Every good deed is rewarded on the 16th Annual National Public Lands Day, this Saturday, Sept. 26, when volunteers get down and dirty to improve and enhance the nation’s public lands.

Whether your inner Kermit says “it’s not easy being green,” you would be hard pressed for a better reason to take off for Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Especially since “being green” comes with the reward of free admission to hundreds of national parks and other national public lands. (Another FREE admission opportunity on Sept 26, Smithsonian Museum Day, is posted below)

Around Washington, D.C. projects are scheduled at the Lincoln Memorial, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Kingman and Heritage Island Park, National Mall and Memorial Parks, President’s Park, and Rock Creek Park. On the other end of the Continent, at Tiekel Area, Alaska, activities usually include outdoor activities for children and adults, a barbecue, games, and prizes.

Check the main Web site and select the state and park where you want to volunteer. Generally, you’re asked to register and refreshments are provided. In addition, volunteers at sites operated by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or USDA Forest Service are rewarded with coupons for free entry into any of those agency’s sites. The coupons are good for a year.

While you’re not vying for a Guinness record, you can help top last year’s 120,000 volunteers who worked on bridges, trails, trash and invasive plant removal, tree planting in 1800 locations throughout every state. Federal and local agencies need your help in furthering the work started in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and you can learn about issues that are critical to the continued operating success of these public lands. Take a few minutes for that knock-out photo op or video moment so you can enter the Volunteers in Action contest.

Just for fun, test your knowledge of National Parks with an online crossword puzzle by Big Blend Magazine.