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September 2015 News
Send a Kid to a Park: DONATE
Can you guess this park? Hint: it is the third largest National Park Service area outside of Alaska. Scroll down to our last story to find out if you guessed correctly.

Answer to last month's issue is Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve. In 1983, NPT purchased a crucial five-acre inholding proposed for a hunting lodge and turned the parcel over to the National Park Service for permanent protection. This was our first completed project 32 years ago!

Buddy Bison students spot local wildlife during their hike in Rock Creek Park.

It's a Great Time to be a 4th Grader!

On a September 15, 110 Buddy Bison kids from Beacon Heights Elementary (Maryland) and Elsie Whitlow Stokes Public Charter School (Washington, D.C.) kicked off their new school year by participating in a signature event to celebrate the launch of President Obama's Every Kid in a Park initiative. The event, at Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., was hosted in partnership with the Outdoor Alliance for Kids - of which NPT is a member. The goal of Every Kid in a Park is to get all 4th graders and their families to enjoy our federal lands and water. After visiting the Every Kid in a Park website, 4th graders will be granted a voucher that can be used for free admission to all federal lands and water during the current school year.

The Buddy Bison students were greeted by many special guests including Christy Goldfuss, managing director for the White House Council on Environmental Quality and Jonathan B. Jarvis, director of the National Park Service. Both presented them with their free annual park passes. Thanks to help from park rangers, the Izaak Walton League of America and REI, they then explored the park with their teachers learning about the local watershed and wildlife. They even created their own topographic maps. It was a perfect day at the park! Check out the photos of this fun-filled day.

 

Buddy Bison Student is the "Cover Kid" for Every Kid in a Park

Last school year, third grader Ahminah Sissoko from Elsie Whitlow Stokes Public Charter School (Washington, D.C.) first heard about the Every Kid in a Park program as she experienced rock climbing with her classmates at Carderock Recreation Area in Maryland. She was ably assisted by Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and famous rock climbing expert, Tommy Caldwell. Asked if she was scared to rock climb for the first time last year, she stated, "No, I was excited!"

Little did she know that her photo from that memorable day would be featured on the cover of the Every Kid in a Park brochure distributed nationwide. Now as a 4th grader, she is delighted to have her own free park pass to federal lands.
 

Kate Rodgers (center) with her two daughters.

Kate Rodgers from McGraw-Hill Joins NPT Leadership Council

NPT is pleased to welcome to our Leadership Council, Kate Rodgers, a lifetime educator with a background in management, marketing and sales. Kate has held a variety of positions within sales and marketing for Pearson Education until 2005 when she joined McGraw-Hill Education as a sales management leader. She trained and led numerous teams for which she was recognized with the Terry McGraw Sales Leadership Award. She has partnered and collaborated with school systems of all sizes throughout the mid-Atlantic region to analyze and develop solutions to meet the instructional needs of their students and teachers within their classrooms. In addition to this professional experience, in 2012, she established a student service and social outreach program called Greater Love at St. Bernadette School in Silver Spring, MD that she remains active with today.

"We are delighted to welcome Kate Rodgers to the National Park Trust family and particularly look forward to her involvement with our youth programs," stated Ann Gualtieri, NPT board vice-chair. Rodgers shared, “I am so pleased to join the talented and committed team at National Park Trust during this exciting time in the parks’ history. I welcome the opportunity to help create heightened awareness and build access to our national treasures for the rising generation of park stewards.”

 

Dan Quinn with Jane Goodall in Noel Kempff National Park in Bolivia. 

Chief Development Officer Dan Quinn Joins NPT Team

NPT welcomes Dan Quinn as our new chief development officer. Dan comes to us from The Nature Conservancy’s development department supporting some of the organization’s board of directors and top volunteers with their giving and engagement with the Conservancy. He has five years of experience as a naturalist and 25 years of experience in non-profit development and programming. His five years with the American Lung Association in air conservation focused on government and media relations. In his 15 years with The Nature Conservancy’s Latin America Division, he spent two years in Peru and ten years as director of the organization’s Peru and Bolivia programs. His efforts included developing a debt-for-nature swap in Bolivia and implementation of eight U.S. government funded Parks in Peril projects that protect more than 13 million acres.

"I have admired the National Park Trust for some time and am thrilled to help get kids outdoors to know and enjoy our amazing national parks, and to help keep these special places wild," stated Quinn. "We are delighted to welcome Dan Quinn to the National Park Trust," added Grace Lee, NPT executive director. "Dan brings a wealth of development experience from his decades at The Nature Conservancy. In addition, as an Eagle Scout and former National Park Service naturalist and ranger, Dan has a passion for protecting our parks and engaging our youngest students with these treasured landscapes."
 

National Public Lands Day is September 26

Lend a hand with more than 175,000 people across the country at the 22nd annual National Public Lands Day (NPLD), the nation’s largest volunteer day for public lands. Restore trails, haul trash, plant trees, remove invasive plants and enjoy educational and recreational activities on your public lands. With more than 2,000 events nationwide on federal, state or city public land, there is an NPLD event near you. Celebrate the lands we all share by signing up today at publiclandsday.org. Join the conversation online with #NPLD.

And remember that all national parks are free on NPLD. So grab your kids and go!

 

Did You Guess Correctly?

Our opening photo is of Mojave National Preserve in California. Located 90 minutes from Las Vegas, this park features majestic sand dunes, beautiful Joshua trees, and many wildlife species including the threatened desert tortoise.

Last fall the National Park Service, NPT, Chevron and Molycorp celebrated the dedication of the Ivanpah Desert Tortoise Research Facility and its conveyance to NPS along with the 7 acres of land around the facility. Until then, NPT managed the facility which was constructed by Chevron in 2011. Chevron also donated $490,000 to NPT to support research on site conducted by the University of California, Davis and the Savannah River Ecology Lab (GA). Under NPTs interim stewardship of the facility, two cohorts of tortoises were successfully hatched and released; ongoing research will help the juveniles survive the rough terrain. NPT will continue to remain involved by administering the research funds for several more years. Watch this video to learn about this project.

 


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