Cabrillo National Monument Invites Community to Second Annual Junior Ranger Day and National Park Week Celebration

San Diego, Ca. - Superintendent Tom Workman invited everyone to celebrate National Park Week at Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego’s National Park, with
special Junior Ranger Day activities on Saturday, April 26, 2008, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 
National Park Week (April 19-27, 2008), celebrates and seeks to engage people with America’s national parks. The 2nd Annual National Junior Ranger Day is April 26 and Cabrillo National Monument will join more than 100 national park areas in presenting special Junior Ranger Day activities.  The first National Junior Ranger Day in 2007 was a huge hit with park staff and volunteers serving 25,000 children in 123 parks, including Cabrillo National Monument. The motto for Junior Ranger Day is: Explore, Learn, Protect: Be a Junior Ranger.
 
The Junior Ranger program is designed to engage children and families in the stories embodied in their national parks. Children complete activity books that lead them through the park in a kid-friendly way. They are drawn to parts of the park story that they can relate to.  When completed,
they present their booklets to a ranger to earn a patch or badge and a certificate.
 
At Cabrillo National Monument, the Junior Ranger Day activities will include a special, self-guided scavenger hunt, which children may do with their families while they explore Cabrillo National Monument, and Junior Rangers of any age who complete this program will receive a Junior Ranger Day 2008 button and certificate. There are Junior Ranger programs in 322 national park areas. Children who have completed Junior Ranger programs as other national park areas are encouraged to wear their Junior Ranger badges from those parks to Junior Ranger Day at Cabrillo. There will be awards ceremonies at 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM with sweet treats to
celebrate Junior Rangers and award prizes. The National Park Service also has an online WebRanger program (www.nps.gov/webranger/).
 
National Park Week is an annual presidentially-proclaimed week for celebration and recognition of your national parks. Your national parks are living examples of the best this nation has to offer - our magnificent natural landscapes and our varied yet interrelated heritage. Parks can
provide recreational experiences, opportunities to learn and grow, and places of quiet refuge and have been called ‘America’s gift to the world.’  
 
Said Workman, “this is a wonderful opportunity for families and visitors of all ages, particularly children, our next generation, to engage with and help preserve their national parks legacy, and to begin creating a lifetime of experiences to cherish, treasure and share.”
 
Books, films and educational materials about Cabrillo National Monument and other national park areas, will be available for purchase in monument’s bookstore, operated by the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation. The Cabrillo National Monument Foundation, the non-profit
cooperating association partner for the National Park Service at Cabrillo National Monument, has supported interpretive, educational and scientific research activities, including the Junior Ranger Program and Junior Ranger Day, at Cabrillo National Monument for more than 50 years.
 
All events are included with the regular park entrance fee of $5.00 per vehicle and $3.00 for motorcyclists, bicyclists and walk-in visitors (valid for 7 days from date of purchase). Holders of an America the Beautiful Interagency Pass, America the Beautiful Senior Pass, Golden Age
Passport, America the Beautiful Access Pass, Golden Access Passport, or Cabrillo National Monument Annual Pass will be admitted free of charge upon presentation of their pass. The America the Beautiful Interagency Pass, America the Beautiful Senior Pass and Cabrillo National Monument Annual Pass may be purchased at Cabrillo National Monument. The free America the Beautiful Access Pass, for individuals with permanent disabilities may also be obtained at Cabrillo National Monument, although restrictions apply. 

Cabrillo National Monument, located on Point Loma at the south end of Catalina Boulevard, is open daily from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM. Public transportation (#28 bus from the Old Town Transit Center connecting with the #84 bus to Cabrillo National Monument) is available hourly to the visitor center. For additional information call 619-557-5450 or TTY 619-222-8211, or visit our web site at http://www.nps.gov/cabr/. To learn more about National Park Week, please visit http://www.nps.gov/npweek/. To learn more about National Junior Ranger Day, please visit http://www.nps.gov/npweek/junior.htm/. To learn more about the National Park Service WebRanger Program, please visit www.nps.gov/webranger/.