So far, most fourth-graders take a pass on free national park entry

Every fourth-grader in America is eligible for free entry to all federally managed parks, but so far most valley kids have taken a pass on the almost 3-month-old program.

Only a few hundred of the almost 25,000 fourth-graders in the Clark County School District have signed up for one of the passes. Backers of the effort hope to change that with more outreach efforts and a tie-in with Nevada's state parks.

Under the Obama administration's Every Kid in a Park program, fourth-graders nationwide are eligible for a free pass for them and their families to more than 2,000 sites including national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and marine sanctuaries.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell officially rolled out the initiative Sept. 2 at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Since then, park rangers from Lake Mead National Recreation Area have signed up a little more than 300 local fourth-graders during classroom visits and other events, while the Southern Nevada office of the Bureau of Land Management reports handing out about 200 passes.

That's a little discouraging to Alan O'Neill, a former Lake Mead superintendent and the founder of the Outside Las Vegas Foundation.

"I'd like to see those numbers up," he said. "It's an incredible opportunity for fourth-graders in the valley. It can be expensive to get into the parks."

O'Neill said increasing participation will take a combination of publicity and engagement.

"It's a matter of getting into the schools, I guess, and letting the teachers know," he said.

Expanding the program's reach might help also.

Christie Vanover, spokeswoman for the National Park Service at Lake Mead, said Nevada's state park system plans to honor the federal passes, too, and discussions are underway to determine the best way to do that.

President Barack Obama announced the Every Kid in a Park initiative earlier this year as part of a yearlong celebration leading up to the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016.

The program is designed to continue each year with the next crop of fourth-graders. After 12 years, every school-age child in America will have had an opportunity to visit nation's parks and preserves for free.

To print a pass good for the 2015-16 school year, current fourth-graders must log onto www.everykidinapark.gov and complete an educational activity. Students can trade in their printed passes for more durable ones at participating federal sites nationwide.

The website also offers educators and community leaders access to educational activities, field trip options and the ability to print passes for their classrooms. Parents visiting the site can find links for more information on planning trips to nearby public lands.

The nonprofit National Park Foundation is awarding Every Kid in a Park transportation grants to help those who might not be able to afford the cost of traveling to national parks in their areas. Information on the grants can be found at www.nationalparks.org.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find him on Twitter: @RefriedBrean.