The Udall Legacy Bus Tour culminated the Foundation's tenth anniversary, year-long "Celebration of Public Service." Its
mission was to highlight the multi-faceted legacy of Morris K. Udall—environmental conservation, use and enjoyment of
public lands, and tribal governance—and our country's progress toward a more sustainable future.
Between June and August of 2007, the bus traveled more than 8,500 miles, hitting 26 cities and 6 national parks. Thirteen
scholarship alumni were hired to serve in various capacities and on multiple teams during the tour, coordinating media,
organizing activities at each stop, and recording the action on video.
Making a new friend at Grand Teton National Park (Jolee, mini-PIF participant)
Four alums made up the Parks in Focus team: Bret Muter, 2005 Scholar, who also led the first Parks in Focus Michigan
program; Bob Filbin, 2004 Scholar and tour photographer; Jessica Fagan, 2006 Scholar; and Savanna Ferguson, 2004 and
2005 Scholar.
The Parks in Focus team coordinated "mini," half-day Parks in Focus programs at one city park and three national parks:
Shoelace Park, the Bronx, New York; Acadia National Park, Maine; Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming; and Redwood National
Park, California. Working with nearby Boys & Girls clubs, they introduced more than 70 kids—most of whom had never
visited a protected outdoor space—to the wonders of a park virtually on their doorsteps.
At Shoelace Park in the Bronx, the team hosted the first urban mini-Parks in Focus program for 23 fourth-grade students
from Public School 304. The students explored the park's flora and fauna and were introduced to digital photography.
A lesson in perspective
In Acadia National Park, the crew met up with the Penobscot Nation Boys & Girls Club at Otter Point (southeast island)
for the second mini-Parks in Focus program of the tour. They visited the tide pools, getting up close and personal with some
sea urchins, and trekked inland to the Gorham Mountain Trail to learn about the park's geology.
Redwood National Park (Cheyenne, mini-PIF participant)
The tour's third mini-Parks in Focus program took place in Grand Teton National Park with participants from the Boys &
Girls Club of the Eastern Shoshone, who photographed everything from horses and ground squirrels to lupine and lodge-pole
pine. Of course, the Tetons were a favorite subject for the camera's lens. And at Redwood, 13 eager youngsters from the
Crescent City Extension Boys & Girls Club spent several hours exploring one of the largest remaining old growth coastal
redwood groves, learning about and photographing the majestic trees.