Junior rangers can also view the remains of a pygmy mammoth.
Channel Islands National Park invites the public to celebrate the annual Junior Ranger Day at an event on April 15, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the park visitor center in the Ventura Harbor. This free event will feature family-friendly activities, ranger-led talks, and the park’s junior ranger programs.
Children will have the opportunity to participate in three different junior ranger programs at the event, allowing them to earn badges as a Channel Islands National Park Junior Ranger, an Underwater Explorer, or a Junior Paleontologist.
The event will also feature family-friendly activities that children of all ages can participate in, including fish prints, buttons, dolphin masks, and more. At 11:00 am and 3:00 pm, a park ranger will discuss marine adaptations and ocean stewardship at the center’s marine life exhibit. At 1:00 pm, there will be an interactive children’s program about adaptations of seals and sea lions and at 2:00 pm, a ranger will lead a children’s program on bird beak adaptations.
Information about the national initiative, Every Kid in a Park, which invites all fourth graders to visit their public lands and waters for free, will also be available for parents and children.
The Every Kid in a Park program was created so that fourth graders and their families could discover our nation’s wildlife, resources, and history, for free. All fourth graders can get their pass online, at Every Kid in a Park, after they complete a fun, educational activity. They can trade the paper pass for a more durable pass at participating federal sites nationwide.
This past year 342,209 people visited Channel Islands National Park. Additional day visitors and overnight campers to Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands increased island visitation by about 10 percent.
There was a 20 percent increase in visitation to the mainland visitor center in the Ventura Harbor, due in part to the many fourth grade students that participated in the Every Kid in a Park program. The park had a corresponding 75 percent increase in the Junior Ranger program, with over 4,000 kids participating.
“We are particularly excited about the increase in visitation from fourth grade students to the park. This year we expect over 5,000 fourth graders will visit, thanks to the Every Kid in a Park grants we received from the National Park Foundation, National Park Trust, and National Marine Sanctuary Foundation,” said Channel Islands National Park Superintendent Russell Galipeau.
