Ford Motor Company Supports Innovative Program Highlighting Transportation Alternatives in America's National Parks
'Transportation Interpreters' in Dearborn May 24, 2004-25 to Begin Training for Summer
DEARBORN, Mich., May 19 -- Forty college students from across the country will be in the Detroit area this week to train for a summer to be transportation interpreters in 23 National Parks. The unique Proud Partner Transportation Interpreter Program is an innovative public-private partnership that is helping to balance the issues of access to and preservation of the country's nearly 400 National Parks. The intensive training session will include briefings on the many alternative transportation options available to park visitors, presentation skills development, and a tour of the Ford Rouge Plant, a world-renowned model for environmentally friendly manufacturing facilities. Following the training, the students will be dispatched to more than twenty National Parks across the country to help educate visitors about how to help preserve parks during their visit by utilizing cleaner transportation systems like shuttles, carpools, bicycles, or hiking paths.
The program is made possible through the generous support of Ford Motor Company, a Proud Partner of America's National Parks. The Proud Partner Transportation Interpreter Program, a partnership between the National Park Foundation (NPF), the National Park Service (NPS) and the Student Conservation Association (SCA), supports summer interns who will provide visitors with invaluable information about the many alternative modes of transportation available to them within National Parks.
As a Proud Partner of America's National Parks, Ford is working closely with the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service to help develop innovative transportation and environmental solutions that enable visitors to enjoy all of America's nearly 400 National Parks without compromising their beauty. The Proud Partner Transportation Interpreter Program was developed to encourage National Park visitors to use alternative modes of transportation, such as buses, trains, or ferries, with the ultimate goal of reducing vehicle congestion as well as noise and air pollution.
"The National Park Foundation is thrilled to have Ford's support as a Proud Partner of America's National Parks," said Jim Maddy, President of the National Park Foundation. "National Parks are protected and cherished today because of the generosity and support of individual Americans who wanted to make a difference. These young Proud Partner Transportation Interpreters are carrying on that fine tradition and, with their support, we will ensure that National Parks will continue to be cherished by future generations."
The Transportation Interpreters will spend twelve weeks in one of 23 National Parks across the country. Each of the interns is a volunteer member of the Student Conservation Association, a national nonprofit organization that annually places more than 2,500 high school and college students in hands-on conservation service positions.
"Ford is committed to supporting alternative transportation systems in National Parks," said Sandra E. Ulsh, President, Ford Motor Company Fund. "This program not only provides a wonderful opportunity for young students to gain some valuable experience in a terrific setting, but it also provides an opportunity to spread the word about how alternative transportation systems are helping to enhance the visitor experience without harming the environment."
Ford is one of five Proud Partners of America's National Parks, joining American Airlines, Discovery Communications, Inc., Kodak and TIME magazine. In addition to supporting the Proud Partner Transportation Interpreter Program, Ford supports National Park transportation research, restored the historic fleet of red touring buses in Glacier National Park to run on cleaner-burning propane fuel, and has donated over 600 zero-emissions electric vehicles to the National Park Foundation for National Parks, state parks and other federal land management agencies.
The National Park Foundation is the Congressionally-chartered nonprofit partner of America's National Parks. Created by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation strengthens the enduring connection between the American people and their National Parks by raising private funds, making strategic grants, creating innovative partnerships and increasing public awareness. Over the past eight years NPF has raised more than $130 million in grants and program support for National Parks across the country. For more information, visit www.nationalparks.org.
As a Proud Partner of America's National Parks, Ford Motor Company works closely with the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service to preserve history and the environment. Ford supports the National Parks with the development of innovative transportation and environmental solutions, including the restoration of 33 historic red buses and the donation of electric vehicles, enabling visitors to enjoy more than 380 National Parks around the country. For more information, visit www.nationalparks.org/proudpartners
The Student Conservation Association is America's largest and oldest provider of national and community conservation service opportunities, outdoor education and career training for youth. SCA volunteers and interns annually perform more than one million hours of conservation service in national parks, forests, refuges, and urban areas in all 50 states. For more information, visit www.sca-inc.org.
The National Park Service is composed of more than 20,000 rangers, archeologists, historians, biologists, architects, laborers, gardeners, and other professionals who care for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage. For more information, visit www.nps.gov
2004 Transportation Interpreters Will Be Stationed in the Following National Parks:
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area Bryce Canyon National Park C&O Canal National Historic Park Crater Lake National Park Cuyahoga Valley National Park Dinosaur National Monument Eisenhower National Historical Site Everglades National Park Fire Island National Seashore Fort Clatsop National Memorial Glacier National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park Gulf Islands National Seashore Harpers Ferry National Historical Park John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Johnstown Flood National Monument Lowell National Historical Park Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Sagamore Hill National Historic Site Scotts Bluff National Monument Valley Forge National Historical Park Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Yosemite National Park