Fourth Graders Receive Free Admission to National Parks

President Obama will announce today that the National Park Service will give all fourth graders and their families free admission to national parks and other federal lands for a year.

The Every Kid in a Park initiative is part of an effort to get schoolchildren outdoors and more active.

The program will start in the school year that begins next fall, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service in 2016.

Family admission to national parks usually costs $80 for an annual pass, but fourth graders and their families will be able to get a free pass that will give them admission to national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other federal public lands and waters.