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Secretary Zinke Reauthorizes Every Kid In A Park

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By Kurt Repanshek - June 11th, 2018

The Every Kid In A Park program will return for another school year.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke without announcement has reauthorized the Every Kid In A Park program for another year.

National Park Service staff in Washington acknowledged Monday morning that the secretary "has reauthorized the Every Kid in a Park program and starting on September 1, 2018, the National Park Service will issue Every Kid in a Park passes for the upcoming school year while Congress considers more permanent proposals."

There has been uncertainty about the future of the program. In late May the Traveler ran a story quoting concerns from the executive director of the Outdoors Alliance for Kids that Secretary Zinke was going to end the program. At the time, Interior and Park Service staff did not respond to questions about the fate of the program. However, back in March the Interior secretary told a Senate committee he viewed it as part of the reason the Park Service has a nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog. 

While Interior staff has issued recent press releases about appointments to the secretary's new Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council, about members of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee, to announce a Junior Ranger program built around fishing, and regarding more than a quarter-billion dollars being released for deferred maintenance and other projects in the National Park System, no release was issued on the reauthorization of the Every Kid In A Park program and none was planned, NPS staff said Monday.

Comments

Submitted by Rochelle on June 11, 2018 - 1:35pm.

We utilize this program 3 years ago when my son was in the fourth grade and we loved it. My daughter is in the third grade this coming school year and will be in the fourth grade the following year and we have been impatiently waiting for her to get to choose a park so that we could do it again. I hope this program sticks around and that more people no that it is available and bring their kids to the parks. 


Submitted by The Vegas Voice on June 19, 2018 - 10:01pm.

What a mean fellow this Zienke is. How dare he do something this radical. Doesn't he know there are websites dedicated to hating him and what he is doing to make the National Park Systems work?? Websites that make up stories about how he will sell off the park (like Hillary was all ready to do).  How dare he do another good deed for the people who love the National Parks!! 

 


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