Celebrating public lands

By Katherine Unger

09/23/2008

Gas prices being what they are, the great American cross-country road trip might not have been in the cards this past summer. But there's still a chance to revel in the natural abundance of this country-and that opportunity is probably only a short ride from home.

This Saturday, September 27th, people around the United States will celebrate the 15th annual National Public Lands Day, a chance to give back and to enjoy the beauty of parks, preserves, refuges, and green spaces all around us.

Often when people think of public lands, only the biggies come to mind: Yellowstone, Yosemite, or, closer to home, Shenandoah. But public lands include town squares, public gardens, wildlife refuges, as well as state and national parks and forests. Unfortunately, these lands don't always get the funding required to remain safe and sustainable havens for humans and wildlife alike.

National parks, for instance, are currently in need of an estimated $8 billion to complete necessary maintenance projects, including tending trails and picnic sites, caring for archaeological finds, and maintaining visitor centers and roads. The Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) has estimated that the National Wildlife Refuge System has a maintenance backlog of approximately $3.5 billion. That means projects to help restore habitat for wildlife may go unfunded, and refuge infrastructure may go uncared for. That has real consequences for the bird-watchers, hunters, anglers, and others who enjoy time spent at refuges.

At the same time parks are receiving less money from the federal government, visitors have been declining, though numbers bumped back up in 2007. National Park visits peaked in 1999, at 287.1 million, but then declined steadily. An increase last year, however, possibly shows Americans are again feeling more enthusiastic about taking advantage of lands that have been set aside for nature and for future generations to enjoy.

On more local levels, state budgets for lands management have suffered in many places, partly because of declining revenues from a shrinking population of hunters and anglers. Besides losing funding, our states are also rapidly losing lands to development. In the early 1980s in Pennsylvania, for example, approximately 100 acres of land turned over to development every day. By 2005 that rate had climbed to 350 acres per day. Clearly, it's difficult to stop our population from growing, and stopping development from occurring. But that makes preserving lands set aside for nature even more vital.

That's part of the reason why National Public Lands Day was designated, to rally communities to play a hands-on role in maintaining and beautifying their common space. But this day also provides a perfect excuse to combine exercise, community-bonding, environmental restoration, and time in nature-all activities that tend to be lacking in the hectic lives many of us have created for ourselves today.

Taking part in such volunteer efforts can also help to instill a sense of pride in everyone who participates. We all own public lands, and so it makes sense that we can play a role in keeping them thriving. This year, on top of the annual celebration of public lands, marks the 75th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). As part of The New Deal, Franklin Delano Roosevelt hired millions of young men to work for the CCC in building trails and fish hatcheries, fighting fires, and developing parks. No doubt you've benefited from the work of the CCC, as evidence of their efforts exists in many places, including in the three billions trees they planted across the country between 1933 and 1942.

This year's efforts give participants a chance to be inspired by the work of the CCC, and do something more to beautify our landscape. At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland, volunteers will help restore forested habitat for the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel, while volunteers at Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, Virginia, will remove invasive plants and plant trees. Those who sign up to help in Delaware's Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge will help clean up the refuge's roads, and Washington, D.C., volunteers can assist staff at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens will remove litter and wade into ponds to clear them of leaves. This year organizers expect 120,000 volunteers to participate in the day, at 1,500 separate sites. There are opportunities for young and old-find the one closest to you at www.publiclandsday.org.

So this National Public Lands Day -- pull on your long pants and sturdy boots, and grab some work gloves. Your land is waiting.