Aspen Center for Environmental Studies is trying to connect families in the Roaring Fork Valley with national parks as part of President Obama’s Every Kid in a Park initiative.

ACES distributed 333 Every Kid in a Park passes last month as part of Back to School Nights. ACES representatives also talked to families about the importance of public lands, where the nearest national parks are located and how public lands relate to the U.S. water and energy dependency.

ACES also handed out a preliminary assessment to discover how often students were already using public lands and how they feel about them. Students will complete post-assessments at the end of the school year and ACES will evaluate data after a year of complimentary National Park access.

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The Every Kids in a Park passes were distributed to fourth graders in three schools where ACES operates full-time environmental education classrooms.

President Obama, in partnership with Federal Land Management agencies, introduced the Every Kid in a Park initiative in 2015 as part of his “commitment to protect our Nation’s unique outdoor spaces and ensure that every American has the opportunity to visit and enjoy them.” The program provides fourth grade students and their families free access to all National Parks, National Monuments, and other federal lands and waters for an entire year and is “slated to continue with each year’s group of fourth graders to inspire successive generations to become responsible stewards of our nation’s natural and cultural heritage.”