Free Wasilla passport looks to connect residents with city parks

What you need to know:

• The city of Wasilla has released a free, 34-page Wasilla City Parks Passport to encourage residents and visitors to explore 11 local parks. The booklet includes park histories, nature facts and journaling pages for users to document their experiences.
• Designed primarily for young users, the passport aims to promote family-friendly outdoor activities. The initiative was inspired by the federal Passport to Your National Parks program.
• The city invested $9,000 in creating and printing the booklet and plans to reprint more copies next summer. Future updates include a companion website and potential partnerships with local businesses to support the project.

WASILLA — A new Wasilla parks booklet is designed to help Mat-Su residents and visitors get outside and explore the city’s green spaces.

The free, 34-page Wasilla City Parks Passport includes park history and details about nearby plants and animals for 11 recreation areas within the city, including Nunley Park, the Wasilla Library, the Wasilla Museum and Visitor Center, and Pederson Park off Cottonwood Creek.

The passport is specifically designed for young users, said Wasilla Recreation Manager Scott Bell, but adults may also find the facts and information useful. Each park section includes a journaling page for users to note what they saw or did while visiting an area.

“It is our introduction to communicating what great parks we have,” Bell said in an interview. “We’ve never really had a clear history of our parks.”

The city printed 1,000 copies of the booklet earlier this month and plans to share them at the museum, library and Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, Bell said.

Bell said he plans to print more early next year for distribution at the start of the summer season — a step that wasn’t possible this year due to the city’s funding schedule, which resets July 1. Last year, an early version of the guide was given to children attending schools within city limits, he said.

“The original idea was for moms and dads, grandma and grandpa to take their kids out and just help them explore,” he said.

Eventually, Bell hopes to launch a companion website and a printable version of the guide, he said.

The city spent $5,000 on a contract to create and lay out the book’s contents and $4,000 to print it, he said. Next year, officials hope to partner with local businesses to help cover some of the costs, he said.

Bell said he got the idea for the book from the federal Passport to Your National Parks program, which is found at national parks, monuments, recreation areas and historic battlefields across the U.S.

Unlike that program, Wasilla does not offer unique cancellation stamps at each stop, relying instead on users to create their own check-ins, he said.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com