Colorado National Monument Wins National Park Centennial Challenge Grant for Junior Ranger Explorer Day Camp

Date: April 24, 2008
Contact: Joan Anzelmo, 970-858-3617 x300
Contact: Michelle Wheatley, 970-858-3617 x300

Colorado National Monument’s proposal to hold a Junior Ranger Explorer Day Camp has won national approval and will receive new federal funding along with matching private funds from the Colorado National Monument Association to serve 400 valley youth ages 9 to 11 this summer as part of the National Park Centennial Challenge Initiative.

Colorado National Monument is one of just 76 national parks to win approval for a National Park Centennial Challenge grant. A total of 25 million dollars of new federal funding was appropriated by Congress and granted to national parks through a competitive process and only for parks with partners ready to pledge matching funds. Nationally partner organizations have committed to some $27 million dollars in matching funds for this year.

Colorado National Monument’s summer Junior Ranger Explorer Day Camp will expand and enhance the ongoing Junior Ranger program for local youth. The Junior Ranger program strives to engage youth in place-based, fun, hands-on activities that allow kids to explore and discover the significance of park resources and introduces them to the national park system and mission.

Superintendent Joan Anzelmo said, "I am extremely grateful to our partner, the Colorado National Monument Association, who stepped forward and committed funds to make this wonderful opportunity for area youth a possibility. This simply would not have happened without the Colorado National Monument Association. I also greatly appreciate the support of our own Colorado Congressional delegation who made this initiative possible."

The National Park Centennial Initiative is a 10-year program envisioned to reinvigorate America’s national parks in advance of the agency’s centennial in 2016 and prepare parks for a second century. The initiative includes a focus on increased funding for park operations plus the President’s Challenge: up to $100 million a year in federal funds to match $100 million a year in philanthropic donations to the National Park Service.

National Park Service Director Mary Bomar said, "We have 110 programs and projects involving more than 130 individual, public and non-profit partners, benefiting 76 national parks in 38 states and the District of Columbia – with $25 million in congressionally appropriated funds and 27 million in partnership matching funds. This is how we put our Centennial goals on the ground and it’s quite a beginning."

Through the National Park Centennial Challenge Initiative Colorado National Monument received a Congressional appropriation of $6670.00 with a matching grant of $6670.00 from the Colorado National Monument Association to fund the summer Junior Ranger Explorer Day Camp.

The combined total of $13,340 will fund one seasonal park ranger to lead the camp as well as fund the essential bus transportation and camp supplies. Other seasonal park rangers will assist at the Junior Ranger Explorer Day Camp and are funded through a different funding initiative.

The Junior Ranger Explorer Day Camp at Colorado National Monument will begin in June and run through mid-August. Youth ages 9 to 11, wishing to participate in the day camp need to pre-register through the City of Grand Junction’s Summertime Arts and Recreation program (STARS) or through Mesa County Valley School District 51’s Summer Extended Learning Program. The camp will be based out of Devil’s Kitchen and operate Mondays through Thursdays.

To find out more information about the Junior Ranger program and the National Park Service Centennial Challenge please visit the following websites: www.nps.gov/colm and www.nps.gov/2016 .