This summer, governors from across the country will be meeting at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Santa Fe -- and we’ll be there, too, to remind our state executives that more than 25 million children across the country deserve to breathe clean air as they ride buses to school.

Join the Clean Buses for Healthy Niños coalition as we rally outside the NGA meeting calling on lawmakers to fully fund and implement plans to invest Volkswagen settlement money into zero-emission, electric school buses. Parents, students, activists, and supporters from across the country will be traveling to Santa Fe to share their stories and share with governors why they must act now to ensure our children have healthy futures.

On the way to New Mexico our volunteers and leaders will have the chances to stop and celebrate Latino Conservation week by enjoying the outdoors as our caravans make stops at some of our national parks.

MNDNR will be hosting Centro Guadalupano and their members at Fort Snelling State Park for a day of fishing and other outdoor activities! We will be geocaching, hiking, learning about the significant Bdote history in the park, learning about plants, going on a photo scavenger hunt, learning outdoor survival, etc. It will be a day to appreciate nature and the great resources we have right in the Twin Cities!

Latino Conservation Week is an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and learn how you can help protect our land, water and air. To celebrate LCW 2018, the Coconino National Forest will host an event with one of our Forest Archeologist where you will learn about the Sinagua Culture and the importance of preservation and stewardship of archeological resources. This event is family friendly. There will be FREE Smokey goodies! Se habla español.

Latino Conservation Week is an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and learn how you can help protect our land, water and air. To celebrate LCW 2018, the Coconino National Forest will hold a Smokey Bear Story time and teach about the effects of fires on the land. Come be a wildland Firefighter for a day! This event is family friendly! Come over and meet you neighborhood Ranger and go home with some FREE Smokey Bear goodies! Se habla español.

Today I had the chance, alongside Cesar, the other LHIP intern, to take out 20 latinos out into the swamp.

As an intern with the Latino Heritage Internship Program, we were tasked with creating some sort of event or program to help bring out Latinos into National Parks, ours being the Everglades. We decided that hosting an event would be the best idea.

I started with maybe hosting a night bike right through Shark Valley’s tram trail during the sunset…but that was kind of boring and something everyone does anyway.

My second idea was a slough slog! Earlier in the summer, I was able to go on a slough slog with my boss and the rest of the interns as part of our orientation of the park. Some of you might be thinking “What in the world is a slough slog?” Well…it’s the best way to experience the Everglades, in my opinion. It’s essentially a wet hike, but it’s not just a wet hike out into the sawgrass prairie. It’s a wet hike in waist deep water (my waist deep…I’m 5′ 2″) through a cypress dome. Cypress domes are the coolest things ever. They are composed of cypress trees.

These guys:

They’re super skinny trees with giant bottom trunks. They like to grow in disturbed areas with a lower elevation than hardwood hammocks. Usually, in a cypress dome, there is an alligator hole where it all started. The trees in the center, closest to the alligator hole, tend to be the taller ones and as you move away from them, you start seeing shorter ones, thus, a cypress dome is created.

In our slough slog, we started out in the sawgrass prairie outside of the dome where you can find periphyton. When you first look at periphyton it looks like poop or something close to that, but really it’s all algae, bacteria, and little tiny organisms. Three kingdom groups in tiny, sponge-like material. They help filter the water as well and retain it when it is the dry season so the things inside of it can continue to grow.

Here we are popping our visitors’ slough slog cherry!

 

 

 

Everyone seemed pretty excited after a couple of minutes because it was the hottest day and the water was actually really refreshing. We stopped for a while and Ranger Dylann gave a talk about periphyton and how the domes form. We gave everyone some time to adjust and become accustomed to the floor and being in the water.

Once out of the sawgrass prairie, we moved into the cypress dome. We walked around and talked about the bromeliads (air plants), we found a butterfly orchid in bloom and a cigar orchid that seemed to be coming back to life after Hurricane Irma.

When we got deeper into the dome, one of our visitors, who apparently has an incredible eye for wildlife, found a barred owl on one of the cypress trees.

 

 

 

 

 

We continued and stopped every once in a while to admire the silence inside the dome. It was incredible to see other people, who love our National Parks and nature, enjoy something that to me has changed the way I see the Everglades. Since I have started my internship, I have now gone out to slough slog three times. Trust me, there will plenty of other times. If anyone out there lives near the Everglades and is tired of the same trails, go past the Pa-hay-okee Overlook Trail and go into a cypress dome. Of course, if you are going to do this, don’t forget to let someone at the visitor center know.

