The added protected lands, Jewell said, make it possible to hike from the Angeles National Forest east of Los Angeles to the San Bernardino National Forest to the newly created Sand to Snow National Monument, to Joshua Tree National Park, to the newly created Mojave Trails National Monument, to the Castle Mountains National Monument and to the Nevada border.

As America’s National Park Service celebrates its centennial this summer, we have a responsibility to create a vision for the next century that focuses on the importance of public lands for all Americans.

Thirty fourth-grade students from Escuela de Guadalupe, a Catholic, dual-language school, will take part in the National Park Service’s Every Kid in a Park (EKIP) initiative this Thursday at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.  

Our country this year is celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service. To mark this milestone, I’m calling on our community to reflect on what the next 100 years will hold for our national parks and public lands. It’s especially fitting that we engage in this conversation in the California Desert, where public lands are woven into our way of life.

On June 4, 12 youth from Indio Spanish Seventh Day Adventist Church camped overnight in the new Sand to Snow National Monument, which was designated by President Obama in February.

We are proud to announce our partnership with the Hispanic Access Foundation in an effort to connect Latino youth with careers in natural resource conservation. The U.S. is projected to become more racially and ethnically diverse in the coming years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 29 percent of Americans in 2060 are projected to be Hispanic – that’s more than one quarter of the total population!

On June 27, 9 youth and two volunteers from El Nuevo Comienzo Church in Adelanto, CA, did a day hike in the new Sand to Snow National Monument.

Latino Conservation Week at Biscayne National Park will be held July 16 - July 24, 2016. It features free canoe tours, talks, activities and classes at the park’s Dante Fascell Visitor Center.

The third annual Latino Conservation Week starts Saturday and runs through July 23, and its backers want everyone to get outside and enjoy California's open spaces. There are 18 separate events planned across the state, including six in the southern California desert, where President Obama created three new national monuments in February.

This weekend, the third annual Latino Conservation Week (#LatinoConservationWeek, #LCW2016) kicks off, continues through July 24 and will be celebrated with more than 100 events nationwide. The week is an opportunity for Latinos to demonstrate their passion for enjoying and protecting public lands through various outings, volunteer cleanups, educational events, roundtable discussions, film screenings and numerous other community activities in 17 states stretching from Massachusetts to California.