This Land is Your Land; This Park is Our Park

The U.S. National Parks belong to all of us. They are public lands set aside for conservation purposes.  Check out how your tax dollars are being spent – and how you can enjoy that investment.

CONNECT:

• Join Sesame Street at they visit national parks: http://www.nationalparks.org/connect/npf-kids
• How does land become a national park? Find out the process at http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/history.htm
• Discover the Power of Parks; check out National Geographic Society’s free guides or download their free app and start exploring! http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/
• The Mapping the National Parks collection documents the history, cultural aspects and geological formations of areas that eventually became National Parks. The collection consists of approximately 200 maps dating from the 17th century to the present, reflecting early mapping of the areas that would become four National Parks, as well as the parks themselves. https://www.loc.gov/collection/national-parks-maps/about-this-collection/ See if you can tell from the maps that the area would make a good park.

CREATE:

• Take a quiz about U.S. national parks at http://blog.elmonterv.com/index.php/rv-camping-quizzes/u-s-national-parks-quiz/
• The National Park Services has thousands of facts and figures: http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/factsfigures.htm.  Make your own trivia game using those data.
• Wonderland is in the US: at the first national park: Yellowstone. Explore its resources and treasures on this eTrip: http://www.windowsintowonderland.org/
• Are you a fourth-grade (or 9-year old home schooler)? This is your lucky year: you and your family can receive an Every Kid in a Park pass that will give you free access to hundreds of parks, lands, and waters for an entire year. Get your pass at http://www.nps.gov/kids/features/2015/everyKid.cfm
• Not close to a national park? Become a webranger by taking part in activities similar to what might be provided in on-site Park Ranger programs. http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/entry_gate.cfm

CARE:

• Foxes on islands? Yes, Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of Southern California, is the home of the island fox. But those foxes are increasingly rare.. Learn about factors contributing to their decline, and about what is being done to recover this rare and unique species. And find out what you can do to help: http://home.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/island-fox.htm
• Foxes aren’t the only endangered species in national parks. Find out how the National Park Service’s Biological Resources Division provides scientific expertise and technological assistance to support the sound management, protection, conservation and preservation of biological resources and related ecosystem processes in our national parks: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/
• Just recently this Alaskan national park was renamed: from Whitney to Denali. Find out the history of that naming, and why it is so important: http://www.livescience.com/52056-mount-mckinley-renamed-denali.html
• Learn how you can take charge to help protect our national parks for future generations by visiting the National Park Conservation Association: http://www.npca.org

CAREERS:

Did you know that national parks employ more than 28,000 people? Think of all the jobs that are needed to maintain a park: rangers, scientistis, landscapers, architects, facilities staff, security, firefighters, educators, communications specialists, food staff, sales people, technicians. http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/workwithus.htm

Like the great outdoors? Consider becoming a park ranger: http://www.parkrangeredu.org/