America. Boy and Girl Scouts are invited to get involved in National Public Lands Day by volunteering at a local park, forest or other public land. NPLD is an excellent opportunity to educate Boy and Girl Scouts about the natural world while engaging them in the outdoors. Register Your Troop Now
NPLD is part of the Linking Girls to the Land partnership with the federal land agencies. NPLD connects scouts to public lands in their region.
Girl Scout troops register to participate on NPLD and receive volunteer certificates.
Girl Scouts may be eligible to earn the Get with the Land patch.
Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts of all ages can install bird boxes, plant trees and native vegetation, collect native seeds, repair stream banks, remove invasive species and trash, renew trails and more.
Boy Scout troops register to participate on NPLD and receive scout volunteer certificates. | |
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