Legislation/Policy News
State | Event
Conference Broadens Agenda to Help Connect Kids with Nature
The Pennsylvania Governor's Outdoor Conference, March 18-20, gathered policy-makers, educators, conservationists, and others to explore ways of connecting future generations with the outdoors.
State
Children & Nature Network
‘Leave No Child’ Legislation Gains Momentum
By Martin LeBlanc
In three states -- California, New Mexico and Washington -- legislation has either been passed or is moving forward to connect high numbers of children with the outdoors. Dubbed the “Leave No Child Acts” in all three states, the legislation is supported by a diverse coalition of groups, ranging from the Sierra Club to hunters/anglers and the American Diabetes Association.
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Commentary | Education
Children & Nature Network
Rethinking No Child Left Behind: Let’s put environmental education back in the classroom
By Jim Elder
Despite the evidence that we need schools that will help re-connect our children with nature, environmental education in our nation’s schools is declining for the first time after three decades of steady growth.
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State | Education
Seattle Post-Intelligencer – March 19, 2006
Washington, New Mexico Boost Outdoor Education Efforts
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire signed legislation on March 15, 2006, that will fund a study to measure how outdoor education affects academic achievement, career development and personal responsibility. Martin LeBlanc, the Sierra Club’s National Youth Education director, who helped support the legislation, is also working with Washington’s IslandWood School to make sure that every Seattle 5th-grader receives an outdoor-education experience. In 2005, the Albuquerque Tribune, citing Last Child in the Woods, threw its editorial support behind a legislative bill supported by the Sierra Club that proposes funds for a pilot program called New Mexico Outdoor Classroom. [+]
National
Federal conservation agencies predict “brain drain.”
As baby boomers move toward retirement, the stock of new conservationists simply may not be there. Enrollment in scattered ecology or environmental courses has increased or is stable, but there’s little evidence this approach leads to a sufficient number of career conservationists. Meanwhile, from 1980 to 2003, undergraduate enrollment in natural resource programs fell, according to research conducted at Utah State University. Interpreting hard statistics prior to 1980 is problematic, says Terry Sharik, a professor at Utah State's College of Natural Resources. But he estimates that if the '70s are factored in, enrollment may have decreased by half. Sharik points to decreased physical involvement of children in nature as one of the prime reasons for the potential brain drain.
C&NN has designated April "Children & Nature Awareness Month." As part of this effort, we invited network members (like you) to list their April programs and share their strategies for building public awareness. Find out what's happening in your community on the C&NN Movement Map.
As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
An annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the children and nature connection.
