ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – USACE staff at Cochiti Lake, N.M., and John Martin Reservoir, Colo., gave volunteers the opportunity to give back to the public lands they love and utilize throughout the year through special projects for National Public Lands Day on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025.
National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands. It began in 1994 with three sites and 700 volunteers and became a yearly tradition. Held annually on the fourth Saturday in September, the event brings out thousands of volunteers to help restore and improve public lands around the country.
Last year, 4,448 volunteers served 19,244 hours on USACE-managed lands across the nation, removing 49,434 pounds of trash, cleaning 632 miles of roadways and shoreline, maintaining 77 miles of trails, planting 6,792 trees and shrubs, and engaging 215 partner organizations
This year, events were held at Cochiti Lake and John Martin Reservoir.
Cochiti Lake, N.M.
Every fall Cochiti Lake USACE park rangers end the recreation season by hosting volunteer opportunities for National Public Lands Day.
“NPLD falls at the perfect time of year for the trail work with cool fall mornings,” said Nicholas Parks, natural resources specialist at Cochiti Lake.
This year, 31 JROTC students from Albuquerque’s West Mesa High School and six adults and two youth volunteers from the community spent their day working on the lake’s Nashroo! Trail, focusing on clearing vegetation from the trail. The trail’s name means “Let’s go!” in the local Keres language.
“Volunteers bushwhacked their way down three miles of trail, clearing veg that sprang up from the robust monsoon patterns,” said Parks. “Events like this create opportunities for volunteers to make a personal investment in recreational development in their local Corps environments.”
John Martin Reservoir, Colo.
This year USACE staff at John Martin partnered with Bent County Conservation to improve a popular portion of the reservoir – the Black Bridge site. Black Bridge is located on the west end of the project, next to the town of Las Animas, and receives a fair amount of public visitation for activities such as hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing, and hiking.
The 18 volunteers joined five USACE staff to clean up trash, remove invasive plant species, and perform maintenance on native trees in the site.
“Working with the locals in events such as these helps USACE accomplish work, reduce costs and remind locals that we are all in the conservation field together,” said Paul Schoeninger, John Martin Reservoir Lake Manager.
