For immediate release: June 22, 2011

National Park Service News Release

WASHINGTON—The National Park Service and the Project WET Foundation have partnered to feature national parks and hands-on, science-based activities for a new educational series called Discover the Waters of Our National Parks.

"Water is a major theme in national parks," said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. "It runs down mountains and through meadows, sits in high alpine lakes, laps against ocean shoreline parks and is precious in desert environments.

"In short," Jarvis said, "there's a water story to be told in most of the 394 parks in the national park system and we've joined with the Project WET Foundation to carry those stories to a worldwide audience of students and educators."

Jarvis said National Park Service interpretive park rangers and Project WET staff envision an educational package that includes videos, special workshops, seminars and online courses, children's activity booklets, educator guides, posters, a web portal and other hands-on, investigative, science-based materials that meet local, state and national curriculum standards.

The Project WET Foundation has been in existence since 1984, developing science-based educational tools for its mission to reach children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education.

Parks are classrooms that help people understand and appreciate the complexities of the natural world. Reaching children and families who may not live close enough to visit a U.S. national park will be an important part of the project. Through Project WET's global network, schools worldwide will be introduced to Discover the Waters of Our National Parks, perhaps learning for the first time about parks close to their own homes and creating a desire to visit national parks far away.

A pilot Discover the Waters of Our National Parks program with three to six national parks will be announced later this year. All of the materials for the project will be developed at the community and park level with teachers, researchers and water experts.

"The Project WET Foundation is honored to have this opportunity to partner with the National Park Service and to increase the reach of our water education materials to the millions of people who visit national parks each year," Project WET President & CEO Dennis Nelson said. "Water connects our national parks to each other and to the people of the United States through the water cycle, making national parks a perfect springboard for educating people about water."

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 394 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.

About Project WET: Since 1984, the Project WET Foundation, an award-winning U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has dedicated itself to the mission of reaching children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education. Project WET is active in all 50 U.S. states and in more than 50 countries worldwide. Learn more at www.projectwet.org.

Contacts: Jeffrey Olson, 202-208-6843
Bill Jackson, bill_jackson@nps.gov 970-225-3503
Nicole Rosenleaf Ritter, 406-585-4115