Moving Outdoors in Nature Act Supports Strategies to Connect Kids with Nature

Congressman Kind (D–WI) Introduces Bill to Bolster Recreation, Health Initiatives

Congressman Ron Kind (D–WI) today introduced the Moving Outdoors in Nature Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill supports federal, state and local strategies that connect children with the natural world.

The Moving Outdoors in Nature Act will help get America’s kids healthy and active by bolstering support for more natural play areas, outdoor recreation programs, public health initiatives, outdoor learning environments, service learning and other initiatives. 

The legislation will achieve these goals by:

• Directing President Obama to develop a federal strategy to connect children, youth and families with the outdoors;
• Encouraging states to develop similar state-based strategies that incorporate public health, parks and recreation, transportation, and other initiatives at the local level; and
• Supporting research documenting the health, conservation, and other benefits of active time spent outdoors in the natural world.

“Congressman Kind is leading the way in combating obesity and improving the health of our children,” says Sierra Club’s National Youth Representative, Jacqueline Ostfeld. “With one in three American children overweight or obese, there is an urgent need to set kids on a path towards healthier lifestyles. The Moving Outdoors in Nature Act would mobilize states to get their kids physically active in the natural world.”

The conditions are right for making lasting changes in the ways children, youth and families relate to nature. In June 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled Let’s Move Outside!, expanding upon her campaign to solve childhood obesity within a generation by providing resources for families to get active in nature. In addition, the Obama administration recently completed more than two dozen listening sessions nationwide as part of the president’s America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative.  Today’s introduction of the Moving Outdoors in Nature Act will complement these initiatives and could provide the framework for developing a broad-based strategy to reconnect children, youth and families to the outdoors.

The Outdoors Alliance for Kids supports Moving Outdoors in Nature Act
The Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK) supports the passage of the Moving Outdoors in Nature Act, a bill that will help tackle the childhood obesity epidemic while building the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts. 

The members of OAK, a national strategic partnership, are brought together by the belief that the well-being of current and future generations and the health of our planet and communities depend on humans having a personal, direct and life-long relationship with nature and the outdoors.

OAK brings together on a Steering Committee Sierra Club, YMCA of the USA, REI, National Wildlife Federation, Izaak Walton League of America, The Outdoor Foundation, National Recreation and Park Association and the Children & Nature Network, collectively representing more than 30 million members, to address the growing divide between children, youth and families and the natural world. 

Follow the Moving Outdoors in Nature Act’s progress and learn more at www.OutdoorsAllianceForKids.org and on the OAK Facebook page at www.facebook.com/outdoorsallianceforkids.

Hats off to Betty White!

Last week one of America’s favorite actresses, Betty White, was named an honorary ranger by the US Forest Service.  She received a hug from Smokey Bear and many kind words, but the most important mark of her new status was the iconic, wide-brimmed ranger hat. 

How many of us have seen those hats perched atop a ranger’s head when wandering around some of our most beautiful outdoor spaces?  They dot the landscape, blending in unobtrusively but managing to stand out against vivid wild backgrounds. For me, as a child, those hats identified the keepers of those protected and valuable parks, forests, and monuments. It seemed to me a fantastic job; their offices wide as canyons, their views better than the tallest high-rise.

I did not grow up to become a park or forest ranger, to don that fantastic hat.  Most of us do not.  But Betty White’s words rang true for me this week.  “In my heart I’ve been a forest ranger all my life,” she said.  Isn’t that true for so many of us? Look at the high school eco club that regularly explores their urban greenspaces, or the family that drives into the mountains just to enjoy the views.  Every ten-year-old that recycles a soda can or delights in a backyard discovery, does so while wearing an invisible ranger’s hat.

So make friends with your inner ranger!  Go outside for an adventure in America’s backyard and wander, climb, fish, stargaze, or just explore your way across the wide outdoors. Adventures- and maybe even a wide-brimmed hat- await you.

Check out www.sierraclub.org to find out more about where and how to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet.  Or visit Lets Move Outside for more ideas.

 

In Honor of our Veterans

Hamm Creek exists in Seattle as an oasis of green, surrounded by power lines and freeways. It does not offer woods or canyons but carries its own quiet beauty, sustained by its value to the wildlife of the area. For John Beal, a Vietnam veteran dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, this greenspace was both a calming retreat and a cause to rally behind.  Thanks to his efforts, miles of streambed are now healthier and volunteers are determined that it stay that way. Thirty-five years later this green space is beginning to thrive as a home to a diverse ecosystem of salmon, beaver, herons and eagles.

Last Thursday was Veterans Day, and 45 volunteers- both veterans and civilians- gathered together at Hamm Creek to honor John Beal and all the veterans who serve our country every day.  By working to ensure that the creek bed remains healthy and available to local residents, the volunteers again reinforced the value of community that our nation’s veterans fight daily to protect.

Sierra Club was joined in hosting this event by Veterans Conservation Corps, Earth Corps, and Americorps, as one of 20 cost-to-coast signature service projects of the Service Nation “Mission Serve” initiative.  First launched by First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden and Mrs. Alma Powell on Veterans Day 2009, Mission Serve encourages veterans and civilians to join together in service on Veterans Day.  At the Seattle event, Mayor Michael McGinn joined Liana and Bob Beal, children of the late John Beal, and many other speakers in reminding those gathered of the power of this day.

Hamm Creek is a testament to the power of service and provided a powerful opportunity for civilians and veterans to join together in honoring the day.  Though John Beal passed away in 2006, his legacy- and that of all veterans- lives on with every effort made to strengthen and support our communities.  Sierra Club is proud to have been a part of this moving effort.

Photo: Bob Beal removes invasive plants at Hamm Creek