Every September, thousands of acres of public land sit undervisited. Not because people don't care — but because they don't know what's there or where to start.

St. Johns Riverkeeper figured out a way to change that. This September, they launched the Protect Our Public Lands Passport — a digital challenge inviting people to visit more than 50 locations across the St. Johns River watershed, from Indian River County all the way to Duval. The timing ties directly to National Public Lands Day on September 26.

Why a Passport Challenge Works for Conservation

A passport challenge turns exploration into a game. Participants check in at locations on the map, earn stamps, and see their name on a leaderboard. For organizations focused on public land stewardship, that means turning an environmental message into a lived experience.

Instead of just reading about wetlands and wildlife habitat, people are actually visiting them — walking the trails, seeing the waterways, and building a personal connection to the places worth protecting. That's placemaking in action, and it works far beyond Main Street.

How to Set Up a Passport Challenge Like This

You don't need to be a tech organization to pull this off. Here's how a Riverkeeper-style passport challenge comes together:

Create a collection of your locations. Add each public land, park, or trail as a pin to your new Proxi collection.

Set up the Passport Challenge. In Proxi, you configure which locations are part of the challenge, set check-in requirements, and decide whether participants need to visit a certain number of them or all of them to complete it.

Launch registration. Participants sign up with their name and email, which builds your contact list as the challenge runs. Every registrant becomes someone you can reach for future events and campaigns.

Watch the leaderboard. Proxi shows a live leaderboard of top participants and top visited locations — useful data that also creates friendly competition and keeps people coming back throughout the month.

Why a Month-Long Window Works

The St. Johns Riverkeeper passport runs all of September, timed around National Public Lands Day. A month-long challenge gives people enough time to participate without feeling rushed — and it keeps your organization visible for 30 days straight.

For Main Street organizations, DMOs, and community groups, the same model applies. You can build a passport around local businesses, murals, historic sites, farmers market vendors, or conservation areas. The geography changes, but the mechanic stays the same: give people a reason to explore, and a map to do it with.

What You Need to Get Started

You need a list of locations, a little copy for each one, and a Proxi account. Most organizations have a challenge live in an afternoon.

If you're a conservation org, a DMO, or a parks department thinking about fall programming, a passport challenge is one of the highest-engagement formats you can run. People go places. They bring friends. They share it.

Want to see what one looks like live? Check out the Protect Our Public Lands Passport from St. Johns Riverkeeper — 50+ locations, one watershed, all of September.