P.O. Box 284

Marylhurst, OR

97036-0284

888.596.4004

fax 503.670.9877

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe Galliani - (310) 373-7892
joe@theparksco.com

Two More Cash-Strapped National Parks Get Funding From The Parks Company

Monday, May 1, 2000

TIGARD, OREGON -- Marking the fourth year of their "Every Sale Supports The Parks!" donations, The Parks Company, publishers of America's on-line National Park catalog (www.theParksCo.com), today funded improvement grants at Glacier National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park.

$1000.00 grants were made to both the non-profit Glacier National Park Associates in Montana for the rehabilitation of the historic Walton Ranger Station, and The Lassen Park Foundation in California to help pay for new exhibits at the park's soon-to-be-opened visitor center.

"The Walton Ranger Station in Glacier National Park is a perfect example of what's happening throughout the National Park system," says Joe Galliani, Founding Partner of The Parks Company. "Even though the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, no money has been provided for maintenance for many years. Now it's rotting away and falling apart. We're proud to be working with our friends at the Glacier National Park Associates to help save this piece of our American heritage."

According to the Glacier National Park Associates grant request, The Parks Company funding will be used to pay for new logs to be used in restoring the building to a condition that can house National Park Rangers.

In Northern California's lesser known Lassen Volcanic National Park, The Parks Company's $1000.00 grant will be used to help fund the first educational exhibits at the park's brand new Lassen Crossroads Interpretive Center, currently nearing completion and its August grand opening.

"The first place my family and I head when we visit a National Park is the visitor center," says The Parks Company co-founder, Mike Baggetta. "Up till now, Lassen Volcanic National Park has been the only National Park in the lower 48 states without a visitor center. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Lassen Park Foundation, that will no longer be true. It means a lot to us to be able to help with these new exhibits. I can't wait to take my family to see them."

These latest two grants from The Parks Company come as a result of the 5% of gross profits the company donates from each sale it makes. The Parks Company has now raised and donated over $25,000.00 to individual non-profit support groups at Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, Sequoia, Rocky Mountain, Big Bend, Isle Royale, Glacier, Lassen Volcanic and Virgin Islands National Parks, among others.

"We're sorry we don't yet have the entire $8 billion the National Parks across the country need to repair and maintain its crumbling infrastructure," says Galliani. "But we will. It's our number one goal this summer."

The Parks Company, in business since 1997, was founded with a mission to "Preserve, Protect and Promote America's National Parks." The Parks Company features over 500 National Park products in both its on-line store at www.theParksCo.com and in its exclusive print catalog available free by calling (888)727-5726.