National Park Week to Include a Free-Entry Day

March 25, 2025

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An award-winning and best-selling author will present her book at the Cortez Public Library. Find out when! The Cortez Cultural Center invites artists to submit pieces for the annual Birding Festival exhibit. Learn more! The National Park Service will waive entrance fees for one day only, and updates to the park entry system are coming soon. Watch for details. By Rachel Hughes. This story is sponsored by Big O Tires and The Lor Foundation.

Learn More...

Cortez Public Library - https://www.cortezco.gov/761/Library

Bethany Turner - https://seebethanywrite.com/

Zibby - https://zibbymedia.com/

Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival - https://birdingfestival.cortezculturalcenter.org/?

Cortez Cultural Center - https://cortezculturalcenter.org/

National Park Service - https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

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Big O Tires - https://www.bigotires.com/location/co-cortez-81321/006168

The Lor Foundation - https://lorfoundation.org/

Read the Full Transcript

The Dolores Public Library wants to know what you think about its services. And an award-winning and bestselling author will present her book at the Cortez Public Library. The Cortez Cultural Center invites artists to submit pieces for the Birding Festival exhibit. And the National Park Service will waive interest fees for a day in celebration of National Park Week. You're watching the "Local News Roundup," brought to you by Big O Tires and the LOR Foundation. I'm Sadie Smith. The Dolores Public Library seeks your opinions as it develops its 2025 through 2028 strategic plan. To prepare for the plan, the library board and staff created a nine-question survey available on the Dolores Public Library website. The deadline to complete the survey is Thursday, March 27th. Bestselling author, Bethany Turner, will present her book, "Cole and Laila are Just Friends," at the Cortez Public Library's next Book Talk from 5:00 to 6:00 PM on Wednesday, April 2nd. Her romantic comedy received a Zibby Award for Books That Will Make You Laugh in 2024. The talk includes a question and answer session, book signing, and light refreshments. To learn more about Turner and her books, visit her website. The Cortez Cultural Center open submissions for its avian art exhibit coming this may. Artists may submit up to three pieces and are encouraged to follow this year's Birding Festival theme, raptors. The submission deadline is 11:00 PM on Saturday, April 19th. The artist reception will take place Friday, May 2nd, then save the date for the 2025 Birding Festival that takes flight from Wednesday, May 7th, through Sunday, May 11th. For more information, visit the Cortez Cultural Center and Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival websites. This year's National Park Week celebration will include free entrance to all national parks on Saturday, April 19th. Parks will host special events and activities throughout the week, culminating on Sunday, April 27th. Nine national parks, including Arches National Park outside Moab, Utah and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, also will use a timed entry reservation system in 2025 to reduce trail congestion. Visitors are encouraged to plan ahead. For updated park information, reservations, and travel tips, visit the National Park Service website, app, or social media. Learn more about these and other stories online at montezumalocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the "Local News Roundup." I'm Sadie Smith.

National Park Week to Include a Free-Entry Day

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