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Contact: John Dell'Osso, 415-464-5135
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) today announced that Point Reyes National Seashore is one of five parks nationwide to receive funding in President Clinton's budget for an education center within the park. The President's budget proposal includes $900,000 to fund the centers, which will also be established at Cape Cod National Seashore, Rocky Mountain National Park, Southwest Alaska and Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The learning centers will be partnerships with universities, schools and other organizations that bring researchers and teachers closer to park resources, facilitate collaborative studies, assist park staff, and encourage researchers to use parks as classrooms and places of scientific inquiry. "The Pacific Coast Learning Center at Point Reyes will teach and encourage the next generation of scientists and educators," Woolsey said. "This funding will also implement the 'Creating Coastal Stewardship Through Science' curriculum being developed with area schools. This will give our children direct access to scientific information collected at the parks." The Pacific Coast Learning Center will facilitate research on coastal ecosystems; research and preservation of Point Reyes' rich cultural history; research on fire ecology; as well as provide educational training materials and programs to the San Francisco Bay Area. The Center will use existing park facilities while working with the Coho Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project and the Bay Area Fire Program. Additional collaborating schools, universities, organizations and agencies will be provided office space, laboratory accommodations and access to computer information systems, including a geographic information system. The learning centers are part of the Natural Resources Challenge, a strategic long-term approach to the management and care of resources within the 379 parks in the National Park System. The Challenge is a five-year plan to expand the National Park System's ability to inventory, monitor and care for the historical and natural resources under its care. ### |
Last updated: February 28, 2015