Caverns Waives Fees on National Public Lands Day

Date: September 18, 2006
Contact: Bridget Litten, 505.785.3024

In celebration of the 13th annual National Public Lands Day, Carlsbad Caverns National Park superintendent John Benjamin announced that fees for self-guided tours of Carlsbad Cavern will be waived on Saturday, September 30.

The park offers two self-guided tours—the Natural Entrance route is open from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Big Room route is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free entry into the self-guided portions of Carlsbad Cavern is valid only on National Public Lands Day. Regular fees will remain in effect for all guided tours. The park’s visitor center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“National Public Lands Day is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to everyone who helps us get the job done—especially our volunteers,” said Benjamin. “We hope people take this opportunity to visit their public lands and help out in any way they can.”

One event is scheduled for the Carlsbad area and is sponsored by the Carlsbad Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management. Volunteers will be performing trail work, installing signs and an information kiosk, and cleaning up the La Cueva Non-Motorized Trail System. For more information, contact Jessica Zakrie at 505.234.5919.

Everyone that volunteers at an event will be rewarded with a free entry day during the next year at any public land site managed by the National Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, or US Army Corps of Engineers.

One of every three acres in the United States—600 million acres—belongs to the American people. Since 1994, National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance public lands, has dramatically demonstrated Americans’ concern for their lands. In 2005, nearly 90,000 volunteers built trails and bridges, planted trees and plants, and removed trash and invasive plants at 800 public parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, forests and grasslands, marine sanctuaries, lakes and reservoirs.

For more information about National Public Lands Day, visit www.publiclandsday.org. For additional information about Carlsbad Caverns National Park, call 505.785.2232 or visit the park website at www.nps.gov/cave.