News Release

Celebrate Public Lands Day With Volunteer Project & Book Reading

A volunteer collects native plant seeds from the prairie

NPS Photo

News Release Date: September 12, 2019

Contact: Adam Prato, [phone]

West Branch, Iowa— Saturday, September 28 is National Public Lands Day, the nation's largest single-day volunteer effort. National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) organizes National Public Lands Day annually in cooperation with the National Park Service and other bureaus of the federal government.

The National Park Service is looking for volunteers on Saturday, September 28, to help remove shrubs and gather native plant seeds in the prairie at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. All ages are welcome. E-mail [e-mail] or call [phone] if you are interested in participating.

If you would like to help, please meet at the Visitor Center at 8:30 a.m. to sign up and get oriented. Dress for the weather, and wear comfortable work clothes. Long pants and closed toe shoes are required; ticks are abundant. Bring a water bottle, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, long sleeved shirt, and a snack. The park has work gloves and other required tools.  Work will be from about 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Then at 2 p.m. in the Visitor Center, author Thomas Dean will read from and discuss his new book “Tallgrass Conversations,” co-written with Cindy Crosby. Through short writings and photographs, the book encourages looking and listening to the prairie through the heart and mind as well as eyes, ears, and other senses, advancing both conservation and creative efforts on behalf of the tallgrass prairie. 

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum are in West Branch, Iowa at exit 254 off I-80. Both are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. For more information go online at www.nps.gov/herberthoover or call [phone].