The Earth Day projects involve citizens of all ages - from elementary students in service-learning classes to AmeriCorps members to Senior Corps volunteers. Environmental protection is one of the four main focus areas of national service. Thousands of AmeriCorps members and student and senior volunteers serve on environmental projects year-round. Earth Day is a chance to highlight their efforts and recruit community volunteers for intensive projects. Many national service programs engage young people in hands-on environmental work that encourages an ethic of stewardship.

"On Earth Day and every day, national service volunteers are on the front lines of environmental protection," said Wendy Zenker, Acting CEO of the Corporation for National Service. "I salute these citizens for getting things done to restore the environment for present and future generations."

Here are some highlights of Earth Day projects involving national service:

• In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, AmeriCorps*VISTA members, students and community volunteers will remove trash and plant seeds and grass in an area previously used as a community dump.
• In Minneapolis, the entire student body of Olson Middle School will celebrate Earth Day. Tenth-grader Everette Law has been organizing Earth Day projects at the school for the past four years, and this year was selected as Minnesota State Director of Earth Day. At nearby Whittier School, students are working with Target employees to clean up a neighborhood and plant a butterfly garden in the school courtyard.
• In Missoula, Montana, AmeriCorps members and 200 volunteers will take part in University of Montana's Clean Start Earth Day project, restoring a hiking trail and cleaning river banks.
• In Guntersville, Alabama, RSVP volunteers will teach children and adults to monitor groundwater and launch a week-long River Rescue.
• In Clark County, Washington, AmeriCorps members and trained herpetologists will lead families in a first-ever amphibian survey to compile information on frogs and salamanders in local wetlands.
• In Utah, Utah Conservation Corps members will work with volunteers to restore and maintain hiking trails at the Capitol Reef National Park.