Local volunteers celebrate National Public Lands Day at Bennington Lake

WALLA WALLA - Local volunteers celebrated National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 26, 2006. This year's theme is "Caring for Our Shared America" in coordination with the nation's 250th anniversary. The event is held each year on the fourth Saturday in September, and is the nation's largest single-day volunteer event for public lands.

This year, the National Park Service expanded the event's volunteer opportunities from September 12 through October 10. The Park Service partners with the National Environmental Education Foundation to run the event to connect government agencies and volunteers. This year, Washington State held over 35 events.

The Walla Walla US Army Corps of Engineers hosted an event at its Mill Creek Flood Control Project at Bennington Lake. USACE rangers Seth Langianese and Dillon Benitez led the effort, working with volunteers from Blue Mountain Land Trust's Blues Crew and Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever.

Seventeen Blues Crew volunteers contributed 110 hours to plan the event, perform trail maintenance, and pick up litter. Nine volunteers from Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever contributed 20 hours to plant 80 trees and shrubs in a native plant garden at the trailhead junction parking lot.

National Public Lands Day was established in 1994 to connect communities to public lands through service to inspire environmental stewardship. That first year's event comprised one agency, the Bureau of Land Management, across three sites in California and Nevada, with 700 volunteers. Last year, the 32nd annual NPLD grew to 916 events across all 50 states, with 55,550 volunteers contributing over 328,100 hours of service. Typical services include trash removal, trail maintenance, invasive species removal, accessibility enhancement, infrastructure improvement, and planting native plants. NPLD events are mow hosted on national, state, county, and local public lands.

Next year's National Public Lands Day will fall on Saturday, September 25, 2027, with volunteer opportunities and planned events available at http://www.neefusa.org by early September 2027.