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Date: May 4, 2007
Contact: James Akerson, (540) 999-3496

Save the Meadow! Weekend

May 19-20, 2007

Shenandoah National Park invites the public to join in a weekend of learning and participation in the identification and control of invasive exotic plants, May 19-20, 2007. (Rain dates are June 2-3, 2007.) Staff and volunteers from the Park will describe the environmental threats posed by invasive plants and illustrate the beauty and benefits of nurturing native species. Park staff will lead expeditions into the area surrounding Big Meadows where the public may join in to protect the highly valued natural heritage site known as Big Meadows Swamp.

Save the Meadow! Weekend follows the Park’s Wildflower Weekend of the previous week. It is intended to show how the public can volunteer to fight back against invasive plants and how with simple awareness they can avoid environmental problems at home. Free park admission is offered to attend the event by contacting the Save the Meadow! Weekend volunteer leader in advance at (540) 999-3496.

Activities begin at Big Meadows Lodge at 9:00 A.M. Saturday and 10:30 A.M. Sunday. Informative talks will be repeated each day. The Massanutten Room at Big Meadows Lodge is reserved for indoor portions of the event. ARAMARK Enterprises, the concessionaire charged with running the Park’s motel and restaurant system, invites people interested in staying overnight to contact them for reservations at (800) 999-4714. Save the Meadow! Weekend is part of a larger program for increasing public volunteerism in national parks. It is made possible by a grant from the National Park Foundation and the Tauck Foundation.