National Park Service to Distribute Free National Park Passes at the Fort Carson Post Exchange (PX) on Monday, November 5 from 1000 to 1400 hours (10AM to 2pm) in Honor of Veterans DayRangers from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument will be at the PX on Fort Carson on Monday November 5, 2012 from 10AM to 2PM to distribute free National Park Passes in honor of Veterans Day. The rangers will be distributing two different passes. One pass is an annual pass for free admission into all national park areas for one year. This is available to active military and their dependents. In order to receive a pass, interested parties should have either their CAC (military id) or a dependent ID card (DD1173). The other pass being distributed is called the Access Passport and is available to any US Citizen that has one or more permanent disabilities that affects one or more major life activities such as seeing, hearing, communicating, thinking, emotional difficulties, driving, dressing, eating, etc. To receive this card, interested persons must be willing to sign a legal affadavit that they have been medically determined to have one or more permanent disabilities.Florissant Fossil Beds has distributed thousands of free passes to the military community as part of its Post to Parks outreach program. This program aims to help connect the military community with our national park areas. Park spokesperson Jeff Wolin says, “We hope to help the military community connect to the places that they have defended and to recreate, enjoy, be engaged, and learn in our National Parks and public lands.”Rangers will be distributing the passes from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM or until supplies of passes run out.

ATV trail on Engineer Pass near Ouray Photo by Colorado National Parks