When it is that time of the month, many state parks will have visitors covered.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has set up menstrual product dispensers at 68 state parks as part of a Shapiro administration initiative.
“No one should have to cut an outdoor adventure short because of their period. DCNR has you covered,” department Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said in a statement. “We are committed to creating inclusive, welcoming outdoor spaces — and that means meeting people’s basic needs without stigma or barriers.”
Period poverty important to Shapiro administration
First Lady Lori Shapiro announced the rollout of the free products at Kings Gap Environmental Education Center in Cumberland County at the end of May.
She invited Tunkhannock Area High School 11th graders, Carleigh Scholz and Katie Allen, to join her. Scholz and Allen advocate for menstrual equity and worked on the school district’s “Code Red” initiative, which provides free menstrual products in school bathrooms. The first lady visited the school in February to highlight period poverty.
Scholz and Allen later joined the state’s Menstrual Equity Task Force to represent youth on menstrual issues.
“I’ve been so inspired by all the young women I’ve met who are making their voices heard and starting conversations on period poverty — talking so comfortably about something that, for so long, has been a taboo subject,” Lori Shapiro said in a statement. “Thanks to them speaking up, Pennsylvania has taken some major steps to ensure more women have access to basic hygiene supplies throughout the day. I want everyone to be able to enjoy their time outdoors, and DCNR’s work to get free menstrual products in the bathrooms and visitor offices of our state parks is critical to making our outdoor spaces welcoming to everyone.”
Here is a list of the parks in northeast and north-central Pennsylvania counties that will have dispensers:
BRADFORD: Mount Pisgah
CARBON: Hickory Run and Beltzville
LACKAWANNA: Lackawanna
LUZERNE: Frances Slocum, Ricketts Glen and Nescopeck
LYCOMING: Little Pine
PIKE: Promised Land
SCHUYLKILL: Tuscarora
SULLIVAN: Worlds End
TIOGA: Hills Creek and Leonard Harrison
UNION: Raymond B. Winter and Shikellamy
Gov. Josh Shapiro tapped Paige Steffy, the state parks manager, to lead the initiative. Steffy estimates the program costs $38,000.
“We are perfectly fine with funding toilet paper and so for the bathrooms, it's pretty much the same thing in our minds,” Steffy said.
She said the program will help make state parks more accessible.
“Getting all possible groups to be able to enjoy the beauty of state parks and get outdoors and experience that fully without having to think about those barriers they might experience along the way,” Steffy said.
Steffy heard feedback from people whose state park visits were disrupted by the arrival of their period.
“I got so many calls from my family members, and they're like, 'This would have been great when I was at this park that's really remote, and I had to drive 45 minutes to get to a convenience store where I could buy menstrual products and get back to my adventure,’” she said.
Experiences like that encouraged the department to pursue this initiative.
“If you need a menstrual product, they're available and you can continue to enjoy the outdoors without having to worry about it, just that peace of mind is really important,” Steffy said.
The department ensured the initiative would enforce the state’s “leave no trace” policy to minimize litter.
“With the little baggies that come on the side of the dispensers, people hopefully will take a baggie, take their product that they need and carry it with them, and follow the leave no trace principles,” Steffy said.
The future of free period products in state parks
The initiative is in phase one.
“The first phase we were sticking with visitor centers, environmental learning centers and state park offices, because those have the most infrastructure,” Steffy said.
The department will assess results for the next year before moving to phase two, which would bring free period products to more bathrooms in parks.
Steffy wants to expand the program to more of the state’s 124 parks and add dispensers to restrooms near park pools and beaches.
“I've gotten calls from a couple counties so far since when we rolled this out, asking about how we did this and how they can possibly do similar things in their county parks,” Steffy said. “I'm excited to see that it's catching fire.”
