News Release
| Release Number: | 00-170 |
| Dated: | 9/19/2000 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.--If you have ever wanted to take an active part in making the world a better place, mark your calendar for National Public Lands Day (NPLD) on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2000.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning cleanup and conservation activities this weekend along the Columbia River to celebrate the nationwide event. Staff at the Corps’ Bonneville Lock and Dam on the Columbia River are inviting members of the public to participate in a number activities planned at the project, including shoreline cleanup projects, tours and fish talks.
From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., visitors can take an active role in improving and restoring natural areas around Bonneville Dam by picking up trash, removing invasive plants that threaten native vegetation, building protective enclosures for quail or songbirds and doing general cleanup at the project. Trash bags and work gloves will be provided. Volunteers should meet at either the Washington Shore or Bradford Island visitor centers.
Visitors also are invited to participate in activities earlier in the day. At 10 a.m. in the Bonneville Lock and Dam Auditorium building, Corps rangers will present talks that explain past, present and future activities designed to enhance Bonneville Dam’s natural resources. Visitors can enjoy the music of Whiskey Flats, a Civil War Era brass band, and see slides from the early 1900s, as well as view a working model of today’s lock.
Talks focusing on the Columbia River fisheries will begin at noon in both the Washington Shore and Bradford Island visitor centers. Participants can learn about the Corps’ mission to modify and operate the dam while supporting sound environmental stewardship.
At 1 p.m., visitors can enjoy a guided interpretive walk (an easy mile and a half) through the Fort Cascades Historical Site. Corps rangers will explain the cultural importance of the site and share relevant folklore of the area. For more information about these events, call Corps park ranger Ron McDonald at (541) 374-4557.
Across the nation, the Corps manages nearly 12 million acres of public land, 4 million of which are water. "I don’t know if people realize the property we manage really belongs to them," McDonald said. "This is their opportunity to help us take care of it."
National Public Lands Day is the largest nationwide volunteer workday for America’s public lands, which includes parks, forests, refuges, lakeshores, grasslands and historic sites. The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation and its nine federal partners, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, coordinates NPLD to demonstrate shared stewardship and to provide environmental education about our nation’s natural resources.