Healthy Parks Healthy People

The Sierra Club's Building Bridges to the Outdoors (BBTO) program is taking part in the National Park Service's "Healthy Parks, Healthy People 2011" meeting out in San Francisco's Golden Gate National Recreation Area today and tomorrow.

National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis is bringing together more than 100 leaders in the parks, health care, medical, and public health fields, as well as business and academia, to look at ways to strengthen the connection between public lands and health. The forum will help forge a vision for the role of parks in contributing to a healthier nation.

Here is video of today's proceedings:

I'm a fan of this for sure, just look at the health connections:

The fundamental value of nature as integral to our health as a species is one of the precepts underlying the establishment of the national park system. As Director Jarvis pointed out in a recent speech at the Harvard School of Public Health, the connections between personal health and parks have been evident since public parks were conceived in the 17th century. A growing body of research has documented the significant health benefits of time spent in nature and exercising outdoors.

(We're big on health and the outdoors here at the Sierra Club)

You can watch Director Jarvis' remarks live online tomorrow (April 6) here, and stay tuned to the BBTO blog for their updates on how it all went. You can also follow along on Twitter through the #hphpUS hashtag.