Thursday, September 21, 2006

A Tipping Point?

September 25, 2006

Seattle WA

So much has transpired over the past couple of weeks that I am still trying to take it all in. The first thing I want to talk about is the Children and Nature Conference I attended in Shepherdstown, WV at the beginning of this month. The conference brought together a wide range of particpants ranging from health care professionals to educators and industry repersentatives. The main theme coming from the conference was that getting children into nature is not a goal it is a neccesity for our children our families and our communities. Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne was presnet for most of the meetings and was engaged and pledged that this will become a main priority of the Department of Interior. What struck me the most as I walked around was the diversity of folks who were engaged in discussions on how to move this issue forward. Richard Louv author of Last Child in the Woods put it best when he said "We are in the midst of a movement" I echo Rich's words and feel that this conference was a tipping point in that movement.

Tomorrow the Sierra Club will be a sponsor of the initial kick off E3 Washington which will bring leaders from around the state to Tacoma to chart the future for outdoor environmental education. The kick off which will be hosted by Governor Christine Gregoire will be a perfect example of the movement around the issue of children outdoors as this is truly a non-partisan issue. For more information go to www.eeaw.org

I would also advise looking at two Sierra Club grantees that we support here in Washington. Islandwood School on Bainbridge Island is in my opinion the best outdoor education center in the United States. Please check out their website at www.islandwood.org/ . The other program I would advise taking a look at is located in Spokane on the esatside of the state. The West Valley Outdoor Learning Center http://www.wvolc.org/ Both of these programs are dedicated to making sure every child in their communities gets a chance to have outdoor education experience.

Get Outdoors!

Cheers-Martin