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March 2016 News
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Mark Your Calendars! Free Entrance to All National Parks
Visit our national parks for free this centennial year during National Park Week, April 16 to 24 – America's largest celebration of our national heritage. It's about exploring amazing places and America’s best idea – the national parks! Special days include: April 16: National Junior Ranger Day; April 22: Earth Day: roll up your sleeves to pitch in with a project at a nearby park; April 23: National Park Instameet; and April 24: Park Rx Day. To learn more visit:
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/national-park-week.htm

The same week, celebrate the 12th annual National Environmental Education Week (EE Week), April 17-23, which aims to inspire environmental learning among K-12 students and beyond, with events and projects across the country in classrooms, after-school clubs, parks, aquariums, museums, and more. To learn more visit: https://www.neefusa.org/greening-stem/environmental-education-week
Kids to Parks Day is May 21st

Moss Point Buddy Bison students at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge.

After celebrating National Park Week in April, get ready for Kids to Parks Day (KTP), a nation-wide day of outdoor play organized by NPT in cooperation with a host of local and national collaborators. This year's KTP Day will be held on Saturday, May 21, the week before Memorial Day weekend, the official start of summer. Local, state, and national parks are hosting events in nearly all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Take a look at the KTP events page to see what's happening all weekend long at parks near you. New events are being added every week, so check back often! And register to be counted at kidstoparks.org. You could win a Buddy Bison prize package.
 
Georgia-Pacific Foundation Expands Buddy Bison Program in Atlanta

4th-grade Buddy Bison students at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, GA.

Third and fourth-graders from M. Agnes Jones Elementary in Atlanta, Georgia, traveled back in time to celebrate Black History Month at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site thanks to our partnership with the Georgia-Pacific Foundation.

Rangers and volunteers guided students through Dr. King’s Birth Home and the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, both of which have been restored to the way they looked during his life. Rangers also assisted students in understanding Martin Luther King, Jr.’s What’s Your Life’s Blueprint? speech. Then the students reflected on and identified their own career and college goals – and mapped out their personal “blueprints” to achieve these goals. The fourth graders also received their free park passes as part of President Obama’s Every Kid in a Park initiative. Download your 4th grader’s park voucher here.

"Thanks for making this trip possible for our kids. This is what learning and making relevant connections is all about! I'm grateful our students had this wonderful opportunity!", stated Margul Retha Woolfolk, Principal, M. Agnes Jones Elementary.

"We are delighted that Georgia-Pacific Foundation's partnership with National Park Trust has greatly benefited the children at M. Agnes Jones Elementary. By providing timely outdoor learning opportunities for these young scholars, we are helping to foster the next generation of scientists, historians, community leaders, and environmental stewards," stated Curley Dossman, Jr., President, Georgia-Pacific Foundation.

Georgia-Pacific Foundation's sponsorship of the Buddy Bison School Program at M. Agnes Jones Elementary is matched by NPS Centennial Challenge Funds, which allows us to work with 200 students this year. To learn more contact Dan Quinn at danquinn@parktrust.org.

Park Institute Created at Duke University

Glacial retreat in Denali National Park over the last 100 years. (Top image photo courtesy of S.R. Capps, USGS; bottom photo courtesy of NPS.)

Duke University announced this month a new independent Park Institute for America at the Nicholas School of the Environment to help preserve America’s national parks and protected areas through research, education, and public outreach. The Institute will address emerging long-term environmental threats at a time when resources to manage these lands are shrinking. It will sponsor research that leads to innovative management practices and enhanced training for park managers; and it will work to raise public awareness of the challenges parks and protected areas face and the benefits they provide. The Institute is a collaboration with the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, a nonprofit that consists of former National Park Service employees.

Coalition member and NPT's Park Projects Director, Dick Ring stated, “The Park Institute is an incredibly exciting idea that will bring many diverse partners together to share and build expertise on parks and help educate future generations on the importance of these places in their lives." Read More.

Secretary Jewell Improves Access to Public Lands

Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park (Photo courtesy of NPS/Jacob W. Frank.)

Earlier this month, Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell issued a Secretary’s Order making it easier for disadvantaged and under-resourced youth to access parks and public lands. The Order specifies actions to increase access for groups of under-served youth. The action supports the current Administration’s Every Kid in a Park initiative offering free access to fourth graders and their families to America’s public lands and waters.

“By streamlining the permitting process, we can knock down barriers that stand in the way of welcoming young people to enjoy, explore and experience nature” said Jewell.
 

Celebrating Our Accomplishments in 2015

 
 

Our 2015 Annual Impact Report is here! We hope you will take a look at everything we accomplished together last year thanks to your support. Learn more about our work to preserve parks today and create park stewards for tomorrow and how you can get involved.


 


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