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Celebrate Great Outdoors Month and Great American Campout
We, at the National Wildlife Federation, believe that connecting kids and families to nature is essential to the future of wildlife and wildlife conservation. Great Outdoors Month and the Great American Campout are great ways to start, or continue, that connection.
For the 15th year in a row, the President (sharing this tradition with the previous two presidents), has declared June as Great Outdoors Month®. He is joined by all 50 governors in celebrating the health and economic benefits of being outside and enjoying America’s lands and waters. Coordinated by the American Recreation Coalition, this event, whose participants, sponsors and supporters include hundreds of recreation, nature and outdoor organizations including state park departments, major city park and recreation agencies, and federal public agencies, reaches 150 million Americans each June.
Now that we are more than halfway through the month, there have already been many great events. Great Outdoors month kicked off on Saturday May 20th, with Kids to Parks™ Day hosted by the National Park Trust. This amazing day attracted more than one million participant in a national day of fun on public lands throughout the country.
On the Saturday June 2nd, the American Hiking Society hosted National Trails Day, a day that encouraged Americans of all ages and abilities to find their own adventure on the trail and discover their unique story at one of the thousands of events that were hosted throughout the country.
On June 3-11, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation hosted National Fishing and Boating Week. In an effort to get more kids and families week most states offer free fishing days during this week. These are days where anglers are allowed to fish on public bodies of water without a fishing license.
Starting in June and then throughout the summer, the Association of Marina Industries and Discover Boating host National Marina Days, a nationwide boating event dedicated to grow boating participation across North America. Marinas across the United States open their doors to the public to show off the boating lifestyle and encourage non-boaters to get out on the water.
On Saturday, June 10th the American Recreation Coalition held National Get Outdoors Day, a day focused on connecting families and kids to the great outdoors and encourage visits to their local public lands.
And the fun isn’t done, on June 16th, service and conservation corps volunteers gathered in Washington, D.C. from across the country to help restore parts of the National Mall, Rock Creek Park, Theodore Roosevelt Island and more during The Corps Network’s National Great Outdoors Day of Service.
After that, the National Wildlife Federation launches the Great American Campout, an annual event to inspire people of all ages to camp in their backyards, neighborhoods, parks and campgrounds, as a way to connect with nature and wildlife. On June 24th, we’ll celebrate everyone who gets outdoors and goes camping this Great American Campout day and then continues to camp all summer long.
Now in celebration of the 13th year of the Great American Campout, The National Wildlife Federation gives you 5,000 new reasons to pledge to campout and help wildlife! If we reach our goal of 150,000 pledges, NWF will donate 5,000 native trees to its Trees for Wildlife program.
And finally on June 24th and 25th, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration highlights our national marine sanctuaries as iconic recreation destinations during the Get Into Your Sanctuary celebration.
And if you can’t make it to one of these fantastic events, you can celebrate by just getting outside and having fun!
Where will you camp this summer? Tell us in the comments below.
Pledge to camp as part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Campout