A group of youth outside looking at bird guides and laughing Text reads Youth in Parks and Point Reyes National Seashore Association

Canal Alliance youth playing a bird identification game at the Ed Center.

September 15, 2025


Greetings!                

Imagine sitting around the campfire when a striped skunk calmly ambles past your legs. Imagine eating pancakes as you watch a bobcat hunt in the meadow for their own breakfast. Imagine standing on the deck of a lodge as fifty quail suddenly rush toward you to escape a hawk! This year, youth and families staying at the Clem Miller Environmental Education Center experienced these magical moments of connection during Youth in Parks programs. How would you have felt? Amazed, inspired, alive? When I hear stories like these, I feel a renewed sense of energy and commitment to this work, and I hope you do too.

At this time of uncertainty for public lands and the many communities we partner with, Youth in Parks programs provide essential moments of respite, awe, community connection, and stewardship of the park. Thanks to your generous support, PRNSA is able to partner with communities historically not welcomed on public land to expand the circle of people who are connected to and love the Seashore. Specifically, gifts allow us to co-create customized programming to meet the needs of each partner.

A group of young people smiling on a sandy beach with their arms around each other

Project Avary participants enjoying the beach!

This may look like overnight stays in the park, naturalist guides, bus rentals, meals for participants experiencing food insecurity, and loans of youth backpacks, fleece jackets, and raincoats to stay warm and safe on the trail. It often translates into first-time views of the Pacific Ocean, the expansive feeling of sleeping in cabins or under the stars, and the chance to step away from the stresses of everyday life.

Please consider a gift today towards our $150,000 fundraising goal for Youth in Parks, with all gifts up to $50,000 matched by the program's founding donor.

An orange button with a white logo of a person jumping and white text which says "Click here to make a gift today!"

It has been a year like no other, but the through line of our work is unwavering—PRNSA stands firm for youth and for the land. As federal funds are cut to both the National Park Service and organizations serving some of the most vulnerable youth in the Bay Area, PRNSA is even more committed to continue providing inspiring, informative, and restorative programs through Youth in Parks.

This work is only possible with your support. I invite you to make a gift, so that today and for every tomorrow, kids will continue to watch in awe over their pancakes as bobcats hunt gophers!

With gratitude,

Biret Adden

Education Director

Biret wears a red jumpsuit and smiles in front of a green leafy hedge

Video: Collaboration that Connects

Hear from two of our partner organizations—Canal Alliance and Peralta Hacienda Historical Park—as they share about their experiences at Point Reyes and the ways in which partnering with PRNSA is impactful to them. Watch the video.

A group of youth playing a game outside and laughing.

Win a Point Reyes Adventure

Until September 30th, everyone who donates to Youth in Parks will be entered into a drawing to win an experience for two at Point Reyes: breakfast at Side Street Kitchen, a “Tides and Trails” kayaking and hiking tour with Point Reyes Adventure Co. (lunch included), and dinner at the Station House Cafe.

A graphic featuring three tiles depicting a sunny restaurant a person kayaking and a restaurant in the evening

Thank You to our YIP Partners!

  • Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project
  • Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT)
  • Big City Mountaineers
  • Bolinas-Stinson Union School District
  • Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco, Tenderloin Clubhouse
  • Boys and Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley
  • Brothers on the Rise
  • California School for the Deaf
  • Canal Alliance
  • Center for Independent Living
  • Conservation Corps North Bay
  • Davidson Middle School Newcomers Community
  • Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center
  • The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
  • Frontline Catalysts
  • GirlVentures
  • LandPaths
  • LGBTQ Connection
  • Little Manila Rising
  • Marin County Free Library
  • Oakland Goes Outdoors
  • Peralta Hacienda Historical Park
  • Project Avary
  • Radical Monarchs SF/East Bay
  • Richmond College Prep Schools
  • Shoreline Unified School District serving rural West Marin
  • Sogorea Te' Land Trust
  • Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance
  • The Unity Council
  • The Watershed Project
  • Weekend-Adventures
  • WildCare
  • YES Nature to Neighborhoods
We partner with the National Park Service to create opportunities for all people to experience, enhance, and preserve Point Reyes National Seashore for present and future generations.
Point Reyes National Seashore | (415) 663-1200 x 310
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