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Travel Adventures In National Parks
Volunteer Opportunities In National Parks
What is it they say about March-in like a lion, out like a lamb? The promise of Spring is enough to make anyone feel like getting outside to soak up some fresh air and sunshine (while wearing sunscreen, of course!) March is also a great time to think about volunteering at your favorite National Park. No matter how big or small the Park is, you can bet they can almost always use an extra pair of hands to help with just about anything. Read on for some great National Park volunteer opportunities to get you started. If you don't see the Park you're interested in below, the best way to get volunteer information is to visit the National Park Service and look for the website of the Park where you'd like to volunteer.
At Greenbelt National Park in Greenbelt, Maryland (just a few miles outside Washington, DC), March 13 is Volunteer Day. Splitting wood and clearing trails are on the agenda, so if you live nearby, dig out your work gloves and mark your calendar. Here are all of the particulars.
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin has a wide range of volunteer opportunities to consider-from trail work to serving as a campground host or lighthouse keeper. Some volunteer positions even come with housing in the Park. Visit the Park's website to find out more. A volunteer lighthouse keeper at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
A volunteer trail crew along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail was built by volunteers, and that wonderful legacy continues today: the majority of the Trail's upkeep is accomplished thanks to volunteer labor, with over 4,000 people giving nearly 200,000 hours to the Trail every year. Volunteer Trail Crews are forming now for the 2004 season-why not think about grabbing a few friends and signing up? Crews work for five days (Thursday through Tuesday), but consider yourself warned... the work is hard and very physical, and the volunteering continues no matter the weather!
Fort Clatsop National Memorial in Oregon preserves the area where explorers Lewis and Clark and their 33-member team spent the winter after completing their historic expedition. The bicentennial of this monumental event is being celebrated from 2003 through 2006, and the folks at Fort Clatsop are looking for volunteers to greet visitors, help with special events and more. If this sounds like it's up your alley, click here to learn more.
San Juan Island National Historical Park, located on Washington State's San Juan Island, commemorates the 1853-72 events related to the settling of the Oregon boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain. The Park is steeped in history and volunteer opportunities abound. Click here to learn about becoming a Park host, living history re-enactor, natural history interpreter, and more.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is home to Lake Powell, the second largest manmade lake in the United States. The lake has a shoreline that stretches nearly 2,000 miles-so as you might imagine volunteers are always welcome to help keep the lake clean! ARAMARK, an authorized concessioner of the National Park Service, manages Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas and developed the Junior Trash Tracker program based on the successful Trash Tracker program launched by the National Park Service and ARAMARK in 1990. The Junior Trash Track program encourages children to help keep the environment clean by offering them free ice cream and a temporary tattoo for picking up trash. Another volunteer program offered is Litter Sharks, a program that provides visitors with the opportunity to help keep the lake clean while competing for prizes in several categories. Participating children receive a log book to help keep track of the trash they remove from the lake, as well as the opportunity to compete for lots of cool prizes-categories include most creative logbook, most unusual item removed from the Lake, and more. Here's the place to go for all you need to know!
If you'd like a little volunteering to go with your vacation, have we got an idea for you! Our friends at Tauck World Discovery, the award-winning travel company, have several National Park tour packages that include built-in volunteer options. Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Canyon National Parks are among the destinations from which you can choose. For more information, including tour itineraries and descriptions of the volunteer opportunities available, click here. Families can learn more about specially designed National Park itineraries for all ages at www.tauckbridges.com.
This month, we've got two Hot Deals for you! If you are planning to participate in the Olympic National Park Beach Clean-Up, scheduled for April 24, 2004, you've still got time to extend your volunteer stint into a vacation. Kalaloch Lodge, by the ocean in Olympic National Park, is offering special rates for Clean-Up participants. You can spend the night on Saturday, April 24th in a Seacrest motel unit for only $79, or in a log cabin for only $89. (These rates are also good through April 30th, 2004, Sunday through Thursday.) Kalaloch is also offering special rates in March: through March 31st, 2004, stay Thursday to Saturday or Friday to Sunday in one of their cozy log cabins for just $399. This special offer includes a breakfast for two one day during your stay. And, for an additional $100 you can upgrade you to a Bluff Cabin overlooking the Pacific Ocean! For reservations call 1-866-525-2562 and ask for code NPF.
Our next Hot Deal of the month arrives just in time for any spring road trips you may be planning. Now through June 30, 2004, you can save five dollars per day on Hertz Leisure Daily and Leisure Weekend Rate rentals of two or more days, or save $20 on Leisure Weekly Rate rentals. You can use these offers anytime you rent a midsize or larger car, including SUVs and minivans, at participating airport and suburban locations in the U.S. & Puerto Rico. And here's the bonus-a portion of the cost of your rental will be donated to the National Park Foundation!
Our Cool Experience of the Month arrives from Florida, courtesy of Lambert and Mary Pengelley.
"Last summer, our family took a three- week trip out west. Our four daughters did much of the planning, including getting our National Parks Pass, deciding which Parks to visit, and how long to stay at each. We live in Florida so the west was a real education for us. We started in San Antonio, then on to Carlsbad Caverns, Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Yosemite. Our favorite site, maybe because it was not so "touristy", was Grand Teton National Park. Its beauty was breathtaking and very natural. My younger daughters also really loved the Junior Rangers programs and learned a lot, while having fun and feeling a sense of accomplishment as they earned their patches. I wish we could do this every summer! We met lots of wonderful people and would love to explore each Park even more. What a wonderful world we live in and thank you, National Park Foundation, for preserving it all for us to marvel at and enjoy!"
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