WASHINGTON, May 31, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Student Conservation Association (SCA) today applauded a Department of the Interior plan to bolster America's National Parks for and beyond the National Park Service's centennial in 2016.
"The Future of America's National Parks," a report issued today by Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to President George W. Bush, is designed to prepare the parks for a second century of conservation, preservation, and enjoyment. Among other strategies, the report outlines plans to reconnect young people to the outdoors, achieve greater workforce diversity, and increase volunteerism.
"Keeping the 'public' in public lands strengthens our parks as well as our people," states SCA President Dale Penny. "We salute Secretary Kempthorne and Park Service Director Mary Bomar for proffering a vision that engages our youth and those across our many cultures, and there is no better place to plant the seeds of stewardship than our national parks."
Penny said he was also pleased by the report's plan to address cooperative procedural requirements and encourage more partnerships between land management agencies and organizations such as SCA.
The final page of "The Future of America's National Parks" is dedicated to an autobiographical story authored by SCA alumnus and National Park Ranger Mauricio Escobar. He writes of how, after a challenging childhood, his volunteer experience at Golden Gate National Recreation Area "gave me a new way to interpret the world and my place in it," adding SCA "instill(ed) a sense of ownership toward national parks" and launched his conservation career.
"Mauricio's inspiring story is testament to the benefits of connecting young and diverse populations to the outdoors," says Penny. "He and others like him are the future of America's National Parks."
Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Student Conservation Association is a national force of conservation volunteers who protect and restore America's parks, forests, and other public lands. Thousands of SCA volunteers serve each year as rangers, researchers, and educators in more than 500 national parks, forests, refuges and urban green spaces. Since 1957, SCA's active, hands-on practice of conservation has helped to develop a new generation of conservation leaders, inspire lifelong stewardship, and save the planet. To learn more, visit thesca.org.
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