September 30, 2017 | National Public Lands Day
National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation’s largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands including parks, trails, and green spaces. It is a great opportunity to connect people to public lands in their community, inspire environmental stewardship, and encourage use of public lands for education, recreation, and general health. Austin’s annual NPLD event is hosted by Austin Parks Foundation and Texas Conservation Corps. One student from Travis High School joined several River Watch staff for a tabling opportunity on this day at Rosewood Park in East Austin. The student helped our staff promote our environmental science program and demonstrate the dissolved oxygen levels from a water sample taken from Boggy Creek, a test our River Watchers regularly perform. Outreach opportunities such as this allows our students a chance to practice their public speaking and leadership skills. A few of our staff also participated in the NPLD volunteer conservation projects and clean-ups held at various parks around the city before the NPLD celebration at Rosewood Park.
