What is National Public Lands Day?

National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. In 2012, NPLD will be held on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012. To register a public land site, click here. To volunteer, view our Site map here.

NPLD began in 1994 with three sites and 700 volunteers. It proved to be a huge success and NPLD became a yearly tradition, typically held on the last Saturday in September.  Since the first NPLD, the event has grown by leaps and bounds.

In 2011, more than 170,000 volunteers worked at 2,067 sites in every state, the District of Columbia and in many U.S. territories. NPLD volunteers:

• Collected an estimated 23,000 pounds of invasive plants
• Built and maintained an estimated 1,500 miles of trails
• Planted an estimated 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native plants
• Removed an estimated 500 tons of trash from trails and other places
• Contributed an estimated $17 million through volunteer services to improve public lands across the country

Eight federal agencies as well as nonprofit organizations and state, regional and local governments participate in the annual day of caring for public lands.

National Public Lands Day keeps the promise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the "tree army" that worked from 1933-1942 to preserve and protect America's natural heritage.