Free Parks Pass for 9/11 Survivors

People directly affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks will receive a lifetime
free-entrance pass to national parks and other federal lands, according to a bill approved
by the U.S. House of Representatives. The purpose of H.R. 2976 – the Healing Opportunities
in Parks and the Environment Pass Act – is to assist in the recovery from the trauma
associated with the September events by enhancing opportunities for use of America’s
national parks, forests and public lands. Those eligible for the pass would be survivors,
victims’ immediate families, and emergency personnel who were present at the World Trade
Center, the Pentagon or the plane crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The pass will
cover at least 200 recreation sites in 41 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands.