[CINC] Press release--NPS Centennial Projects

[Clare Fritzsche]

The NPS was founded in 1916 and is preparing for its centennial with the 
following local projects. Please note that you can participate as a CINC 
volunteer at the BioBlitz event in Agoura Hills on May 30 & 31. For 
sign-up opportunities, please see our online outreach calendar for May at:
http://www.nps.gov/chis/supportyourpark/volunteer-schedules.htm#CP_JUMP_135762
_____________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

Centennial Challenge Projects coming to Southern California National Parks

Greater Los Angeles, CA -- The National Park Service Centennial 
Challenge will fund five education
and science programs in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 
and Channel Islands
National Park with an additional $800,000 this year. Each project is an 
opportunity to enhance the
scientific knowledge about the natural resources or provide education 
and environmental stewards.
The five funded programs are:

    * Outdoor Education will provide programs and bus transportation for
      10,000 urban schoolchildren in the Santa Monica Mountains. This
      project is a partnership between LAUSD and the Santa Monica
      Mountains Fund and will begin May 15.
    * *BioBlitz! is 24-hour plant and animal inventory where families
      can scour the Santa Monica Mountains to see and learn about the
      different species. The BioBlitz is a cooperative effort with
      National Geographic and will bring over 80 scientists to work with
      visitors to identify the animals and plants in the mountains. May
      30- 31, 2008.*
    * Mountain Lion Survey and Conservation will continue the research
      about mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains by tracking
      their activity through satellite and radio collars. The project is
      a cooperative effort with California Department of Parks and
      Recreation.
    * Watershed Restoration with Urban Youth brings 2,000 young people
      from Los Angeles to conduct their first restoration project in the
      Santa Monica Mountains. The project is cosponsored by the
      California Coastal Conservancy.
    * Biological Inventory of Channel Islands National Park will
      initiate an inventory of the lesser known plants and animals of
      the park islands with special focus on groups such as
      invertebrates, fungi, moss, and lichens. The inventory will
      include science workshops, research grants, and a public
      symposium. The Nature Conservancy is providing matching support in
      an ongoing partnership with the National Park Service.

The Centennial Challenge provides matching funds to national parks with 
partners to conduct
programs that enhance the learning by both visitors and the parks 
themselves. Each of the above
programs has at least a 50% match by a park partner. The total cost of 
all the programs is close to
$800,000, but more than half of this came from nongovernment sources.

National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar said, "With the nearly $25 
million Congress has
appropriated and nearly $27 million of matching commitments from our 
park partners, the
Centennial Initiative today moves onto the landscape and into people's 
lives. It's a great day for the
National Park Service and a great day for all who live near Santa Monica 
Mountains and Channel
Islands National Parks."

The National Park Centennial Initiative is a 10- year program to 
reinvigorate America's national
parks and prepare them for a second century. The initiative includes a 
focus on increased funding
for park operations plus a President's Challenge: up to $100 million a 
year in federal funds to match
$100 million a year in philanthropic donations to the National Park Service.

"This is how we put our Centennial goals on the ground and it's quite a 
beginning," Bomar said.
"We have 110 programs and projects involving more than 130 individual, 
public, and non- profit
partners benefitting 76 national park in 38 states and the District of 
Columbia."

Director Bomar said, "We really have to get cracking. Many of our parks 
have a short construction
seasons for the brick and mortar and trail projects and our rangers will 
need to quickly integrate
new programs for the rush of summer visitors who arrive in a few short 
months."

The National Park Centennial Initiative provides a framework for the 
National Park Service to
engage the public in its mission. Its goals and strategies will embrace 
new constituents and gain
support from a broad array of public and private partners to ensure 
America's national parks
continue to thrive into the next 100 years.

Centennial Challenge programs and projects for 2008 elsewhere in the 
United Sates include:

    * Lewis and Clark National Historical Park where park rangers and
      staff will adopt the Class of 2016, today's fourth- graders, and
      bring them into the park for special programs several times a year
      until they graduate from high school.
    * Nine national parks across the country will embark on a national
      effort to discover and catalog all plant and animal life in the
      national parks -- technically speaking, they will conduct all taxa
      biologic inventories.
    * Upgraded and new interpretive trails at San Antonio Missions
      National Historical Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park,
      Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Hagerman Fossil Beds\
      National Monument, Point Reyes National Seashore, and other parks.
    * Restoration of ancient redwood forest and watershed in Redwood
      National and StateParks.
    * Water quality enhancement, restoration of endangered mussels,
      reintroduction of trumpeter swans, and wetland habitat learning
      experiences for visitors at Buffalo National River.
    * Creation of the Institute at the Golden Gate to Advance
      Preservation and Global Stability, Golden Gate National Recreation
      Area in San Francisco.
    * New or expanded Junior Ranger programs at many national parks.
    * Rejuvenate coral reefs with a community program at Biscayne
      National Park.

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