The Smoky Mountain Hiking Blog: Celebrate National Public Lands Day

September 24th is National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands American’s enjoy.

Last year 170,000 volunteers worked at over 2,080 sites in every state, the District of Columbia and in many U.S. territories. NPLD volunteers:

* Removed an estimated 450 tons of trash
* Collected an estimated 20,000 pounds of invasive plants
* Built and maintained an estimated 1,320 miles of trails
* Planted an estimated 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native plants
* Contributed an estimated $15 million to improve public lands across the country

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be celebrating National Public Lands Day by having volunteers work with a park trail crew for a day of fun-filled trail maintenance.

Dates: 9/24/2011
Times: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Location: Contact Trails & Facilities Volunteer Coordinator

For more information about the workday or to sign up to participate, interested volunteers must contact the Trails & Facilities Volunteer Coordinator, Christine Hoyer at christine_hoyer@nps.gov or 828-497-1949.