It was so awesome to see so many young Latinos come out and want to try something new. Everyone was so trusting of us and just went right into the prairie, no questions asked. Sure it was the hottest day to this day, but everyone forgot about that the second we stepped foot in the dome.

We also had a super special guest at our event: John Morales. For those of you who are not aware of who John Morales is, he is the person who we, South Floridians, watch for out weather. He is the one we watch during hurricane season. He is the senior meteorologist at NBC 6/Telemundo. He is honestly one of my greatest inspirations. Like everyone else, he seemed to enjoy the experience, even dropping pins whenever we would stop so he could bring some friends on another day.

 

 

 

 

I really hope this event won’t be a one-time thing and that our local national park won’t forget that the majority of the population around it is made up of Latinos. Even though I won’t be with the park after my internship, until I graduate maybe, I want to leave an impact. I want the park to create a program where they do outreach for students my age who are mainly Latinos and have never been anywhere near the Everglades. I want everyone to come out and do something they would never do on their own. I want everyone to experience the Everglades the way that I have been able to this summer.

Visit your closest National Park. Be one with nature.

Until next time,
Dani

(PHOTO CREDITS TO CESAR ZAMORA AND MYSELF)

Full article here

The time is always right to celebrate the Latinx culture and people at the heart of the National Park Service. Starting on Saturday, August 11, we will be shining a spotlight on some of the employees who identify as Latinx at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Join us this weekend at our information booth where you can come meet some of our superstar rangers and play a game of ¡Lotería! to win a giveaway prize.

The weekend's schedule is as follows:
Aug. 11, 2018
-10:00am Una Charla Sobre El Arbol General Sherman con Ranger Barcos (Meet at the General Sherman Tree)
-12:00pm to 3:00pm Tabling outside the Giant Forest Museum with guest Park Rangers and ¡Lotería! giveaway
-3:00pm Una Charla Sobre El Arbol General Sherman con Ranger Barcos (Meet at the General Sherman Tree)

Aug. 12, 2018
-3:00pm Una Charla Sobre El Arbol General Sherman con Ranger Barcos (Meet at the General Sherman Tree)

UKIAH, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office, Hispanic Access Foundation and partners invite the public to come out and celebrate Latino Conservation Week, from July 14-21.  

On July 14 at 10 a.m., join the BLM, Hispanic Access Foundation, Latino Outdoors and Tuleyome for “Entre Gigantes” or “A Walk Among Giants” at Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve, Ukiah. Immerse in the majesty of some of the world’s tallest trees and enjoy a bilingual interpretive tour of the coast redwoods, while hiking on a two-mile loop trail. Bring water and wear appropriate shoes and clothing.

On July 21 at 8 p.m., join the BLM, Hispanic Access Foundation, Tuleyome and Sierra Club for “Bajo las Estrellas” or “Under the Stars” stargazing and campout at Cowboy Camp, within the Cache Creek Natural Area, a popular access point to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Camp the night and peer through telescopes provided to gaze into the magic of the night sky, while listening to educational storytellers. Bring a tent. 

On July 22 at 9 a.m., the BLM, Hispanic Access Foundation and Tuleyome celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Forty spaces are available for the rafting trip provided by Cache Canyon River Guide. RVSP for this event by emailing MjpaConsulting@gmail.com. 

Due to recent wildland fire activity, please check the National Wildfire Coordinating Group website at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ or CAL FIRE’s webpage at http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents to ensure these events are not being impacted.

The BLM believes partnerships and inclusion are vital to managing sustainable, working public lands. These free events encourage the public to get outdoors, learn about natural resources and connect kids to public lands, which connects them to natural and cultural heritage. Please contact the BLM for reasonable accommodations to participate in these events. For more information, call the Ukiah Field Office at 707-468-4000.

Full release here

Full release here

Latino Conservation Week is an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and learn how you can help protect our land, water and air. To celebrate LCW 2018, the Coconino National Forest will hold an Outreach event at the Market of Dreams Farmers Market, more events to follow!

Each year in mid-July, join us in celebrating Latino Conservation Week! Launched by Hispanic Access Foundation in 2014, the nine-day celebration is designed to encourage everyone, especially the Latino community, to enjoy and explore our public lands, and to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards.

Discover stories of American Latino Heritage told throughout the National Park System. The Hispanic Access Foundation can help you find a Latino Conservation Week event at a national park or on other public lands near you.

Check out the NPS site here!

NPS' Latino Conservation Week Video!