EDITOR,

This Saturday, I will join thousands of Americans across the country in celebrating the 16th annual National Public Lands Day. The National Environmental Education Foundation estimates that more than 100,000 volunteers nationwide will participate in this day by working to make our national forests and monuments, wildlife refuges and parks better places by planting trees, repairing trails, cleaning campsites and picking trash out of rivers and our wetlands.

For more than 100 years, America’s federal lands have helped shape everything about this country, the economy and our very natural environment, giving us clean water, clean air, magnificent places to visit, play, camp and, of course, providing refuge for our nation’s most wondrous wildlife.

One day a year is not very much to ask, but it’s simply not enough to demonstrate America’s commitment to the stewardship of these special lands. That’s why I’ve asked my U.S. representative to support the America’s Wildlife Heritage Act. I encourage my neighbors to do the same. This bill will help ensure that everyday our nation is doing its best to sustainably manage these precious resources for generations to come.