Youth & Families

Your Gifts in Action: Growing the Seeds of Community Resilience

The Food Sustainability and Native Plant Education pilot program at North Cascades National Park reaches populations the park doesn’t serve as much as it would like – including local gateway communities, underserved youth, and tribes. Learn about what this innovative, hands-on project is bringing to the community around the park.

Heading Back to School: Middle School Snow Science in Olympic National Park

It's back-to-school season! Did you know that science field trips for seventh graders is one of the projects WNPF has provided support for over the years? This article, originally published in National Parks Traveler's March 2020 issue, sheds light on how this impactful program makes a difference in young peoples'...

Create Your Own Backyard Junior Ranger Experiences

The house is a great place to feel cozy, safe and warm-- ideal sensations for winding down an eventful day. Living in this ease all the time, however, gets boring and we all need to be stimulated. It is not necessary to come with a plan when stepping outside; there...

Un Día en El Paraíso (A Day in Paradise) with Casa Latina 

Our chartered bus came in early on the rainy Sunday September morning at our meeting point on South Jackson Street in Seattle. Over fifty excited passengers boarded for an adventure that would take many of them to a National Park for the very first time. Our destination: Mount Rainier National Park.   This was the...

Park Person of Interest: Nicole Kennedy, Wilderness Youth Coordinator at Olympic National Park

Nicole Kennedy was not always a wilderness enthusiast. “My mom took us car camping,” says the Pennsylvania native, “but it wasn’t until I went off to college in the Colorado Rockies that I fell in love with the outdoors.” Now a Wilderness Youth Coordinator for Olympic National Park, 38-year-old Kennedy...

These Projects Want YOU… to push them Over the Top!

The countdown is upon us…the fiscal year-end is coming... Will we make our fundraising goals? Instead of anxiety here in the office, all of us get super excited this time of year to see our ‘thermometer’ rise, knowing all the good work we’re doing with you to support our beloved...

What Makes YOU Parks Proud?

Whatever gets your geek on, I bet WNPF has a project you can sink your teeth into! And now’s the time to show your Parks Proud with a gift to Washington’s National Park Fund. We’re looking to you to help fully fund projects by the end of our fiscal year...

Park Person of Interest: Annie Kilby, Education Park Ranger at Mount Rainier

“Those cold and miserable days are the days you never forget,” laughs Annie Kilby, Education Park Ranger at Mount Rainier. And, indeed, she slogs through an abundance of them on field trip days. Nudging her hesitant student charges along, she keeps them as close as pre-schoolers grasping a rope.

It's All About the Kids, All About the Future: 2018 Spring Dinner and Auction

At this year's Spring Dinner and Auction we'll be celebrating North Cascades National Park's 50th Anniversary, and Washington's National Park Fund 25th Anniversary. But it's not all about looking back. This year, when we gather at the Fisher Pavilion on April 7th, we're raising the paddle for the future. We...