Western Public Lands Day Tour Kicks Off

The official leadup to the nation's largest single day volunteer event for public lands was kicked off on Wednesday outside Las Vegas, Nevada at Red Rocks Canyon National Conservation Area. I will be visiting several more sites in my environmentally wrapped Toyota Highlander Hybrid on my way to Golden Gate National Recreation Area to celebrate the 13th Annual National Public Lands Day along with several hundred volunteers.

Nationwide, we are expecting the biggest turnout for National Public Lands Day ever with over 1,000 sites to participate and nearly 100,000 volunteers. On my tour, I will be giving away $1,000 grants at selected sites in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, and California. The grants will be used for direct expenses for public lands improvements to be done on National Public Lands Day. Sorry we can't hit all 1,000 sites participating but you never know if we will drop by next year!

We had a wonderful time at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The Travelocity Gnome met up with me in Vegas to tour with me for the rest of the trip and I got to dial in my Toyota Hybrid Highlander. What a vehicle and I've already gotten a ton of attention and thumbs up from a lot of folks along my travels.

We delivered a $1,000 grant to The Friends of Red Rock Canyon to purchase lumber for the upcoming project to be held on National Public Lands Day. The BLM staffers raved about NPLD as well as The Friends of Red Rock Canyon for the amount of work that they do on a day to day basis. I also was given a brief tour of the area surrounding the vistor center where the first September 11th memorial was dedicated. It was truly moving to see this memorial so close to the 5th anniversary on the attacks.

On a lighter note, I was also introduced to Mojave Max whom happens to be a very famous desert tortise that resides behind the visitor center. The Travelocity Gnome was also introduced to Max and I think they had quite an exchange.

My grant delivery will be in Moab, Utah but I'm planning on passing through Zion National Park and perhaps Canyonlands National Park along the way. I'll be updating the blog throughout the trip and hope to keep everybody updated on our adventures. Stay tuned!!