Celebrating Service on National Public Lands Day

More than one-third of all US lands – as well as near-shore ocean waters – are owned and shared by the American public. Marine protected areas, national and state parks, military installations, national forests, and wildlife refuges are vital habitats for birds like the Northern Hawk Owl pictured here. On Saturday, September 30th, our nation will celebrate National Public Lands Day with cleanup projects, educational hikes, and activities for families. Find an event near you, and join the fun!

BirdNote^®

Celebrating Service on National Public Lands Day

Written by Chris Peterson

This is BirdNote!

[Sounds of pick ax in the forest +Blue Jay]

As a teen, a friend of mine maintained trails in the national forests of Vermont. First day on the job, the leader asked everyone to say why he or she had signed up. “I like to be outside where I can hear the birds and see the trees,” said one. [Call of Blue Jay] “When my mom did this, she met my dad,” said another. “I’m getting a degree in forest biology. I want to ground-truth what I’m learning.” [White-breasted Nuthatch, eastern dialect] One big kid hung back, but when it was his turn, he boomed, “I like to work. I like to work hard.”

[Sounds of pick ax in the forest]

Soon, on Saturday, September 30th, [Saturday, September 24th, in 2016] our nation will celebrate National Public Lands Day with cleanup projects, educational hikes, and activities for families. Maybe you’d like to join in.

More than one-third of all U.S. lands – as well as near-shore ocean waters – are owned and shared by us, the American public. [Splash of wave] Birds find our Marine Protected Areas, national and state parks, military installations, national forests and refuges for fish and wildlife essential.

[White-breasted Nuthatch, eastern dialect]

BirdNote celebrates the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who will be out on National Public Lands Day. And we tip our hat to the National Environmental Education Foundation for helping orchestrate the events. To find the activities nearest you, begin at our website, birdnote.org. I’m Michael Stein. [Call of Blue Jay]

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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Call of Blue Jay [105451] recorded by G.A. Keller; call of White-breasted Nuthatch + wing flutters [176168] by G.A. Keller; ambient drawn from Veery [140286] by H. Batcheller.

Splash of wave recorded by G. Hempton, Nature SFX #24. Pick ax and shovel recorded by C. Peterson.

BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

Producer: John Kessler

Executive Producer: Chris Peterson

ID# publiclands-01-2013-09-11publiclands-01

http://www.publiclandsday.org/highlights/npld-your-town

http://www.publiclandsday.org/node/1504

http://www.publiclandsday.org/highlights/20-great-public-lands-every-da…