VNP formalizes Junior Ranger program, By TOM LAVENTURE, Staff Writer

Voyageurs National Park has formalized its Junior Ranger program to help young people and their parents get the most out of the park experience.
Starting this year, Voyageurs will run the program with its own printed guide booklets, badges and patches for young people who complete the program.
Tawnya Lee Schoewe, VNP’s acting program manager, said the Junior Ranger program offers great water and land based activities and is a fun way of learning for kids and parents. She said it is designed to help young people get the most out of their park visit and come out of the experience feeling they better understand and are playing an important role in taking care of national parks.
All three visitor centers in Voyageurs will provide a free Junior Ranger booklet to kids. It is self-paced and should only take a few hours to complete. The booklets are designed for three age groups and teach about the environment, wildlife and park history at the appropriate levels.
The booklets are not meant for classroom learning, but act as an aid for youth and parents as they explore trails, watch wildlife and take part in park activities. Upon completion, the youth can share their experience with a park ranger, who will ask them a few questions to relate the experience before awarding them with an official Junior Ranger badge, patch and certificate.
"Just bring the booklet up to a park ranger at any park visitor center and they will look through it, talk with and ask a few questions," she said. "Then after they recite the Junior Ranger pledge they are awarded a certificate and badge."
Youth ages five and under are in the Beaver Club. This program will concentrate on the lake, water safety and park wildlife, with an emphasis on the beaver.
Youth age six to eight are in the Wolf Club. This program focuses on the life of the Ojibwe with an emphasis on timber wolves.
Youth ages nine and up are in the Bear Club. Participants in this program will concentrate on the history of the French Canadian voyageurs that traded and transported furs through here centuries ago with an emphasis on the black bear.
Schoewe said the Junior Ranger program has existed since the park was established, but was not a formalized program until this year. The development and printing of the Junior Ranger booklets was possible from grants and partnerships with the Friends of Voyageurs National Park, Lake States Interpretive Association and Voyageurs National Park Association, Unilever, and the National Park Foundation.
"We just finished with all three booklets," said Schoewe, who is also working on developing the patch design for each booklet or age group. Park visitors can look for the patches in the fall of 2008.
Though the Junior Ranger program is explained online at www.nps.gov/voya, Schoewe said the booklets are not downloadable and must be picked up in person at the center, or requested in writing.
"It’s not online because we feel they will get a better park experience if they come to the park," she added.
The booklet is available by writing Voyageurs National Park to request a copy at 3131 Highway 53, International Falls, MN 56649. Call 283-6670 for more information.