News Release

Youth Learn About Park Ranger Careers

A ranger explains the Mohs Hardness Scale to a young visitor.

NPS/ A.Gray

News Release Date: April 11, 2023

Contact: Eric Grunwald, 308-436-9700

Contact: Tera Lynn Gray, 308-436-9768

227 visitors explored the many career options within the National Park Service on Saturday, April 8th at Scotts Bluff National Monument. Junior Ranger Career Day was co-hosted with Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, the panhandle’s other National Park site, 45 minutes north of Scottsbluff.

Young people who attended the event and completed hands-on activities at six career stations earned a certificate and three official Junior Ranger badges: one from each monument and one from the NPS Wildland Fire Crew. Each station showcased a different career in the National Park Service. 

“Most people see the green and gray uniform with the iconic flat hat and immediately think, oh, that’s a Park Ranger,” said AJ Legault, chief ranger at Agate Fossil Beds. “But actually, our uniform is worn by lots of different career fields in the National Park Service under the Department of the Interior. Interpreters, biologists, fire crew, law enforcement, paleontologists, geologists, historians, and maintenance specialists, just to name a few.”

Agate Fossil Beds and Scotts Beds National Monuments also took the time to make the event inclusive for people with disabilities. An ASL interpreter was on hand to translate the activities' instructions to junior rangers who were Deaf or Hard of Hearing. All written materials were in large print, Braille, and had an audio version online for junior rangers who were Blind or Visually Impaired.

Junior Ranger Day is a nationwide event kicking-off National Park Week at NPS sites across the country. This year, National Park Week occurs April 22^nd – April 29^th. Scotts Bluff and Agate Fossil Beds National Monuments held their event early to coincide with local school districts’ Spring Break. Other fun events for Junior Ranger Day can be found on the National Park Service website.

Agate Fossil Beds will kick off this year’s festivities with an astronomy program on Saturday, April 22^nd. “Park Connections: Earth and Sky as One” will start at 8 pm at Agate’s picnic pavilion outside the Visitor Center. After the presentation, discover the wonders of the stars while looking through park telescopes.