FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Naturalists from Kentucky state parks are planning a trip to the Creation Museum in Boone County to see firsthand what they are up against, reports The Louisvile Courier-Journal in Saturday's edition.

Since the museum opened about three months ago, the naturalists who teach visitors about the ancient natural history of the parks have been challenged more frequently by people who have visited the Creation Museum, said Carey Tichenor, chief naturalist in the Department of Parks, reports the C-J.

"Visitors are asking, 'Well, it said this at the Creation Museum, but you all are saying something different,' " Tichenor told the newspaper.

The Creation Museum, which presents the Bible's creation story as fact supported by science, was opened in late May in Petersburg by the Answers in Genesis Christian ministry.

And there might be millions of years of difference between what a tourist is told one day at the museum and the next day at a state park.

"At places like Cumberland Falls or Natural Bridge -- where we're interpreting geologic history based on the scientific evidence that has been provided -- we talk about going back into hundreds of thousands, even millions, of years," Tichenor said. "The theory of creationism is that the world is only 6,000 years old."

Plans call for as many as 18 park naturalists to visit the museum on Nov. 1. Tichenor said group-rate tickets will cost taxpayers about $338, reports the C-J.

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