Geysers, glaciers and even sand dunes are attracting fewer and fewer young visitors, a trend the National Park Service is hoping to offset with new programs aimed at youths.

As Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne has issued a challenge to engage youths as environmental activists for the national park system, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore administrators were discussing what can be done locally.

One effort is already under way as Lakeshore personnel step up efforts to join with local schools to create outdoor classrooms of learning, but more will need to be done, said Lakeshore superintendent Dusty Shultz.

A SIGN last week indicates that campsites are
available at the D.H. Day Campground.

“We recognize that it’s a concern … and we are looking into what we can do as a park to connect kids with the wonders of nature,” said Shultz.

The Park Service’s No. 1 goal will remain protecting resources under its jurisdiction, Shultz said, so don’t expect a video arcade at the base of the Dune Club. But she said park personnel are studying other ways to attract youths to the park, and engage them while visiting.

While visitation at the Lakeshore has not been dramatically down — it’s off 2 percent this year — the situation is alarming enough nationally that the Park Service held a “national assembly and youth summit” over the weekend in El Paso, Texas.

Kempthorne laid out the problem facing the Park Service.

“America’s … children are increasingly disconnected from the outdoors. Urban sprawl has affected the woods and fields where many of today’s parents and grandparents played as children. Modern technology and virtual experiences compete with authentic learning adventures and personal exploration of our nation’s nature and history,” he said.

Kempthorne pointed to a Kaiser Family Foundation report showing that American children spend 6.5 hours per day using electronic media. Surveys also show that 70 percent of mothers played outside every day as children, compared to 31 percent of this children.

“The challenge facing the National Park Service is to conserve what is timeless while keeping pace with the modern needs of America …” said Kempthorne.

Assistant superintendent Tom Ulrich said a move toward more youth programs may begin on a national level, and filter down to local parks. He added that a new General Management Plan now being written for the Lakeshore will continue to allow and encourage public access of park policy, especially at popular Lake Michigan beaches.

In the meantime, the Lakeshore will continue to cater to school groups, offer park programs geared toward kids and families and look for other ways to connect young people with the great outdoors.

Short of a national power outage, though, it may be tough to pull America’s youth from their cell phones and computers.

The Park Service has even embraced the virtual world to enlist interest. A “virtual visit” is provided online to Glacier National Park, and a web cam along a river in Alaska provides the “Lower 48” with a view of bears catching salmon.

The idea is that (web cam) doesn’t replace the visit; you use that to bring them in,” said Ulrich.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is slowly moving into the act, offering a touch screen kiosk to guide patrons through the area from the park visitors center in Empire.

The future of Park Service funding may be at stake, as revenues from park permits provide much of the Lakeshore’s revenue.

“In general, kids are not having fun outdoors. I guess it’s not that much a leap to say, ‘what do you do at Sleeping Bear?’ — go outdoors,” said Ulrich.

Sue Duncan, a visitor use assistant who usually works booths at D.H. Day Campground or Pierce Stocking Drive, has not noticed fewer children as a percentage of campers.

But attendance in the campground, like other National Park activities, has been decreasing.

The kids that do camp seem to enjoy themselves despite a lack of electrical outlets at campsites, she added.

“They love the ranger programs. And what’s always impressed me was the mothers and fathers around the campgrounds, singing,” she said.

Trying to attract families with a house full gadgets to the Lakeshore, however, may be more challenging.