Celebrate National Public Lands Day at your local National Park site: Niobrara National Scenic River! On Saturday, September 28, 2019, the Niobrara Council and the Niobrara National Scenic River will host a monarch butterfly tagging event and bird walk on the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge’s Upper Scenic Overlook. These events are free and fun for all ages, in fact if you participate you will receive a fee free coupon to visit another national park in the United States in the next year for free! During the event, visitors are encouraged to engage in citizen science by tagging monarch butterflies as they make their migration south for the winter season along with learning about, and identifying birds of the Niobrara River Valley on a bird identification walk with a local bird expert. The event begins and ends at the Upper Scenic Overlook at the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Valentine, NE. The schedule for the event is as follows:
9:00 a.m. Bird Identification Walk
10:00 Monarch Butterfly Presentation
10:15 a.m. Monarch Butterfly Tagging and Tutorial
National Public Lands Day was established in 1994 and is celebrated every year on the fourth Saturday of September. The date celebrates the connection between people and green spaces in their community, inspires environmental stewardship, and encourages the use of open space for education, recreation, and general health.
Niobrara National Scenic River is one of America’s National Scenic Rivers and a unit of the National Parks Service in Valentine, Nebraska. Keep up with the latest information by following us on Facebook (Niobrara National Scenic River) and Instagram (@NiobraraRiverNPS). For more information, please call 402-376-1901 or visit www.nps.gov/niob. Visitor Center hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Closed weekends and federal holidays. Admission is free of charge.