Welcome to the 3rd Annual National Public Lands Day VolunTour

Welcome to the 3rd Annual National Public Lands Day VolunTour. This year, we've decided to head to the Southeast to explore some of of our treasured lands that are hosting National Public Lands Day events. Once again, at each stop, we'll be handing out $1,000 grants to some lucky site managers. We hope that this grants will make their National Public Lands Day event an even greater success! Some people ask me how THEY can get their hands on a thousand bucks and I tell them "sign up early."

So far, we've made two official site visits and check donations. The first stop was in Hot Springs, North Carolina home of The Appalachian Trail and The French Broad River. This town sits in the middle of the mountainous Pisgah National Forest and is the outdoor lovers dream come true. I was lucky enough to pass through on a beautiful 80 degree day with not a cloud in the sky. I met with members of The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and students from the local Hot Springs Elementary that will be volunteering next Saturday to deliver their grant and visit their worksite. It appears they have quite a bit of invasive weed pulling to be done but by the looks of these kids with loppers and saws in hand, I don't think the weeds stand a chance!

That evening, I was lucky enough to find a great campsite at Lake Powhatan National Recreation Area which is also in the Pisgah National Forest. It was a wonderful evening for camping but I don't think I was the only that shared that thought. I had visitors of the insect variety visit me during my sleep and bite me all over my back. If you ever go to Lake Powhatan and go camping, stay away from campsite #82 although I'm not sure how hungry these critters are after my visit!

The next day, a short drive south and sadly away from the mountains took me to Spartanburg, South Carolina. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Newt Hardie also known as the Kudzu King! He was kind enough to educate me all about Kudzu with an excellent computer presentation and a guided tour of the Kudzu plots he and the Kudzu Coalition tackle every week. What was most impressive, was an experimental plot he had constructed that demonstrated different techniques of eradication. I valued this visit very much and learned quite a deal in the short amount of time I was there. If you are interested in learning more, go to http://www.kokudzu.com/.

Newt "The Kudzu King" with his traveling office (loppers, hand saws, work gloves)

This is KUDZU!! If you stand still long enough, it might take over YOU!

It was wonderful to be able to give the Kudzu Coalition a $1,000 grant to help them with their mission. They do a wonderful job at getting the community envolved including local high schools. I even go to meet the Mayor of Spartanburg while I was there and he raved about how wonderful this program has become.

Next stop is at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge where I understand I am meeting a local high school football team that is volunteering on NPLD AND has access of a 'tricked out' Toyota pick up truck! Stay tuned...this is going to get interesting.