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U.S. GOVERNMENT 1: First Lady Supports Parks

This week First Lady Laura Bush supported a project to get more children to visit America’s national parks. The project, known as the Junior Rangers program, teaches children about the environment through activities in the parks.

Although the project has already raised $1.5 million to support the program, a $10 million fundraiser began on April 21, 2005. The money will allow 600,000 more children to participate in the program, which is held in the 388 national parks.

Bush said in an Associated Press article that “As Junior Rangers discover our parks, they learn lessons about history, culture and science... The national parks mean so much to me [because] I live in a national park--the White House.”

Children who participate in the Junior Ranger program become certified after completion of certain projects in the parks. Junior Rangers between the ages of five and seven at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming have to attend a Ranger program, hike a trail, locate the park on a map, locate roads visited while at the park and know the importance of rules.

Other national parks include the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Yosemite National Park, the Washington Monument, and Grand Canyon National Park. The program is a part of the National Park Service, which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Interior.

--Written by Jasmine Washington

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