Courtesy Photo | Two students from Santa Rosa, N.M., pick up trash near Santa Rosa Lake during a...... read more read more
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – More than 85 volunteers participated in events at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Albuquerque District lakes in observance of National Public Lands Day, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.
National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. It began in 1994 with three sites and 700 volunteers and became a yearly tradition. Held annually on the fourth Saturday in September, the event brings out thousands of volunteers to help restore and improve public lands around the country. This year marks the 30th anniversary of NPLD.
According to staff at Cochiti Lake, events like National Public Lands Day create opportunities for volunteers to make a personal investment in local public lands.
In last year’s event 5,231 volunteers served 20,093 hours on USACE-managed lands nation-wide, removing 114,444 pounds of trash, cleaning 639 miles of roadways and shoreline, maintaining 50 miles of trails, planting 10,124 trees and shrubs, and engaging 218 partner organizations.
Here’s a rollup of this year’s NPLD events in the USACE-Albuquerque District:
Abiquiu Lake, New Mexico:
More than 20 volunteers, Abiquiu Lake Amigos, and USACE-Abiquiu Lake staff completed several work projects at Abiquiu Lake to improve recreation facilities and promote good stewardship of our shared natural resources.
Projects included a shoreline cleanup, building nest boxes for juniper titmice birds, and creating plant identification signs for the pollinator garden.
Cochiti Lake, New Mexico:
Every fall USACE-Cochiti Lake park rangers end the recreation season by hosting volunteer opportunities on National Public Lands Day.
This year more than 25 participants worked on the final portion of the “Nashroo!” trail at the lake. In the local Keres language Nashroo! means “let’s go!”
The Nashroo! trail connects the subsidiary areas of the park together so that visitors can visit them by hiking. However, one portion of the trail, less than half a mile in length, needed to be completed to connect the boat ramp shoreline to the beach trail.
Earlier in the year staff completed all the special clearances to finish this last trail portion. This final leg will convert the last old two track roadways into foot paths.
According to Cochiti Lake staff, it will also effectively “close the loop” on the system, allowing visitors to walk from all major areas of the park.
Cochiti staff said that NPLD falls at the perfect time of year for the trail work, with cooler early Autumn mornings. There is also less disturbance to migratory birds because it is outside of the nesting season.
Santa Rosa Lake, New Mexico:
Approximately 35 participants came out and cleaned along Highway 91 (Joe & Louie Page Road) which leads to the lake in partnership with the N.M. Department of Transportation through the “Adopt a Highway” program. Volunteers included students from the Santa Rosa Middle School and High School National Honor Societies.
The volunteers also cleaned up around the Juniper Park and boat ramp area at the lake and mowed and cleaned around historic marker signs. They cleaned a total of 4 miles of roadway and one mile of shoreline.
The participants received NPLD certificates, fee-free passes to federal parks, door prizes, a tour of the Dam Control Tower, and lunch after the cleanup.
“This year NPLD event was one of the best in years thanks to the Santa Rosa Middle School National Honor Society who set the foundation of volunteers,” said Gary Cordova, USACE-Santa Rosa Lake Office manager. “Partnering with state agencies was key to a successful NPLD event. Shout out to all employees for their selfless service to the public and lake projects.”
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2024 18:48 |
| Story ID: | 483386 |
| Location: | ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Hometown: | ABIQUIU, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Hometown: | ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Hometown: | COCHITI LAKE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Hometown: | SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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