Northwest National Park Family Day
"Bringing the Parks to the People"
Saturday, April 26, 2008
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
National parks serve as living laboratories, classrooms, and places just to enjoy and to have fun!
At national parks, the public can learn about our environment, our history, and about us. It has been said that the National Park System, which makes up many of our nation’s most precious and revered nationally significant treasures, reflects who we are as a people and as a nation—that America’s spirit is reflected in the National Park System.
As our country’s population becomes more urban, it is important to create opportunities to bring national parks closer to the residents and visitors of cities.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site serves as a gateway to national parks in the Northwest and so serves as an ideal setting in which to hold a "Northwest National Park Family Day," an event in which the public can learn more about our national treasures located nearby.
Through displays, activities and demonstrations, individuals and families will discover what makes the national parks in the Pacific Northwest unique, enjoyable and so important to protect.
With this event, the National Park Service, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust, and others intend to:
• introduce (or reintroduce) participants to the national parks of the Northwest,
• attract diverse, non-traditional visitors to national parks of the Northwest,
• raise participants’ awareness of organizations (like the National Parks Conservation Association and the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust) that support the National Park Service’s mission of protecting national parks for future generations.
This event is modeled after a similar event coordinated each year in Fresno, California, where thousands learn the importance of and how to visit Yosemite, Sequoia-Kings Canyon and other nearby national parks.
Due to the ideal location of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area, we believe attendance at the Northwest National Park Family Day will only grow in the coming years.
With full participation of all parks and the local community, we believe public participation at this annual event will reach 10 to 20,000 and more--bringing national parks to the people!
