Parks & Recreation: The Gift of Nature

Parks & Recreation – May 01, 2009
By Richard Louv

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On January 30, 2009, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, at his first press conference as governor, vowed to do something about the gap between today’s children and the natural world. (His predecessor, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, had closed seven parks in a budget-cutting move.) “I recently read a book,” Quinn said. “It talked about nature-deficit disorder where we should leave no child inside.” That would be music to the ears of any author whose book had coined a phrase. But better yet, Quinn followed through on his pledge two months later. On March 5, he reopened seven state parks, arguing again that…

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