National Park Week is here and Earth Day
is just a few days away. Are you and your family searching for ways to
do your part to protect the parks, help the environment and get
outside?
The National Park Service and The National Park Foundation are proud to present a list of ways to celebrate National Park Week that will get you outside, and get your “green” on.
Top 10 Things You Can Do to Celebrate Earth Day and National Park Week
2010:
- Share a park, and shape a life: Introduce a young person to our national parks. Go to www.nationalparkweek.org
and download the brand-new, free resource for families: “Parks for
Play: 35 National Park Adventures for Kids of All Ages,” which
features 35 great national parks for families with tykes, teens and
everyone in between. - Visit a national park for free: The National Park Service
has waived entrance fees to all 392 national parks through Sunday, April
25, 2010. Need help locating the closest park to you? No problem,
visit www.nps.gov/npweek for all the resources and links you need. - Plant native species: “Everglades National Park was the
first national park in America established to preserve, protect and
restore a unique and fragile ecosystem,” said Dan Kimball,
superintendent of Everglades National Park. “You can protect the
environment in your community by planting native plant species in your
home gardens and backyards. Non-native plants can adversely impact
native wildlife, wreak havoc on nearby natural areas and waters, and
interfere with our efforts to restore imperiled ecosystems like the
Everglades.” - Help support the parks at Macy’s:
America’s retailer has a matching gift program through the end of April.
If you can’t make it to a park, consider a gift of any amount and
Macy’s will match your gift up to $1 million. Macy’s support of the
National Park Foundation is helping bring more than 100,000 youth into
parks this spring. You can help by visiting your nearest Macy’s
store or going to www.macys.com/giveback. - Celebrate Earth Day in the parks, and leave your car home:
Did you know that there are many options for visiting national parks
without driving your car? In Boston, on April 21 and 22 (which is Earth
Day), park rangers will be picking up park visitors at MBTA (“The T”)
and offering rides to 12 area parks. Take the train through Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Or, think about carpooling with friends to the park nearest you. - Use reusable bags: “Replace disposable bags with reusable ones,” said Rich Weideman, Chief of Public Affairs at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
“Everyone has seen old plastic bags stuck in trees, littering our
roadsides and in our streams, and that’s just one of the signs of waste
we face in an urban national park like Golden Gate.” - Volunteer: Help pick up trash, mulch a trail, pull weeds — or whatever else your local park needs. Bank of America
associates around the country will be rolling up their sleeves for
National Park Week by volunteering to clean up park lands, rebuild
trails and restore native habitats. Find out how you can volunteer too
by visiting www.nationalparkweek.org. - Buy locally grown produce: “When you buy your fruits and
veggies locally, you’re saving on the fuel and energy it takes to
transport and store them,” said Joan Anzelmo, superintendent of Colorado
National Monument, where park rangers participate in the local farmers
market in Grand Junction, Colo., each summer. - Help turn one of America’s best parks into one of
America’s best classrooms: This spring, the National Park Foundation
will bring Bryce Canyon National Park into classrooms
across the through our Electronic Field Trip. It’s absolutely free for
teachers to register their classes for the live broadcast and
interactive curriculum. Send any teachers you know this link to sign up
for free now: www.brycecanyoneft.org. - Use water efficiently: “A whopping 30 percent of the city of Seattle’s electricity comes from hydroelectricity generated within North Cascades National Park,”
said Chip Jenkins, superintendent of North Cascades National Park.
“Every time you conserve your water usage, that’s not only more clean
water for drinking and water for wildlife, but potentially creating more
water for clean energy.”
For more information about National Park Week, visit www.nps.gov/npweek. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nationalpark.Twitter: http://twitter.com/goparks
