STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The USDA Forest Service is expanding its Every Kid Outdoors program to fifth-graders and their families.

It now offers both fourth- and fifth-grade students and family members free access to more than 2,000 sites on national forests and grasslands for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.

A voucher is available for download through Aug. 31, 2021. To obtain a free fifth Grade Voucher, visit https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm. Click on the “Hey, fifth graders!” banner and download a voucher.

The Forest Service hopes the announcement will encourage millions of families to use their free pass to visit the forest and experience the mental and physical benefits of the great outdoors.

With the voucher, students and their families can even visit the Sawtooth National Forest and use it to  visit campgrounds.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for families to assist their fourth- and fifth-graders to get their Every Kid Outdoors Pass and bring their family to the Sawtooth National Forest to harvest the family Christmas tree,” said Kirk Flannigan, acting Forest Supervisor for the Sawtooth National Forest.

Every Kid Outdoors is a federal public lands partnership designed to inspire fourth-grade students and their families to explore nature and he outdoors. Children ages 9 to 11 are beginning to understand the world around them, research shows. And they’re uniquely receptive to engaging with nature and the environment.