As the weather starts to warm up, more and more New Yorkers are heading outside to enjoy the beautiful spring nature. From mountains to sandy beaches, there are plenty of amazing places to see! The New York State Park system boasts 180 state parks and 35 state historic sites. On Saturday, May 7th, over 100 of those state parks and historic sites will participate in the 5th Annual I Love My Park Day.
I Love My Park Day is a statewide event, organized by Parks & Trails New York in partnership with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and local Friends groups to celebrate and bring visibility to the park system and its needs. Volunteers statewide assist in the cleanup, improvement, and beautification of New York’s parks every first Saturday in May. Planting trees and flowers, restoring plant and wildlife habitats, and working on beautification projects are some of the many activities volunteers take part in.
State parks are popular locations for hiking, rafting, skiing, and other recreational activities. Most importantly, they protect some of the state’s most precious animals and plant life.
Two of the states largest parks include Adirondack State Park, spanning a whopping 6.1 million acres, and Catskill State Park, spanning 700,000 acres and four counties. Other parks in the system preserve historic landmarks, such as Niagara Falls State Park. Niagara Falls is the oldest national park in the system, established in 1885 as the Niagara Preservation. In 1963, Niagara Falls was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
In New York, parks aren’t all about trees and greenery! On Long Island, Jones Beach State Park, Montauk Point State Park, and Montauk Downs State Park preserve the state’s beaches and coastal waters boarding the Atlantic Ocean. With over 10 million people living on Long Island depending on the preservation of the water quality for the economy and their way of life, keeping these parks clean is important for New York state too.
I Love My Park Day is especially important in 2016, as the National Park system celebrates its 100th year anniversary. One of the pioneers of environmental conservation was President Theodore Roosevelt, widely remembered for his love of nature. In 1908, President Roosevelt delivered his famous “Conservation as a National Duty” speech, bringing the importance of environmental conservation to the attention of the American people.
“As a people we have the right and the duty, second to none other but the right and duty of obeying the moral law, of requiring and doing justice, to protect ourselves and our children against the wasteful development of our natural resources, whether that waste is caused by the actual destruction of such resources or by making them impossible of development hereafter,” said Roosevelt.
As part of the backbone of New York, SUNY students, faculty, and staff are doing their part. For this year’s I Love My Park Day, SUNY is encouraging all who can to register and volunteer to help enhance New York’s parks and historic sites. With SUNY’s 64 campuses in every region and corner of New York, a park is never far from any of our nearly half million students. Last year’s event included 95 event sites, 6,500 volunteers, and more than 200 cleanup, beautification, and improvement projects. This year, we plan to do even better. You can find an event near you and register to go outside, enjoy nature, and help enhance the beauty and accessibility of our New York State Parks.
