U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis Supports National Public Lands Day, Sept. 27

St. Louis, September 19, 2008 – Thousands of local volunteers at more than 100 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project sites around the country will participate in this year’s 15th annual National Public Lands Day Sept. 27, the largest annual volunteer hands-on restoration activity of its kind. Activities include clean up, repairs, refurbishments and other volunteer events in parks, forests, rivers, lakes, wetlands, cultural and historic sites and other public lands and waters and involve more than 120,000 volunteers at 1,500 sites nationwide.

Volunteers at Corps of Engineers’ sites will take part in tree planting, erosion control, bank stabilization, building trails, restoring recreation areas, trash pickup, removing invasive species, removing non-native plants, improvements to wildlife habitats, harvesting prairie plant seeds and rehabilitating playgrounds.

The Corps’ St. Louis District is federal steward to over 300,000 acres of public lands and waters. This includes five multipurpose reservoirs, 5 navigational projects, 80 miles on the Illinois river, 36 miles on the Kaskaskia River and 300 miles on the Mississippi River. Carlyle, Rend and Shelbyville lakes are in Illinois. Mark Twain Lake and Wappapello lakes are in Missouri. The individual projects will be hosting events in conjunction with National Public Lands Day.

Information is as follows:

Illinois:
Carlyle Lake (Carlyle, Illinois)
The Carlyle Lake/Kaskaskia Navigation Project Office will be planting a variety of trees at Boulder Flats Wetland Restoration Area as part of National Public Lands Day. The event will start at 9 a.m. on September 27 at the North Fork East Parking Area. Volunteers will be digging holes and placing trees in cooperation with Corps of Engineers employees. This reforestation project will enhance the Boulder Flats Wetland Restoration Area by providing habitat and food for all types of wildlife. For information please call the Carlyle Lake Project Office at (618) 594-2484

Rend Lake (Benton, Illinois)
Rend Lake will be hosting its 22nd Annual Rend Lake Cleanup on October 11. Volunteers are invited to come out and help clean up trash along all the roads entering the lake. Registration is from 8-9 a.m. at the Rend Lake Visitor Center. Volunteers will be assigned to work a particular area from 9-11 a.m. An awards ceremony will be at noon. For information please call the Rend Lake Project Office at 618-724-2493.

Shelbyville Lake (Shelbyville, Illinois)
Lake Shelbyville is planning a high water cleanup in the Dam West Recreation Area and the removal of unwanted woody vegetation in the Camp Camfield Environmental Area as part of National Public Lands Day. Volunteers will work from 8 a.m. until noon. For information please call the Lake Shelbyville Project Office at 217-774-3951.

Missouri:
Mark Twain Lake (Monroe City, Missouri)
Volunteers are welcome to gather at the Mark Twain Lake Frank Russell Recreation Area Pond Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. Work will focus on wildlife habitat management activities in the recreation area, including tree planting, food plot planting, and prairie grass plantings. Other activities include cleaning up flooded multi-use trails. For information please call the Mark Twain Lake Project Office at (573)735-4097.

Rivers Project Office (West Alton, Missouri)
The Rivers Project Office is hosting an event in partnership with Greenway Network, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Concurrent activities will be held at the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Ted and Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park, and Columbia Bottom Conservation Area. Each site will host an outdoor recreational activity starting at 9:30 a.m. with a service project that volunteers can get involved with at 12:30 p.m.

At Riverlands there will be a kayak/paddling activity in the morning and construction of a chimney swift roosting tower and prairie restoration project in the afternoon. Columbia Bottom will host a bike ride and children's hands on educational activities in the morning and a prairie restoration project in the afternoon. Confluence State Park will have a history hike in the morning and a tree planting project in the afternoon. For information please call the Rivers Project Office at 636-899-2600.

- 30 -

Additional Background Information: As part of this year’s National Public Lands Day, participants will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Famous for planting more than three billion trees in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps played a leading role in restoring America’s deteriorating forests.

In addition, this year’s National Public Lands Day kicks-off an interagency pledge of cooperation among the eight federal land management agencies to promote the new “Get Outdoors-It’s Yours” national campaign. This national initiative will raise awareness of the opportunities for America’s youth to reengage with nature and to encourage children and their families to spend more time participating in outdoor education, recreation and stewardship activities.

Last year, National Public Lands Day involved 110,000 volunteers at 1,300 sites. Volunteers removed more than 500,000 pounds of trash, built and maintained 720 miles of trails, and planted 55,000 trees among many other tasks. National Public Lands Day partners include federal agencies, National Environmental Education Foundation and other nonprofit groups, 125 state, county and city agencies, and several corporate sponsors.

The Corps has been involved with National Public Lands Day since its inception in 1994 and has consistently been one of the largest providers of sites and volunteers participating in the event. The Corps of Engineers is the number one federal provider of outdoor recreation, managing more than 12 million acres of land and water for natural resources and public recreation benefits. The Corps’ 2,476 recreation sites at 423 projects offer a wide range of opportunities and facilities for outdoor recreation.

[Printable PDF]