#junior ranger

[proudlyunicorn]

Vote for Tristan to win $20,000, learn from Jeff Corwin, and appear in a Ranger Rick magazine!

Tristan Is A High Energy Five-year-old Who Loves To Move And Explore! He Loves Animals And Nature And Is Always Asking Questions!

GUYS MY KID COULD HANG OUT WITH JEFF FREAKING CORWIN HELP ME OUT HERE PLZ!!!

[iwantakokokringle]

The people at the Grand Canyon really said let us make your dreams come true

[malorisaurus]

I posted this in a community I am in, but I also wanted to post it here for my own posterity.

I live in Idaho, and for the past week, I have been on a long road trip driving through Utah and SE Idaho going to various fossil sites, museums, dinosaur attractions, etc. The list of places I visited are:

Dinosaur National Monument - hot hot hot! But very worth it. It is perhaps the most well known location on this list, so I won't be too detailed here. Highly worth it, though!

Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum - a smaller museum, but they had an interesting focus on actual field work which is great if you are interested in spending time in an exhibit focused on the discovery and preservation of fossils as well as seeing skeleton and fossil exhibits. Good hands on exhibits for kids.

Hiking trails like the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Bone Trail and the Copper Creek Dinosaur Track trail - The sun! It is brutal! BRING LOTS OF WATER.

Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point - This is one of the largest, if not the largest, displays of dinosaur skeletons in the country. It was interesting to see the positioning that they chose, and the skeletons were often posed in fully decorated scenes which was a fun change from the usual museum pedestal setups. The museum moves through the fossil record chronologically, so while dinosaurs are a large feature, they are not the only focus.) Excellent space for kids with lots of activities and hands on displays.

Natural History Museum of Utah (they had lokiceratops fossils and a skull cast on display, which was pretty cool to see. Their displays in general were wonderful. Their other displays were also wonderful, and they did a great job including hands on stuff for adults and kids alike.

George S Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden - I had a really fun day here, though the dinosaur statuary was often comically outdated—their T. rex was standing fully erect putting weight on his tail, which was nostalgic and funny. A lot of that statuary is dated because it is from when the park was founded, but they have made some attempts to update the statuary. Inside is a geology exhibit as well as a fossil exhibit, and their signs were informative and more accurate. Overall a very fun experience, though.

Did some driving around and hiking to view some outcroppings at the Wayan Formation, but this was just general site seeing for my own gratification and there isn't really access to much of the area.

Idaho Museum of Natural History at CSI in Pocatello - they had several oryctodromeus fossils as well as complete skeleton displays. This was of particular interest to me because they are unique burrowing dinosaurs found pretty exclusively to the area, and it is now our state dinosaur as of 2023. The museum is small, but I will say that all of the displays are very thoughtful, and they included a lot of birds, small mammals, and plants in their informative displays. The Hagerman Horse also featured, which is our state fossil, and they highlighted the unique fossil record of Idaho.

Hagerman Fossil Bed National Monument - This was my final stop of this particular trip, and I am glad that I went. There is no access to the fossil beds themselves, but there are some great trails with lots of informational placquards with views of the fossil bed area. The Thousand Springs Visitor center for the monument is one of my favorites that I have been to. The rangers were so excited, friendly, and informative. I asked to become a Jr. Ranger, and I did the book and got my badge and patch after being sworn in as a protector of fossils and advocate for conservation by a wonderful ranger who talked with me for a long time about all of the things they had on display as well as an endocast of a hagerman horse brain. The ranger got very excited about that and told me the thing he loved most about it was that the brain size to body mass ratio indicated that it would have been similar to that of modern day horses, so that it indicates that the hagerman horse had personalities, emotions, etc. just as modern horses do. I am already of the belief that this is largely true of all life on the planet, but how it was described really hit me and I got quite emotional about it! It was extra fun because I could see how excited it made the ranger—the expression of like "YES we have TRUE ENGAGEMENT." 😂 It is a small little place, but turned out to be a highlight of my trip.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded post! I took about 5 million pictures, and am working on organizing them all by location and animal. My goal is to go through, animal by animal, and read the current literature and compare it to the information and skeleton positioning at each of the museums. I will be sharing that progress here eventually. If anyone has any questions or recommendations for travel in the area, hmu!

[mountrainiernps]

Frank Sinatra sang, “ Fairy tales can come true,

It can happen to you

If you're young at heart.”

And that’s true for our Junior Rangers and Citizen Rangers.

Whether in the national park or online, kids of all ages can take part in becoming a Junior Ranger. Mount Rainier also offers the Citizen Ranger quests in the park. With both programs, you learn about the geology, plants, animals and history as you visit the park. Start by stopping at a visitor center and picking up a booklet. The Junior Ranger booklet is appropriate for a broader, younger audience. If completed in park, you can go back to a visitor center to have a park ranger review the booklet and award you a Junior Ranger badge.

The Citizen Ranger quests are a bit different, appropriate for a more mature audience (ages 12 and up). You can find the quests either on the park’s website or by going to a visitor center. With questions in hand, individuals, families or groups can track down the answers and then return to a visitor center for a review with a ranger. Complete one quest for a certificate. Complete four quests for a patch.

“You’ll have a head start

If you are among the very young at heart.”

For more information on kid activities https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/kidsyouth/activites-for-kids.htm To learn about the Junior Ranger program, use this link https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/complete-a-mount-rainier-junior-ranger-booklet.htm For more information on the Citizen Ranger programs click on https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/citizen-ranger.htm

NPS Image of Citizen Ranger patch. NPS Photo. Wooden Junior Ranger badge on a junior ranger. 2024. NPS/Loving Photo. Rock wall and wayside interpretation sign at Inspiration Point. Forested ridge in front with Mount Rainier in the background. August 2019.

[haylanmakesstuff]

Haylan Makes Adventure

I know this space is called Haylan Makes Stuff, but Stuff isn’t the only thing you can make; I’ve also made plenty of adventures and memories. I work as a seasonal park ranger, and go to as many sites as I can. Where available, I do two things; buy a sew-on patch, and complete the Junior Ranger program where it’s available. When you do, you get a free wood/plastic badge or patch, and that’s the only way you can get those items. 

To show off my badges and patches of both kinds, I sew them onto flags every January. Junior Ranger programs usually consist of a workbook to complete, sometimes an activity or ranger talk. 

When I work as a park ranger one of my favorite things to do is Junior Ranger for kids, and I’ve been lucky enough to create a full program for one Forest. I have a few of my earnings on a Junior Ranger vest, which is fun to wear during activities with the kids. 

Anyone can do Junior Ranger, no matter your age. On duty, my oldest Junior Ranger was 88, and the youngest was 11 months old. Some places have different books/badges available, like Senior Ranger for adults, or Junior Angler, Night Sky, etc. Screw Pokemon, I gotta collect all these. 

The hardest program goes to Bandelier; it took two adults to do it and we still struggled! Did you know about Junior Ranger? Do you have a favorite? Do you collect anything while you travel?

[valhikes]

Agents of Discovery at Trinidad Head

California Coastal National Monument. Taking the loop around Trinidad Head while trying out the "Agents of Discovery" app from BLM and USFS.

Trinidad Head, California

Another round at Trinidad Head on a very bright day. I tried out the Agents of Discovery app (BLM and USFS sort of Junior Ranger on a handheld computer sort of thing) which doesn't receive the highest marks from me.

[dailyelephant]

Junior Ranger Elephant

[young-nick-wilde]

Kid Nick by spriterzero on DeviantArt.

well this is one i came back to. had to redo and color this sketch that's been sitting around, but here it is!