All National Park Service sites, including Lake Mead National Recreation Area, will offer free visitor admission on September 29 for National Public Lands Day.
In additional to waiving entrance fees, national parks and other public lands will host special programs and volunteer work parties to commemorate the 14th annual event. At Lake Mead, there will be a clean up on Saturday at Government Wash. More than 250 volunteers have signed up for this event and those volunteers will also receive a free one-day pass valid for future visit at any National Park Service site.
"America’s public lands showcase the country’s spectacular beauty and fascinating history," said National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar. "I encourage everyone to take advantage of this fee free day to explore a national park, recreation area, or other public lands in the area."
Nine federal agencies, 125 state and local partners, dozens of non-profit organizations, tens of thousands of individuals are expected to participate in more than a thousand volunteer projects across the country. Please visit http://www.publiclandsday.org for more information.
One third of the land in the United States has been set aside as open space. 600 million acres of parks, refuges, forests, wetlands, cultural sites, and other shared areas provide a variety of public resources.
National Public Lands Day is the only time that entrance fees are waived systematically on public lands throughout the country. Normally, 147 of the country’s 391 National Park Service sites charge entrance fees ranging from $3 to $25. The other 244 areas do not have entrance fees. U.S. Veterans are admitted to national parks for free each year on Veteran’s Day.
The other federal agencies not charging for admittance that day include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
