National Public Lands Day at Fort Pulaski

For: Immediate Release
Contact: Charles E. Fenwick, 912-786-5787

Superintendent Charles E. Fenwick announces that Fort Pulaski National Monument, Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Combined Federal Campaign for Coastal Georgia, Chatham County and the City of Tybee Island will proudly sponsor this year’s National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 29, 2007. Nationwide an estimated 100,000 Americans will participate in a variety of important volunteer projects on federal lands. National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance public lands across America. Fenwick remarked, "This is a day when we can all show our pride in our local National Park. This type of cleanup allows current and future generations of Americans to continue to enjoy this special place the same way we do now, pristine and beautiful."

Fort Pulaski is the recipient of a Unilever 2007 Recycling at Work Sustainable Grant Program that is providing 1,000 linear feet of sustainable lumber, as well as picnic table and bench kits. These materials will be installed as part of National Public Lands Day. Volunteers at Fort Pulaski will help clear vegetation, marsh cleanup, install sustainable lumber land-bridges along the Cockspur Lighthouse Overlook Trail, paint casemate doors, general cleanup of the Fort and help improve public use areas within the park.

The highlight of this year’s volunteer day at Fort Pulaski will include work to begin to complete the last mile of the McQueen’s Island Rails to Trail from the park entrance east towards Battery Park on Tybee Island. Currently bikers, runners and walkers can use six miles of trail on the abandoned Central of Georgia Railway that once connected Savannah to Tybee Island.

Registration begins Saturday at 7:00 AM at the Fort Pulaski Picnic Area. Free breakfast will be served during registration. Work projects will last from 8 AM to noon, followed by a free lunch. Volunteers should be prepared to work outdoors. Sturdy shoes, comfortable clothing, gloves, insect repellant and a hat are recommended. National Public Lands Day t-shirts will be available. Some tools and gloves will be provided, however, if you have your own it is recommended to bring them.

In observance of National Public Lands Day, entrance fees to Fort Pulaski National Monument will be waived for Saturday, September 29, 2007. Registered volunteers will also receive a "coupon" to return for a "fee free" day any time in the next year. Beginning at 1 PM, National Park Service rangers will provide a variety of living history demonstrations inside the fort, including cannon firings and musket demonstrations.