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Sep 23, 2022by: Larry Dorminy No Comments

OBX September Park News: Celebrating Our Public Lands!

This is Saturday, September 24, is National Public Lands Day, a day to show our love for the amazing natural, cultural and historic places that are protected for future generations to marvel at and enjoy.

Here in the Outer Banks, we are lucky to have several public lands that are unique enough – both environmentally and historically – to be protected. While our mission is to protect and enhance our Outer Banks national parks – Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial – we also greatly appreciate our friends and partners who work to protect other areas of our islands like Friends of Jockey’s Ridge State Park, Pea Island Preservation Society , Inc., The Nature Conservancy, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and more.

This Public Lands Day, we are thrilled to celebrate all of these protected spaces and the natural beauty and impactful stories they preserve.

We encourage you to get out and visit your public lands – here in the Outer Banks or wherever you are – to celebrate with us! Check out our online and in-person opportunities this week to learn more about our Outer Banks national parks in particular (details below).

See you in our parks,

Jessica Barnes
Director, Outer Banks Forever

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Ask A BioTech:
Why Excavate Sea Turtle Nests?

Did you know that biological science technicians at Cape Hatteras National Seashore carefully track, learn from and protect hundreds of sea turtle nests each summer?

One of the ways our BioTechs learn from these nests is by excavating them – digging them up to examine what’s inside – once they have hatched. In our last “Ask A BioTech” article of the season, Ben Ranelli, Seasonal Biological Science Technician on Ocracoke Island, explains the nest excavation process.

Learn More

Want to see a sea turtle nest excavation in action? Tune in to our Facebook page TONIGHT at 6 p.m. (ET) when we’ll premiere a recent nest excavation on Ocracoke Island with park rangers from Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Meet Your Volunteer: Paul Hinds

Our Outer Banks VIPs (Volunteers In Parks) are essential to the thriving of our parks.

As we celebrate Public Lands Day this month, we want to introduce you to Paul Hinds, a former volunteer at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site! If you visited Fort Raleigh this summer, you likely met Paul, whose volunteer efforts not only created a fun and engaging experience for visitors, but helped improve our park for years to come.

Meet Paul

Calling All Educators:
Plan Your OBX National Park Field Trip!

If you’re an educator at a school in Currituck, Dare, Hyde or Tyrrell Counties, we want to help you get your students to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial!

Thanks to an Open OutDoors For Kids grant from the National Park Foundation, we are able to cover transportation costs for field trips for your students in kindergarten through 12th grade. To learn more about this opportunity, please email Jessica Barnes, director of Outer Banks Forever, at JessicaBarnes@OBXForever.org.

P.S.: You can also schedule remote learning field trips for your students! To learn more, email our parks at obx_interpretation@nps.gov.

Upcoming Events:
Save the Dates!

Pints for Parks on Public Lands Day: Saturday, September 24

Come out and celebrate our Outer Banks national parks with our friends at Swells’a Brewing Beer Company in Kill Devil Hills on Saturday, September 24, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.! We hope to see you there!

Click here to learn how our friends at Swells’a are supporting our national parks through 1% For The Planet!

Join us on Saturday!

Bodie Island Lighthouse 150th Anniversary Celebration: Saturday, October 1

The Bodie Island Lighthouse will celebrate 150 years of illumination on October 1! You’re invited to join us, our park staff, our friends at the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society, and special guests for morning and evening events.

Learn More