RANGER NATURALIST SERVICE REDUCED EFFECTIVE AUGUST 17 AT BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK

Badlands National Park Chief of Resource Education Marianne Mills announces that effective Sunday, August 17, the hours of operation at the Ben Reifel Visitor will reduce its hours to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Additionally, the Junior Ranger Program at 12:30 p.m. and the Prairie Walk at 6:30 p.m. will no longer be available. Over half of our staff is returning to campus study. This year, most of our staff was made up of unpaid college interns notes Mills. A reduction in the education budget at Badlands resulted in fewer seasonal park rangers available this year. Attendance at our programs was consistently above average, indicating that visitors do want to learn more about the special places they visit. This summer, our volunteer interns contacted over 300,000 visitors to Badlands National Park. The White River Visitor Center, located on Pine Ridge Reservation, will close for the season on Tuesday, August 26. Ranger programs will continue through the week of Labor Day, then no longer be available until summer, 2004.