News Release

Fourth-Graders and their Families Can Get Free Entrance to Public Lands

Date: September 23, 2019
Contact: Daphne Yun, 7188153651

Are you in 4th grade?

Do you have a child in the 4^th grade?

If so, you can get a free entry pass for you and your family to visit all National Parks for the entire year!

Stop by the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Oct. 6, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and pick up your pass. Join National Park Service rangers for a day filled with adventure. Join National Park Service Rangers for a day filled with fun and excitement, including ranger-led adventure hikes at 11 am and 1 pm, a special production of City that Drinks the Mountain Sky by Arm-of-the-Sea Theater at noon, face painting, and special activities with NYC Parks Urban Park Rangers, Rockaway Artists Alliance, the Queens Library Bookmobile, American Littoral Society, and more.

The annual pass which is good from Sept. 1, 2019 through Aug. 31, 2020, provides free entrance to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas. The pass does not cover expanded amenity fees such as camping or boat rides.

If you are unable to make the Oct. 6 event, fourth grade students can visit the Every Kid Outdoors website (https://everykidoutdoors.gov/fourth_graders.htm), participate in a short educational activity, and download a voucher.

The Every Kid Outdoors Program replaces the Every Kid in a Park Program that was established in 2015.

The program focuses on children 10 years of age - the age of most fourth graders - based on research that indicates children ages 9–11 are at a unique developmental stage in their learning where they begin to understand how the world around them works in more concrete ways and they are more receptive to engaging with nature and the environment.

By focusing on this age group year after year, the program aims to ensure every child in the United States has the opportunity to visit their federal lands and waters by the time he or she is 11 years old, thereby establishing a lifelong connection to enjoy and protect our American outdoor heritage.

There are seven federal agencies participating in the Every Kid Outdoors Program: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service; National Park Service; U.S. Bureau of Land Management; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.                                                                    

About Gateway National Recreation Area

Gateway is a large diverse urban park with 27,000 acres spanning Sandy Hook in N.J. and Jamaica Bay and Staten Island in N.Y. It offers green spaces, beaches, wildlife and outdoor recreation, all alongside historic structures and cultural landscapes. It is the 4^th most visited National Park Service unit with more than 9.2 million annual visitors. For more information about Gateway, visit www.nps.gov/gate.