Coast-to-coast tour for public lands day begins Aug. 30
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, national sponsor of National Public Lands Day, sent its high-efficiency Prius and Highlander hybrid cars on a coast-to-coast tour to deliver$1,000 grants to local conservation groups.
The volunteer drive and Public Lands Day Tour will launch this Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 1 p.m. in New York’s Washington Square, and Friday, Sept. 1, at 2 p.m. at Valley Forge near Philadelphia.
Tour vehicles will be driven by Robb Hampton, Director of National Public Lands Day, who will deliver oversized checks to the recipients of Toyota’s local conservation grants. In New York, Partnership for Parks will receive $1,000 at 1 p.m. Aug. 30 in Washington Square, at West 4th Street and MacDougal. Two days later Hampton will deliver $1000 to Friends of Valley Forge to cover gloves, water, and safety supplies for painting and planting projects planned there.
Toyota and the event’s other sponsors – federal land management agencies and the National Environmental & Education Training Foundation -- are seeking more people to participate in cleanups, fix-ups, and recreational events, with the goal of mobilizing 100,000 volunteers to make a major difference at 1,000 sites nationwide.
Last year, 80,000 people turned out at 800 locations. Their experience keeps alive the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which enrolled 3 million Americans in fixing up public lands in the 1930s. This year a special push is underway to bring help to urban parks and school playgrounds that need help, as the program expands further at the local and state level.
Grand Tetons, Montana, 2007