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Yosemite National Park
For Kids
 
gold ranger badge that says Yosemite
Visiting Yosemite? Become a Junior Ranger or Little Cub! In 2010, more than 24,000 children became Yosemite Junior Rangers (up from 6,000 in 2007). Learn more about Junior Rangers with these links. Consider visiting the Nature Center at Happy Isles (summer only) or the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center for interactive exhibits.

Read about a Junior Ranger's winning entry in an essay contest.

If you're working on a report for school, you can probably find the answers to your questions by looking through:

 
History: Junior Ranger history reaches back to the Yosemite Junior Nature School, organized in June 1930 and lasting until 1954. Imagine being an eager young naturalist sent off to the park for a week's summer session. Read a 1937 Yosemite Nature Notes article about the historic school and a 1960 Yosemite Nature Notes article that shares the program's success and structural evolution in 1955. Read about the children's experience in their words in this 1938 Yosemite Junior Nature Notes magazine. [1 MB PDF]. Also, could you pass the Junior Ranger 1933 test? [20 kb PDF] Warning: it's tough!
 
Ranger in Yosemite Valley field with children in historic photo
Ralph H. Anderson
Ranger Walter Heil and a 1938 Yosemite Junior Nature School group explore Sentinel Meadow in the Valley.
 
Ranger examines pelt on ground with two children
While studying to become Junior Rangers, children touch an animal pelt.
Wildlink
Linking People to the Diversity of Wilderness
Learn how WildLink gives underserved teens a series of wilderness and other experiences.
more...
Bear exiting a car
Bears on Tape
Watch this short bear video to learn how to protect Yosemite's bears
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Sierra Sweet Bay

Did You Know?
In Wawona and downstream, the South Fork Merced River provides habitat for a rare plant, the Sierra sweet bay (Myrica hartwegii). This special status shrub is found in only five Sierra Nevada counties. In Yosemite, it occurs exclusively on sand bars and river banks along the South Fork Merced River downstream from Wawona and on Big Creek.
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Last Updated: December 21, 2011 at 10:49 MST