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Contact: Yvonne Menard, 805-658-5725
Today, Channel Islands National Park and Santa Monica National Recreation Area invite the public to celebrate National Park Week at their local parks and to join the Find Your Park National Park Service Centennial campaign. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area will celebrate with the 6th annual Science Fest, a family-friendly event with hands-on demonstrations, live animals, guided hikes, and more than 50 interactive exhibits. This free event will take place on Saturday, April 25 from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. "Science Fest is great fun for inquiring minds of all ages," said David Szymanski, Superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. "Hike, picnic, learn about animals, conduct your own experiment … the day is yours to find your park." On Earth Day, April 22, Channel Islands National Park will connect the public in a virtual visit to remote Anacapa Island with distance learning presentations at 11:20 am and 2:00 pm. Two sixth grade classes from across the country, Mesa School in Oxnard, California, and Mountain View Intermediate School in Franklin, North Carolina, will jointly participate in the morning program. "The National Park Service has a presence in every community in the United States including ours," said Channel Islands National Park Superintendent Russell Galipeau. "The 407 national park sites preserve our countries most outstanding scenery, wildlife, and habitat, and honor our most important historic events and people." The Find Your Parkcampaign celebrates the milestone centennial anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016 and sets the stage for its second century of service. The campaign emphasizes that a national park can be more than a place -- it can be a feeling, a state of mind, or a sense of American pride. Beyond vast landscapes, the campaign highlights historical, urban, and cultural parks, as well as the National Park Service programs that protect, preserve and share nature, culture, and history in communities nationwide. "Find Your Park" is the theme for this year'sNational Park WeekApril 18 –26. The public is encouraged to find their park and share their stories online at FindYourPark.com. About Channel Island National Park Channel Islands National Park encompasses five of the eight California Channel Islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara) and their surrounding ocean environment. The Channel Islands protect a rich array of natural and cultural resources including over 2,000 terrestrial plants and animals, 145 of which are found nowhere else on earth. The park's marine environment is one of the most productive on earth, with more than 1,000 species of fish, invertebrates, and algae, and 26 species of marine mammals including the largest animal ever to live on the earth, the blue whale. About Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park Service, it comprises a seamless network of local, state and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/samo. About the National Park Service More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 407 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov. About the National Park Foundation
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Last updated: April 21, 2015