New Hampshire Puts Ideas into Action

Concord Monitor – December 09, 2007
By John Corrigan

Richard Louv had me won over just a minute or so into his address to the "Leave No Child Inside Forum."

"My mother was a bass fisherman," he declared. As he tells it, her language was apparently salty enough to keep a striped bass happy.

The setting was the largest local gathering I can remember of conservationists, outdoor enthusiasts, educators, public health professionals and others concerned about a new generation of kids that is disconnected from nature.

The crowd nearly filled the orchestra section of the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord on Nov. 27.

Did the crowd reflect a new national movement, or simply the recognition by a lot of concerned people that young people are too sedentary and not getting outside nearly enough?

Perhaps inspired by his mother's sharp tongue, Louv grew up to write a book about shark fishing. Today, he is better known as the "author and futurist" who wrote Last Child in the Woods.
In the tradition of crusading journalism, his writings inspired the creation of the Children in Nature Network. Louv's ideas were introduced to New Hampshire during a day-long conference in Manchester at the end of May 2007. The Concord forum was a follow-up effort to both mobilize those inspired in May and to expand a state network.

Their mission, as Louv put it, is to turn "consciousness into action."

If you have been following the budget problems of the N.H. Fish and Game Department, Louv's message will ring true. Part of the youthful disconnect from nature translates into a generation that doesn't hunt or fish, a key reason that license sales have declined.

Because our state's outdoor tradition, significant resources in the form of the National Forest and state parks, and an active conservation movement, Louv thinks New Hampshire can be the leader of a national movement.

"If you are the first over the wall, the rest (of the nation) will follow," he declared.

My contrarian brain immediately thought we might more likely bounce "off the wall" instead of over it, but his point is well taken. The Children in Nature effort parallels a statewide initiative called "Healthy Eating, Active Living" or HEAL. As the name indicates, it, too, deals with the consequences of inactivity combined with too much unhealthy food.

What's on the other side of Louv's metaphorical wall?

Picturing that takes some imagination. Wild lands and waters where kids can build a fort or catch a fish come to mind. For the parents of kids suffering what he has dubbed "nature deficit disorder," the author offered the promise of domestic peace, noting that connecting to nature calms and focuses young people.

Louv cautioned against nostalgia for things past, and warned against describing a grim future anticipated by some in the environmental movement.

"How can we make things better than they ever were?" he asked.

After attending both the Leave No Child Inside Forum and the recent HEAL conference, I have been impressed with the energy and creativity of people working at the community level.

As I have written before, I think Fish and Game's Let's Go Fishing program does a good job of offering fishing education through a network of volunteers. Trout Unlimited's fishing field day draws hundreds of kids every spring.

With all that going on, why are kids growing up overweight and obese and disconnected from the natural world? Why aren't they embracing New Hampshire's hunting and fishing heritage? It can't be completely blamed on the price of a fishing license - with gasoline at $3 a gallon, families now pay as much to fuel an SUV or minivan for a few days.

Is the strength of an idea enough to energize a movement that can change things?

In Last Child in the Woods, Louv writes about the success of the anti-smoking movement in helping to clean up the indoor environment. He notes that efforts to end smoking in bars and restaurants gained traction when the issue was tied to the health of the people who worked in such places.

A key objective of the forum in Concord was to organize people who will carry on their efforts at the local level. Will they turn the consciousness into action and become an effective movement, or will their energy dissipate as they go off in dozens of different directions?

Any movement for change grows with bumps and setbacks. With its mountains, forests, lakes, rivers and seacoast, New Hampshire can offer many opportunities to connect both kids and grown-ups with nature. Only time will tell if we have the energy, ability and patience to do it.

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