Each year, Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore partners with the National Park Service to sponsor a volunteer project on National Public Lands Day. Past projects have involved installing signage for pond protection; assembling picnic tables; removing non-native plants; installing post and rope fencing to guide visitors through sensitive seashore habitat; maintaining trails; and constructing waterbars to reduce water erosion to marshside trails. This year, volunteers will establish a native plant garden at Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters.

Utilizing a landscaping plan designed by the seashore's Chief of Facilities and Maintenance (a landscape architect by training), volunteers will plant native shrubs and trees to beautify the area and to convey to visitors the importance of landscaping with native plants suited to local environmental conditions. On the eve of Ken Burns' PBS special, "National Parks, America's Best Idea," this project, and others happening around the country, provide a great opportunity for citizens to become engaged with their nearby national park sites.

The project will be held from 9 AM to noon on September 26 at seashore headquarters, 99 Marconi Site, Wellfleet, MA. Potential volunteers should register by contacting the Friends at volunteer@fccns.org. Volunteers are asked to bring gardening or work gloves, a favorite gardening tool (trowel, small spade, etc), water, and a kneeling cushion, if desired.

For more information about Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore, visit www.fccns.org

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