Saturday is National Public Lands Day in the U.S. and to celebrate, the National Park Service is waiving entry fees to all of the parks. The day is set aside on an annual basis to not only recognize the value and importance of public lands but to organize opportunities to maintain and protect them as well.

During last year's National Public Lands Day, more than 170,000 volunteers worked on 2067 sites spread out across every state in the country. They spent the day collecting over 23,000 pounds of invasive plants, building or maintaining 1500 miles of trails, removing 500 tons of trash and planting 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native plants. Their efforts helped to improve some of our favorite national parks and forests while protecting the environment and other natural resources. A similar number of volunteers are expected to turn out this Saturday as well, with opportunities in abundance once again. To find a work site near you, simply click here.

Even if you don't plan on volunteering for the day, you can still enjoy free entry into the national parks. For a complete list of locations that will be completely free on Saturday, click here.

On a related note, the final fee-free days for the national parks in 2012 will be November 10-12 in celebration of Veterans Day.

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