National Environmental Education Foundation

National Public Lands Day (NPLD), an initiative of the National Education Foundation, is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. Held annually, it will be on Saturday, September 28th, 2013. And it's their 20th anniversary! See if there's an event near you!

Find a site to volunteer for National Public Lands Day!

NPLD brings together many thousands of individual and organizational volunteers to help restore the country’s public lands. Volunteers plant trees, remove trash, and build trails across the nation to improve public lands for outdoor recreation. In 2011, volunteers and community partners contributed more than $17 million of improvements to over 2,000 public land sites. 

A Sampling of BirdNote Shows Featuring Public Lands

Habitat and the Tipping Point An interview with Rick Potvin, the manager of the McKinney National Wildlife Refuge on Long Island Sound. Listen >>

Okefenokee Swamp and Prothonotary Warbler The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was set aside to protect the fabled Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia and Florida. The Prothonotary Warbler is one of the most striking of the swamp’s denizens. Listen >>

James Swan's Willapa Bay Learn about what Willapa Bay (now a national refuge) in Washington State looked like in 1852. Listen >>

Teshekpuk Lake in Peril The wetlands surrounding Teshekpuk Lake are the most important place for molting geese in Arctic Alaska. The 60,000 Black Brant – like this one – represent about 20% of the world’s population. Listen >>

Green Jays and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge Bird life is abundant on the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas, including many species found nowhere else in the United States. Listen >>

Red-cockaded Woodpeckers - Sunrise Vigil in the Pines Red-cockaded Woodpeckers require large, old pines in which to nest. The species depends on mature southern longleaf pine forests. If we want these woodpeckers in our world, then we need to protect these large old pines. Listen >>

Brown-headed Nuthatches of Apalachicola National Forest Many Brown-headed Nuthatches make their home in the tall longleaf pines of the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida. Now, much of the forest is gone, replaced by dense planted stands of quicker-growing slash pines. Listen >>

The New Jersey Pine Barrens In southern New Jersey lies a region known as the "Pine Barrens," saved from agricultural use by its sandy, acidic soil. Listen >>

Least Tern Conservation at Bolivar Flats On the Gulf Coast of Texas, many Least Terns find protection at Bolivar Flats, an Important Bird Area near Galveston. Learn what Houston Audubon and American Bird Conservancy did to help protect the colony.  Listen >>