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Event recognizes those who helped with NPS Fundamentals course
More than 130 are honored for role in model course

The staff and leadership at Albright Training Center recognized more than 100 people and entities who have helped contribute to the success of the two-year-old Fundamentals II training program.

"Without the participation of these people from the private and public sector, we could not deliver this quality of training and have as meaningful an impact on the Park Service," said Albright Superintendent Costa Dillon.

In its third year, Fundamentals II is the first opportunity that many Park Service employees have to learn about the NPS mission, policies, philosophy and vision in the presence of their colleagues from across the service. The introductory course, Fundamentals I, is an online course, as are Fundamentals III and IV.

All new NPS employees are required to take Fundamentals II and in the two years that it's been offered, it has reached more than 6 percent of NPS.

"It took 10 years for that many to attend the Ranger Course," said Dillon. "This is the most intensive training effort in the National Park Service."

According to Dillon, the course is ambitious in its scope in that it was the first NPS course to require that attendees pass a written test. It is also the first NPS course to offer Continuing Education Units and represents the first partnership between NPS and a university. The program is accredited through the Eppley Institute for Public Lands at Indiana University. It is also the first NPS program to integrate distance learning and classroom learning and it is available to all NPS career tracks.

"This is the flagship program for NPS training," said Dillon. "We want to recognize all who had a role in making it a success."

Among the local honorees were leaders at Grand Canyon National Park, including superintendent Joe Alston; Paul Revere Transportation; Grand Canyon Association; IMAX Theater; the Grand Hotel in Tusayan; We Cook Pizza and Pasta; the staff at Albright Training Center and Xanterra South Rim LLC.

Dillon said that the Fundamentals II course was situated here by design, not only because of the lessons to be learned from Grand Canyon but also because of the rich heritage of public and private preservation throughout northern Arizona.

Honorees from the region who were recognized for contributing to the learning environment were ARAMRARK, Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas; Arizona Snowbowl; Best Western Cottonwood Inn, Cottonwood, Ariz.; Bureau of Reclamation, Glen Canyon Dam; Cameron Trading Post; Dead Horse Ranch State Park; Kaibab National Forests; Embassy Suites Hotel, Flagstaff; Flagstaff area monuments (Wupatki, Sunset Crater Volcano and Walnut Canyon national monuments); Fort Verde State Historic Park; Homolovi Ruins State Park; Jerome State Historic Park; La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Ariz.; Meteor Crater; Montezuma Castle National Monument, Montezuma Well Unit and Tuzigoot National Monument; Riordan Mansion State Historic Park; the Arboretum of Flagstaff; and Coconino National Forest, Mormon Lake Ranger District and Peaks Ranger District.

Others recognized included Antietam National Battlefield; Anvil Restaurant, Harpers Ferry, W.V.; ARAMARK, National Conservation Training Center; Bermultinational Limited; Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park; Eastern National; Eppley Institute for Public Lands, Indiana University; Harpers Ferry Center; Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; Washington and regional offices of the National Park Service; Stephen T. Mather Training Center; Comfort Inn at Harpers Ferry, W.V.; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center and Western National Parks Association.


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