Training and education are required to become a ranger on public lands, but kids ages 6–12 in the Missoula area can participate in free Junior Ranger programs offered by Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks this summer.
FWP’s Junior Ranger program starts on June 17 and goes until August 22. Events will be held at Council Grove, Frenchtown Pond, Milltown Confluence, and Milltown Overlook state parks, with sessions scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Kids who attend at least three events will earn an FWP Junior Ranger Badge.
Junior Ranger programs cover various topics and are mostly offered twice at different parks. However, two programs – one about bull trout and the other about pond ecology – are only offered once. A total of seven different topics will be covered across the 12 events.
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Wildflowers and Pollinators: June 17 at Milltown Overlook, June 20 at Council Grove.
Creatures of the Night: June 24 at Milltown Confluence, June 27 at Frenchtown Pond.
Nature Journaling: July 8 at Milltown Overlook, July 11 at Council Grove.
Bull Trout and Rivers: July 22 at Milltown Confluence.
Pond Ecology: July 25 at Frenchtown Pond.
Native Games: Aug. 12 at Milltown Confluence, Aug. 15 at Council Grove.
Leave No Trace: Aug. 19 at Milltown Confluence, Aug. 22 at Frenchtown Pond.
Council Grove State Park is located at 11249 Mullan Road, approximately 9 miles west of downtown Missoula. Frenchtown Pond State Park can be found at 18401 Frenchtown Frontage Road in Frenchtown, about 17 miles northwest of Missoula.
Milltown Confluence State Park is located at 7363 Juniper Drive in Bonner-West Riverside, roughly 6 miles east of downtown Missoula on the north side of the Clark Fork River. Milltown Overlook State Park is situated at 1353 Deer Creek Road on the south side of the Clark Fork, also about a 6-mile drive east of Missoula.
For more information, contact FWP’s Meadoe Nyberg at meadoe.nyberg@mt.gov or 406-542-5521
Joshua Murdock covers the outdoors and natural resources for the Missoulian. He previously served as editor-in-chief of The Boulder Monitor in Jefferson County, Montana, and has worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in rural towns in Idaho and Utah.
