Eastwood: 'Make My Day - Lend a Hand'

Eastwood: 'Make My Day - Lend a Hand'

Clint Eastwood Urges Americans to Volunteer on Our Nation's Public Lands

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Clint Eastwood is starring in a new version of a popular past role. He is again serving as national spokesperson for Take Pride in America(R) -- a campaign that reminds Americans of their shared legacy of parks, forests, refuges and other public lands, which cover one in every three acres of the nation.

But Eastwood has a new suggestion for a way to make his day: he invites all Americans to join him in "lending a hand" as an outdoors volunteer, working on trails and beaches, visitor centers and campgrounds.

"Most people are surprised to learn that over one-third of our country is public lands," Eastwood said. "We enjoy using them and we all need to help take care of them."

America's magnificent public lands -- national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges and close-to-home parks and trails -- host billions of visits each year. Everybody knows that. Less well known is the crucial role that volunteers -- hundreds of thousands of people donating millions of hours of their time every year -- play in making those visits memorable. Volunteers lend a hand in many different ways, building and clearing trails, staffing information booths, leading nature walks, helping with park maintenance, and removing litter.

A 2004 study by The Recreation Roundtable found that more than 20% of Americans are interested in volunteering on public lands. Yet less than 25% of those interested people have actually volunteered. Although the reason cited most often in the study was lack of time, another major reason was lack of information -- not knowing how to get started.

Eastwood's messages in TV, radio and print PSAs offer a simple way to learn about volunteering on public lands: an easy-to-navigate Web site -- http://www.takepride.gov/ -- which lists volunteer events and contacts for volunteer information from all across the country.

"Whether you clean up litter in a local park or help build a Continental Divide Trail, you're creating a legacy for our children and grandchildren," Eastwood said.

While helping take care of our public lands, volunteers also do a lot for themselves. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who volunteer for environmental projects are nearly three times more likely to meet recommended levels of physical activity (at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, five days a week) than non-volunteers.

The known health benefits of such activity are enormous, including prevention of such all-too-common ailments as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, colon cancer and osteoporosis, as well as reductions in anxiety and depression.

Volunteer activity doesn't have to be rigorous to offer health benefits. The CDC reports that all forms of activity can promote health, from a stroll along a short path to a back-country trek. In fact, small increases in levels of physical activity have yielded large health improvements for previously sedentary people.

Take Pride also involves using public lands responsibly, leaving no traces of your visit through litter or damage to natural and cultural resources. Eastwood urges Americans to carry a litter bag when out for a walk to pick up trash that others have left behind.

Eastwood filmed the TV PSAs near his Carmel, California, home during a day of wetland restoration work by 50 students, parents, members of the California Conservation Corps and U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton. He told the group that of all his roles in life and in movies, none was more important to him than his conservation efforts. He carves out time from his busy schedule to serve as a California State Parks commissioner.

Information on the new Take Pride in America public service announcements and pictures of Clint Eastwood, public lands volunteer, are available at http://www.takepride.gov/.

Source: Take Pride in America Partners Council

CONTACT: Derrick Crandall of Take Pride in America Partners Council,
+1-202-682-9530, or derrick@funoutdoors.com; or Justin Hall of Take Pride in
America Program, +1-202-208-5848, or justin_hall@ios.doi.gov

Web site: http://www.takepride.gov/
http://www.funoutdoors.com/

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