By Alex Day, Marketing & Communications Director
For generations, the National Park Service’s Junior Ranger program has helped young visitors connect with public lands through exploration and learning.
Across the country, millions of children have raised their right hand and taken the Junior Ranger pledge, walking away with far more than a badge. They also gain a sense of belonging in national parks, and an understanding of the importance of caring for them.
At Olympic National Park, that memorable experience is about to reach new heights.
Each year, approximately 30,000 youth participate in the Junior Ranger program at Olympic National Park. For many, it’s their first meaningful interaction with nature, and sometimes, it represents the beginning of a lifelong journey.
Eliza Goode, Visual Information Specialist at Olympic National Park, knows the program’s influence firsthand. Her connection to national parks began as a Junior Ranger at Glacier National Park. That experience influenced her to seek out more experiences in the natural world and to care for wild places.
That sense of inspiration is exactly what the program is designed to foster. Since its inception, the Junior Ranger program has been a cornerstone of the National Park Service’s education and interpretation efforts, encouraging young visitors to explore, ask questions, and see themselves as part of the park’s story.
Olympic’s current Junior Ranger booklet, which has served thousands of visitors over many years, represents an earlier style and approach to Junior Ranger programs.
With support from Washington’s National Park Fund, park staff are creating a new, fully reworked Junior Ranger booklet, designed to reach the full potential of today’s interpretive tools to serve the many communities visiting the park. The goal? To create a booklet that will be:
This new booklet will be used parkwide and has the potential to impact tens of thousands of young visitors each year. The park is not just creating a booklet, said Goode, but a new generation of park stewards.
What makes this project especially powerful is its focus on inspiring stewardship through personalconnection. The booklet’s design will invite aspiring Junior Rangers to explore, discover, and reflect upon their own experiences as they journey through the park’s diverse ecosystems — mountains, rain forest, and coast, noted Janet Scharf, Olympic National Park Interpretive Media Program Manager.
The activities will be open ended and welcoming, ensuring that every participant can engage in a meaningful way. Scharf added that the goal is to inspire youth to enjoy, understand, connect, and care, while seeing themselves not just as visitors, but as integral components and protectors of the park, now and in the future.
This project’s reach extends far beyond a single park. Olympic’s new booklet will be developed alongside emerging National Park Service guidelines, positioning it as a potential model for parks across the country. For smaller or under-resourced parks, it could serve as a template, amplifying the impact of donor support nationwide.
For some young visitors, the Junior Ranger program is their first step into the natural world. It can turn uncertainty into confidence, curiosity into care, and a single visit into a lifelong commitment to protecting public lands.
This new booklet is designed to spark those moments — again and again — for years to come.
And it’s made possible by supporters like you.
Washington’s National Park Fund is the official philanthropic partner of Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. Through donor support, we fund critical park projects that protect wildlife, preserve ecosystems, and enhance visitor experiences. Your donations help ensure these iconic landscapes remain for generations to come. Join the movement by giving back at wnpf.org/donate.
Photos courtesy of the National Park Service.