National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands. And this year, it falls on September 28, 2024.
National public lands include a lot of different protected natural environments in America. From national parks, memorials, and monuments, to wildlife refuges, conservation areas, trails, wilderness areas, seashores, lakeshores, and more, public lands are actually all around us!
In fact, nearly 40% of the United States is public land, supported by taxpayers and managed by federal, state, or local government.
Created by the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), National Public Lands Day aims to celebrate the connection between people and their community’s natural spaces.
Here is your guide on how to celebrate National Public Lands Day this year.
By the way, some of the links in this article (like books!) are affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
Activities and Ideas: How To Recognize National Public Lands Day
Celebrate
Enjoy a fee-free day at a national park.
Every year, the National Park Service announces a number of “fee-free days” to ensure that our national parks are accessible to everyone.
The good news? 310 national park destinations are already free every day. The even better news? National Public Lands Day is a fee-free day across all national parks!
Once you’re ready to lace up your boots, give one of the country’s most historic national parks a visit. Google recently unveiled some new updates to Google Maps to help users identify and navigate through all of the best “must-visit attractions” at each park.
Plus, the National Park Service has tons of resources to help ensure you plan ahead and have the trip of a lifetime.
Attend a National Public Lands Day event.
National Public Lands Day brings individuals, families, and community groups together to help restore and improve our beloved outdoor spaces. According to NEEF, over the last decade, over a million volunteers have donated nearly 5 million hours of their time for public lands on this special holiday!
You can find a full directory of this year’s events through NEEF’s interactive map.
Volunteer & Take Action
Clean up your local public lands.
Grab a clean-up kit and pick up litter in your nearby public lands.
Better yet, make this a regular part of your routine! Pick up trash on your daily walks, or rally some friends for a monthly clean-up effort. Make today’s actions the start of something even more impactful.
Become a volunteer at a local or national park.
While some of the most popular parks sure get their share of foot traffic, there’s one thing every protected natural space needs: more volunteers.
Whether you sign up to volunteer with the National Park Service, or you reach out to a local wildlife refuge or conservation space, your time, energy, and skills are vital to the protection of America’s wildest spaces.
Donate to organizations that protect national parks and public lands.
Projects, nonprofits, and funds of all kinds exist to maintain and protect our public lands. Consider contributing to some of them during National Public Lands Day.
Urge your elected officials to protect public lands and national parks.
Yeah, that means no more oil pipelines.
Contact your representatives to urge them to take action to protect public lands by resisting the construction of oil pipelines, holding corporations accountable, establishing robust sustainability and conservation laws, and more.
Learn
Watch a documentary about our public lands.
Check out a few of our favorites:
- “Public Trust: The Fight for America’s Public Lands” (Patagonia Films)
- “The Ground Between Us” (Films For Action)
- “This Land” (Vimeo)
- “This American Land” (PBS)
- “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” (PBS)
- “Our Great National Parks” (Netflix)
Read books about public lands and national parks.
Bonus points if you bring said books with you when you venture outdoors.
Here are a few recs to add to your library:
- “Our Common Ground: A History of America’s Public Lands” by John D. Leshy (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- “The Power of Scenery: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Origin of National Parks” by Dennis Drabelle (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- “This America of Ours: Bernard and Avis Devoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild” by Nate Schweber (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- “Our National Forests: Stories from America’s Most Important Public Lands” by Greg M. Peters (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- “That Wild Country: An Epic Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of America’s Public Lands” by Mark Kenyon (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- “The Hike” by Allison Farrell (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- “You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks” by Evan Turk (Bookshop) (Amazon)
Read good news about public lands.
Part of the fun of celebrating public lands also means celebrating good news about national parks and public lands.
Here are just a few to get you started:
Learn more about the history behind America’s public lands.
All U.S. public lands are the ancestral lands of Indigenous peoples and tribal nations. Prior to western colonization, these lands were managed sustainably for thousands of years by these communities.
Learn more about the history and timeline of public lands through a guide from the Public Lands Foundation, and be sure to think critically and through an intersectional lens as you consider the implications and responsibility of land ownership.
Learn what Indigenous lands you live on.
Like we said, all American lands are stolen Indigenous lands. It is vital that we are aware of our position in this history — and in our present-day communities.
Explore an interactive map to learn about the Indigenous lands you occupy.
Once you have a better understanding of the lands you occupy, you can properly conduct a land acknowledgment.
Learn how to #RecreateResponsibly.
A huge element of National Public Lands Day is the commitment to take better care of our natural environment — and, in turn — each other. This is the principle behind #RecreateResponsibly, a campaign that invites people to be more thoughtful stewards of nature.
Whether it’s learning how to camp, hammock, or adventure responsibly, there are guides and resources to make your experiences fun and safe at the same time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the theme of National Public Lands Day in 2024?
The theme for National Public Lands Day in 2024 is “Together for Tomorrow.” This theme encourages people to work together to preserve America’s natural resources for future generations. NEEF will unite people under the common goal of stewarding America’s natural resources for the generations to come.
What exactly does National Public Lands Day encourage?
National Public Lands Day encourages volunteerism across America’s public lands and increases environmental stewardship among people of all ages and abilities. The holiday also aims to foster community, teamwork, and the enjoyment of public lands for education, recreation, and well-being.
What are the hashtags for National Public Lands Day?
For organizations posting about National Public Lands Day on social media, the best hashtags to use are #NPLD, #NPSVolunteer, and #NationalPublicLandsDay. You can also use general national parks hashtags to help ensure your post finds more park-lovers.
What are national public lands?
Public lands are areas of land (or water) that are owned collectively by U.S. citizens and managed by government agencies — and local Indigenous groups or tribal nations. They include national and state parks, protected areas, wildlife refuges, ceremonial grounds, ancestral homelands, and more.
Why is it important to protect public lands?
Public lands are vital to sustainable and healthy ecosystems. Protecting these lands protects history and cultures, as well as wildlife and their habitats, natural beauty, and unextracted natural resources. They also contribute to the economy, drawing in visitors across the country.
What are the biggest threats to public lands?
There are a number of threats facing public lands, like climate change, land ownership disputes, fire and fuels, invasive species, loss of open space, and unmanaged outdoor recreation. Protecting public lands means ensuring they are in the hands of trusted stewards who will advocate for their safety and preservation.
What percent of the U.S. is public lands?
Over 40% of the United States is made up of public lands. This equates to about 640 million acres of land, and about 760 million acres of submerged land and water. These lands are managed by federal agencies, state governments, and tribal nations.
What state has the most public lands?
While there are public lands across the country, the Western side of America has the highest percentage of federal land. Of these states, Nevada is the state with the most federal land. A little over 80% of the state’s landmass, or 56,262,210 acres, is federally managed.