The National Public Lands Day Tour culminated on September 30th at Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), one of our nation's premier urban parks and recreational environments. Several hundred volunteers gathered throughout the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and participated at eight different worksites, including Chrissy Field, Presidio, and Marin Headlands.A wonderful volunteer recognition ceremony was held in the morning to celebrate the 100,000 volunteers at nearly 1,100 sites across the country. Speakers thanking the volunteers included GGNRA Superindendent Brian O'Neil, Parks Conservancy Executive Director Greg Moore, and Toyota's J.L. Armstrong, National Manager of External Affairs. Volunteers had free breakfast as they watched the check presentation.
I joined Mr. Armstrong in presenting the last $1,000 grant for land improvements of this year's National Public Lands Day Tour to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.Of course, after the ceremony, there was plenty of work to be done. We joined about 50 or 60 volunteers at Crissy Field and pulled dandelions and other weeds. Some of the volunteers were employees from offices of the National Public Lands Day Tour sponsors, Travelocity and Toyota.
Not only did Travelocity and Toyota employees come out in droves, but a number of school groups and families came out to enjoy the day as well. I did not see the Gnome volunteering at that particular site, however. I hope he is ok.After the volunteer event, volunteers gathered again at the Crissy Field Center for lunch and a special guest speaker, Richard Louv. Mr. Louv is the author of the bestselling book Last Child In the Woods, Saving our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder. (click the link to purchase from Amazon). Mr. Louv gave an wonderful speech at the Crissy Field Environmental Education Center in front of a packed room. He was wonderful enough to sign free copies of his book for the volunteers who participated that day. I think everybody learned a lot from his speech and I'm sure everybody blazed through his book like I did when I first read it.
Of course the day wasn't over. The fine folks at The Sports Basement located next to the Crissy Field Center stocked their bar and invited all the volunteers over for a shopping 'happy hour.' I must thank The Sports Basement for stocking the bar with my two favorite beverages; Fat Tire and Sierra Nevada!! Having never been to The Sports Basement, I was totally overwhelmed by all the great outdoor stuff they had to offer. I almost packed up the Highlander with everything I saw, but I decided to concentrate more on the beverages.
Thanks to everybody who made that particular day a reality. Take Pride in America should be recognized as a contributing partner and Denise Shea of the Golden Gate Parks Conservancy did an extra special job organizing all the different worksites as well as coordinating the majority of logistics during the day.
Reflecting on my previous month of travels to public lands, I obviously had a journey of a lifetime. However, I also learned quite a bit about how the public perceives our public lands. I spoke with ranchers, climbers, ATV'er, hikers, mountain bikers, wildlife viewers, RV'ers, and everybody else inbetween. The bottom line is that everybody seems to in one way or another LOVE our public lands.
I do feel like there is still a lot of education to the general public of what public lands are and how we, as responsible citizens, need to protect, enhance and generally treat these lands. During my trip, I managed to see a lot of wonderful things. I saw trees, mountains, wildlife, and wide open spaces. I was also lucky enough to go hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing and camp. I got to meet some wonderful people who are committed to helping preserve those things, those opportunities and those experiences.
However, I was also slighted at some of the behaivor of people who visited these precious places. While hiking in Yosemite, I picked up litter along the trail up to Yosemite Falls and even in the deepest of wilderness in Los Pedros National Forest, I picked up shotgun shells, water bottles, and energy bar wrappers. I saw people standing 3 feet away from wildlife in Yellowstone and Yosemite regardless of the insistant messages the National Park Service give. I saw people picking up rocks and plants as souveniers all over the place.
It is up to all of us to educate our neighbors about public lands and the issues that they face. we need to educate others that we must respect our public lands and we are fortunate to have them. I am hoping that events like National Public Lands Day will help add to that awareness and act as a catalyst for those that tread on these area. Thank you for joining me on this trip around the country. Maybe and hopefully I will see you next year or you can follow along with my travels once more.
Before I sign off, I must give special thanks to Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc for being a terrific sponsor for National Public Lands Day. Toyota makes this day what it is and they have always been an excellent resource to help raise awareness for public lands. I also must thank Travelocity for taking care of the majority of my lodging arangements, making it really easy when deciding to camp or get a room.
Until next year,
Robb Hampton
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