National Public Lands Day, this year held on September 26, started in 1994 and yet, this year, over 150,000 volunteers participated in the opportunity to contribute to public lands at over 2,000 locations, including national parks. Locally, the San Bernardino National Forest’s forest restoration day, three Saturdays ago, included over 100 volunteers from throughout San Bernardino County. These volunteers (who were fed by Subway of Big Bear Lake) planted over 400 native trees, shrubs and flowers in the area of the Butler Fire, which burned just outside of Fawnskin in 2007. Local volunteers also collected seeds to grow native seedlings at the SBNFA’s Children’s Forest in Running Springs and the Big Bear greenhouses and, all told, 625 volunteer hours were contributed to National Public Lands Day on the Mountaintop District of the San Bernardino National Forest. The forest’s Greenthumbs Forest Service Nursery also hosts volunteer restoration days on a seasonal basis, on the third Saturday of each month, March through November. The next restoration day is this Saturday, October 17; to participate, simply show up at the Big Bear Ranger Station flag pole (across from Juniper Point on the North Shore) at 9am. No experience is necessary, and volunteers can plan to participate until 3pm. For more information on Saturday’s project, call Juli Goss at 382-2824.
