Spend National Park Week Helping To Rebuild Tallgrass Prairie At Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

Head to Iowa during National Park Week to help rebuild a tallgrass prairie at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. NPS photo.

If you're looking for a good, active way to celebrate National Park Week, consider helping the folks at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site rebuild an 81-acre tallgrass prairie.

Volunteers are needed on Saturday, April 23, to cut and haul shrubs and invasive weeds from the grassland. Anyone interested in helping may contact Adam Prato at (319)643-7855 before the project date.

Volunteers will meet at the site's Visitor Center at 8:30 a.m. for an orientation and to get signed up. Work in the prairie will be from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. It's suggested that you dress for the weather and wear comfortable work clothes. Water, sunscreen, sunglasses, and hats are recommended. Long pants and closed-toe footwear are required.

National Park Week (April 16-24, 2011) is the annual presidentially proclaimed week for celebration and recognition of your national parks, many of which are living examples of the best this nation has to offer—our magnificent natural landscapes and our varied yet interrelated heritage. Parks can provide recreational experiences, opportunities to learn and grow, and places of quiet refuge. This year take a moment, an hour, or a day to visit the national parks near you.

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the 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. Parking is limited so please allow extra time to find a parking space. For more information go to www.nps.gov/heho or call (319) 643-2541.