National Public Lands Day

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jaeda Tookes
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  On Sept. 24, Malmstrom participated in the country’s National Public Lands Day at Pow Wow Pond.

National Public Lands Day is the nation’s second largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands, and occurs annually on the last Saturday in September.

According to Kelly Speidel, National Public Lands Day organizer, she wrote a grant proposal in July and was awarded $6,500 to beautify Pow Wow Pond.

“Malmstrom has many areas that have been invaded with noxious weeds, created eyesores and have deterred native wildlife from establishing homes,” said Speidel.

Over the last few decades, many acres on base have been neglected and overgrown with weeds, according to Speidel.

“The big thing people tend to take for granted are the parks and wildlife,” said Nicole Hutchins, Malmstrom Spouses’ Club volunteer. “We need to preserve the parks so they will be here for a very long time.”

This unnatural habitat is taxing our existing resources with manpower demands to continually spray herbicide, according to Speidel.

“We ordered native plants that would be able to survive the environment, and had significance to Native American tribes in our area,” said Speidel. “By planting native species of Montana, we hope to reduce the need of herbicide, reverse encroachment of invasive species of plants and begin to restore a natural ecosystem.”

There were nearly 1,000 native plants delivered to the base for NPLD Sept. 22.

NPLD is a day dedicated to encouraging recreation, volunteering and the use of public lands for education, said Speidel.

Volunteers helped with unloading plants from the nursery truck, transporting them to Pow Wow Pond, prepping the garden, cleaning the pond, and installing a new pollinator garden.

“I am excited to be a part of something so big and be able to give back to the base,” said Patricia Holes, Malmstrom’s Spouses’ Club volunteer.