Saturday, September 25, 2010 is National Public Lands Day. That’s the day thousands of volunteers across America join together to help clean up their public lands, and for places like Yosemite that means you get in FREE.
National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands American’s enjoy. In 2009, 150,000 volunteers built trails and bridges, and removed trash and invasive plants on public lands across the country.
Junk collected from the 2009 Yosemite Facelift. Photo courtesy of the Yosemite Climbing Association.
Yosemite National Park’s major emphasis for the day will be the Yosemite Facelift. This volunteer effort begins Wednesday, September 22, and continues through Sunday, September 26. Last year, this massive cleanup effort yielded over 60,000 pounds of trash collected throughout the park. Over 1,200 volunteers donated 16,488 hours to the effort. Additionally, more than 100 miles of roadway were cleaned, as well as over 120 miles of trails. The Facelift is a great way to show your support for Yosemite and help keep it one of the crown jewels in America’s National Park System. It’s also fun just to see some of the junk collected. You wouldn’t believe this stuff. It’ll leave you wondering how it even got in Yosemite in the first place. You can get more information about the Yosemite Facelift by visiting the Yosemite Climbing Association website at yosemiteclimbing.org.
Fees being waived for National Public Lands Day include the park entrance only. All other fees associated with camping, lodging, or activities within the park are not waived. The fee waiver is good for National Public Lands Day only.