Temecula, Calif. –-(Ammoland.com)- Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader in Outdoor TV, today announced the successful mobilization of nearly 2,500 volunteers as part of its inaugural Conservation Tour of Duty for its Outdoor Channel Corps initiative – a philanthropic program that aims to restore and improve public lands and spaces in order to ensure that the outdoor lifestyle thrives in communities across America.
Timed around National Public Lands Day, September 25th, 2010, Outdoor Channel Corps deployed volunteers to a total of eight sites, where the network spearheaded the charge in restoration and improvement projects. Various cable affiliate groups, such as Comcast and Time Warner, along with conservation/environmental partners, such as the Boy Scouts of America, Everglades National Park, the San Diego River Park Foundation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, joined the effort by lending their time and support.
“Outdoor Channel Corps is happy to ignite the power of volunteerism. Almost 2,500 volunteers turned out for our first-ever Conservation Tour of Duty initiative, and their valuable efforts resulted in a measurable impact on public parks and spaces across the country. Volunteers collected over 3,000 lbs. of debris and cleared over 20 miles of trails and shorelines,” said Denise Conroy-Galley, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Research for Outdoor Channel. “We extend our appreciation to our affiliates, partners, and, of course, the volunteers that came out to make a lasting difference. It is important to invest in conservation, and future Outdoor Channel Corps events will build on the momentum of our kick-off events.”
Conservation Tour of Duty Highlights
Outdoor Channel Corps was created in May 2010 to leverage the unrivaled strength of the Outdoor Channel brand to mobilize passionate outdoor enthusiasts to volunteer in their communities. The program aims to recruit one million volunteers for outdoor-related projects over the next five years, making it the largest outdoor volunteer program of its kind. Projects will be organized around specific “Tours of Duty” and will focus on the principles of conservation, outreach, responsibility and education.
The Conservation Tour of Duty focused on ensuring access to public lands and outdoor spaces through restoration and improvement volunteer events. Conservation of public lands is critical to ensuring that future generations of hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts have access to traditional recreational pursuits like hunting and fishing. According to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report, more than 50 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have inadequate access. Through its Conservation Tour of Duty, Outdoor Channel Corps is determined to dramatically improve accessibility and restore our cherished public lands.
EVENT LOCATION
AFFILIATE
OBJECTIVE
RESULTS
Canyon Lake,Canyon Lake,Texas*
GVTC
Texas
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers event taking place on Sept 18th; Public park/shoreline debris clean-up and seedling plantings.
200 volunteers accumulated 172 bags of trash weighing in at over 1,375 lbs.; cleared 5.5 miles of trails and shoreline trash; planted Bluebonnet seedlings across 3 acres of Potter’s Creek Park; trimmed 20 trees; painted 8 large tables; and planted 15 feet tall Burr Oak Trees. Also, held the following conservation and outdoor-related classes: Water Quality Monitoring, Recycling to New, Non-point Pollution, Water and Boating Safety and Canyon Lake Gorge Tour.
Shark Valley Trails atEverglades National Park, Everglades City, Florida*
Comcast
South Florida
Trail maintenance and debris clean-up.
Pulled out 15-bags of an exotic vine called syngonium; trimmed tram/bicycle road at some of the corners where the vegetation had gotten tall and was making it a visual safety hazard.
Kings Gap Environmental Education andTraining Center,Carlisle,Pennsylvania*
Comcast
Pennsylvania
Trail maintenance; Removal of invasive and non-native species.
90 volunteers cleared and widened an ADA trail; improved a rock trail by elevating it and creating a border; created waterbars to divert water off the trail and address erosion issues; thinned invasive tree species and created firebreaks; and weeded/cleaned interpretative education trail along the butterfly garden.
Miami-Dade Parks,Miami, Florida*
Comcast
South Florida
5 Miami-Dade Parks are participating in NPLD. Trail maintenance and debris clean-up.
54 volunteers removed large garbage bags of Arrowhead Vine / American Evergreen; cleared a trail of fallen Royal Palm fronds; and cleared debris throughout the park and trail.
San Diego RiverPark, Santee,California*
Outdoor Channel
Corporate Event
Riparian Habitat Restoration, invasive nonnative tree removal event.
102 volunteers removed over 800 lbs. of trash and nearly one ton of green waste debris from an area equaling 6,794 square feet across the San Diego River shoreline and removed the biomass on at least 6 Tamarisk trees from the basin.
Kaanapali Golf Course Pond,Lahaina, Hawaii
Oceanic Time Warner
Cable Maui, Hawaii
Maui Electric’s 2ndAnnual Keiki Fishing Tournament benefiting Maui United Way hosted by Kelly Gotch from Outdoor Channel’s “Step Outside”; Conservation education.
The event drew over 1,500 attendees; Outdoor Channel’s Kelly Gotch emceed the Keiki Tournament; Gotch also educated the group on conservation and provided “catch and release” techniques and fishing tips for a new generation of anglers.
Camp Pouch, Staten Island, New York
Time Warner Cable
New York City
Cleaning of Boy Scout camp grounds as part of “Save Camp Pouch” campaign.
60 volunteers accumulated 75 garbage bags filled with debris from a two-mile stretch along the Pouch Camp perimeter, weighing roughly 750 lbs.
Stonewall ResortState Park, Roanoke,West Virginia
Shentel Cable (Shenandoah Telecommunications)
West Virginia
West Virginia Division of Natural Resources’ celebration of national hunting and fishing on Sept. 25th & 26th; Conservation education and debris clean-up on the 25th.
Ken Cobb and Scott Langely from Outdoor Channel’s “Huntin’ the World…Southern Style” helped the state park promote conservation and preservation through an educational overview on how to understand and appreciate the natural habitats that surround us; the two drew 397 visitors to the Outdoor Channel/Shentel booth.
* Denotes events officially held in conjunction with the National Environmental Education’s (NEEF) National Public Lands Day
About Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc.
Outdoor Channel Holdings, Inc. owns and operates Outdoor Channel, America’s leader in outdoor TV, and Winnercomm Inc., an Emmy Award winning production and interactive company. Outdoor Channel offers programming that captures the excitement of hunting, fishing, shooting, off-road motorsports, adventure and the Western lifestyle and can be viewed on multiple platforms including high definition, video-on-demand, as well as on a dynamic broadband website. Winnercomm Inc. is one ofAmerica’s leading and highest quality producers of live sporting events and sports series for cable and broadcast television. Winnercomm also owns and operates the patented Skycam and CableCam aerial camera systems which provide dramatic overhead camera angles for major sports events, including college and NFL football. For more information, please visit http://www.outdoorchannel.com.