NEWS
450 Volunteers Spruce up Anacostia Region on National Public Lands Day
Over 450 volunteers gathered in the Anacostia region of Washington, D.C. to clear brush, plant trees, and spruce up four sites along the shores of the river. Miss USA, Woodsy Owl, and a "resurrected" President Teddy Roosevelt were on hand to celebrate volunteerism.
Also on hand to celebrate the 9th annual National Public Lands Day were National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, USDA Forest Service Associate Chief Sally Collins, Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Brigadier General Carl Strock, and Toyota Senior Vice President Douglas West.
L to R: Woodsy Owl, NPS Director Fran Mainella, Miss USA Shauntay Hinton, Toyota Senior VP Douglas West, USACE Brigadier General Carl A. Strock, NEETF President Kevin Coyle pose in front of the Urban Tree House at Anacostia Park on National Public Lands Day.
Anacostia Park served as the signature event for the largest one-day volunteer hands-on restoration event for U.S. public lands. Federal agency sponsors are the National Park Service, USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The effort featured:
- The Urban Tree House: Young volunteers planted trees, mulched, cleared brush, and celebrated the benefits of outdoor recreation;
- Kingman Island: Volunteers removed invasive plants cleared brush and debris, planted seedlings, and built trails;
- Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: Volunteers built benches, cleared vegetation for additional boardwalk trail, and removed trash from marshlands.
- Old Capitol Pump House Riverwalk: Volunteers cleared brush and debris along the shore and shallow water and cleared the site for the construction of the Anacostia Riverwalk.
Toyota volunteers take a break from pulling invasive weeds to pose for a photograph. Toyota employees volunteered at Kingman IslandSponsored by Toyota Motor Sales USA, National Public Lands Day brings together Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Wonderful Outdoor World, American Hiking Society, National Association of Service Conservation Corps, National Parks Conservation Association, National Tree Trust and thousands of other individual and organizational volunteers to refurbish and restore the country's public places. These are the lands and facilities Americans use for outdoor recreation, education, and just plain enjoyment. They encompass national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, grasslands, marine sanctuaries, lakes, and reservoirs managed by federal, state and local government agencies, but belonging to, and enjoyed by everyone.