More than 200 volunteers of all ages and abilities are expected to dig in at volunteer sites in the Miami area on Sept. 22 and spend the day cleaning parks and waterways, repairing trails, and enjoying the outdoors.
The events are part of the 25th annual National Public Lands Day (NPLD) celebration occurring at sites throughout the country.
Led by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort.
Planned Miami-area events include:
Biscayne National Park: Volunteers will take to their boats to remove garbage from the shoreline and take it to appropriate collection sites. The event is part of the park’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park: Volunteers will spruce up the park’s multi-use trails at this bilingual event.
With support from NPLD national corporate sponsor Toyota, eight federal agency partners, hundreds of state and local partners, and dozens of nonprofit organizations, National Public Lands Day promotes the connection between people and the environment by inviting everyone to get outside.
This year’s theme is restoration and resilience. NEEF expects that on National Public Lands Day, more than 200,000 volunteers nationwide will turn out for trail maintenance and planting projects, trash pickups, and other refurbishing activities aimed at restoring public lands and making them more resilient. NEEF estimates that during last year’s National Public Lands Day volunteers contributed 680,000 hours of service, valued at $16.7 million. The day also will feature education, health, and recreation activities — all set on the backdrop of the country’s public lands and waterways.
National Public Lands Day is a fee-free day for all national parks as well as many state and local parks. Participating federal sites reward volunteers with a coupon good for another free entry to any public land managed by one of the NPLD federal partners any time before National Public Lands Day 2019.
Learn more about National Public Lands Day, register for one of these events, or check out other events throughout the country at NEEFUSA.org/ NPLD.
