Michigan Youth to Connect with Nature Through Digital Photography

During Michigan's 4th Annual Stewart L. Udall Parks In Focus Program

MUNISING, MI - Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - There will be a change of scenery for 14 Michigan youth as they go on a photographic journey of some of the Upper Peninsula’s most scenic parks and public lands – a first for many of them. The students, who will be armed with digital cameras, are participating in the Stewart L. Udall Parks in Focus program, which gives young environmental leaders (Udall scholarship alumni) the opportunity to pass their knowledge to children who might never have seen a national park or spent time exploring a wilderness area.

Parks in Focus connects underserved youth to nature through the art of photography by introducing local Boys & Girls Club members to some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the country. The Udall Foundation not only provides digital cameras to the young participants to use and keep, but also trains trip leaders to execute active, week-long, learning-intensive outings that explore national parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands.

Since its inception in 2007, Parks in Focus Michigan has taken 28 youth from the Muskegon River Valley Chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters and the NCCS Boys & Girls Club of Newaygo County to photograph and explore some the Upper Peninsula’s most scenic sites. The 2010 program will take another group of 14 enthusiastic youth on this six-day adventure from August 18–23. Participants will search for salamanders, bounce on bogs, and crawl into bear dens at Tahquamenon Falls State Park, explore features of the North Country National Scenic Trail, look for wildlife at Seney National Wildlife Refuge, and interact with and canoe at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

The Udall Foundation trip leaders are Bret Muter, Udall Scholar 2005, Michael Gregor, Udall Scholar 2008, and Dawn Reinhold, Udall Scholar 2000 and 2001. The participants also will be accompanied by representatives from the Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

This trip is made possible in part by a grant from the National Park Service’s National Trails System.

The Udall Foundation was created initially to honor the legacy of the late Morris Udall, who represented Southern Arizona in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years. The late Stewart Udall, who also represented Southern Arizona in Congress from 1955 to 1961, was Morris Udall’s older brother. The two brothers were leaders in many policy areas, including natural resources and the environment and Native American issues. They worked together on many initiatives while Stewart Udall was Secretary of the Interior and Morris Udall a member of Congress. In 2009, Congress enacted legislation to honor Stewart Udall through the foundation, renaming it the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation.

The Udall Foundation carries on their legacies through a number of programs, among them, education programs designed to foster a passion and commitment for the nation’s natural resources in the next generation. Stewart L. Udall Parks in Focus is one such program; it speaks directly to the first objective of the Foundation’s enabling legislation: “To increase the awareness of the importance of, and promote the benefit and enjoyment of, the nation’s natural resources.” The program began in Arizona with the Tucson Boys & Girls Clubs but has since expanded to support trips with Boys & Girls Clubs in California, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, and Washington. Since the program’s inception, approximately 300 youth have completed the Parks in Focus program.

For additional information, contact Libby Washburn at 505.332.9079 or washburn@udall.gov.

For additional information about the Michigan program, contact Bret Muter at 989.284.0976 or bretm@udall.gov.