Outdoors/Adventure

Free national park passes for kids could be a boon for entire family

How many times have your children witnessed moose picking their way across a snowy trail, or joined a pack of friends along a narrow alpine trail to pick blueberries?

Many Alaska kids know their outdoor spaces are special, even if they don't fully understand why.

Wild places give us room to roam. They teach us new things and provide exercise. Studies from such organizations as the Children and Nature Network show real benefits from outside time, like increased attention spans, less obesity, and an increased sense of self-worth. Kids don't necessarily know that, but they know people seem happier when outside, and the country's leadership seems to be catching on.

As part of a nationwide initiative that emphasizes lifelong health, federally managed outdoor agencies recently joined President Obama to launch the Every Kid in a Park Pass program, available through Aug. 31, 2016.

Passes will provide all U.S. fourth-grade students and their families free access all year to national parks, forests and wildlife refuges. The idea is to inspire the next generation to discover and protect our nation's public lands

Kris Fister of the National Park Service's Alaska region says the passes help create future stewards of public outdoor spaces.

"It's a great opportunity for kids to discover all that our nation's public lands and waters have to offer, including opportunities to be active, spend time with friends and family, and serve as living classrooms," she says.

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Unlike many federal processes, this one is simple, engaging, and provides kids and adults the tools they need to plan family adventures at more than 2,000 sites around the country.

After accessing the Every Kid in a Park website (www.everykidinapark.gov), young explorers need only to complete a brief activity, then print out the resulting temporary paper pass and turn it in to one of the many federal agencies near them (there's a list on the website) for a pass to keep and present at federal sites charging a fee.

Why fourth-graders? Outdoor advocates report this tween group is on the cusp of physical and emotional growth while wrestling with the concept of "coolness," all of which can affect a kid's desire to venture into the outdoors. Fourth-grade students are in a sweet spot of hands-on learning and physical activity, and they possess an eagerness to show grown-ups they like to be in charge sometimes. Why not let this demographic show off a park pass on behalf of the entire family? It's an opportunity kids are likely to remember in later years when they, too, are parents.

Alaska has only one fee-based park, Denali National Park and Preserve, which charges a $10 fee for those older than 15 that's good for seven days. But I'd like to think a free pass to other parks, monuments, and historic landmarks around the United States would be the perfect inspiration for a family vacation next year. What a rush of accomplishment for a kid to know he or she was the catalyst that got parents packing up the family for a trip to Yellowstone or Glacier National Park. Or maybe Pearl Harbor and Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. How about the Statue of Liberty in New York? The possibilities are wide open and diverse.

More information

Visit www.everykidinapark.gov and follow the prompts to print out a temporary pass. Alaska kids can redeem this for a card at the Anchorage or Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Centers. Here, helpful public land agency staff can also help with trip planning, recreation information, and a host of interesting interpretive information.

Teachers can apply for passes on behalf of their students via the same website, but through logging in to receive an outdoors-based classroom lesson, after which they can print out up to 50 paper passes. The educator portal also offers field trip ideas and outdoor-themed activities to enhance students' engagement in national public lands.

Passes permit the fourth-grade student and up to three adults, or an entire vehicle of occupants for drive-in parks, access to historic landmarks, parks, preserves, refuges, and other federally-managed facilities and open spaces.

Not sure where to go? Families can plan their trip based upon a number of interests, like recreation, wildlife, forests, and historical sites. The Every Kid in a Park website provides comprehensive trip planning tools that enable both kids and adults the luxury of tailoring an experience that fits everyone.

Erin Kirkland is author of Alaska on the Go: Exploring the 49th state with children, and publisher of AKontheGO.com, an Alaska family travel resource. Connect with her at e.kirkland0@gmail.com.

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