National

Many children in America today do not have easy access to the outdoors. Today's children live in a society in which almost every moment of their day is scheduled and accounted for. Children watch more television, play more video games and eat more junk food than ever before. This has led to a higher obesity rates and a 20% drop in national park attendance.

The Sierra Club believes that every child has a right to have a special place in nature.

The Sierra Club's Building Bridges to the Outdoors Project is moving towards its long-term commitment to give every child in America an opportunity to have an outdoor experience by:

• Promoting the positive benefits of outdoor experiences on children's academic achievement especially science and math. A Sierra Club funded study by the California Department of Education showed a 27% increase in students' science test scores after a week-long outdoor experience.
• Working with a diverse set of coalition partners including educators, health organizations, law enforcement officials and outdoor recreation groups, to showcase that outdoor experiences are critical in helping children acquire leadership skills, gain respect for themselves and the environment, and develop positive relationships with their peers and community members.

• Engaging public officials to provide funding to help programs that get children outside become sustainable.

• Providing children who have outdoor experiences with leadership and campaign skills to go back to their community and create positive social change through our Youth Leadership Trainings. Connecting children with nature is a neighborhood investment for all of us and by working together no child will be left inside.

Connecting children with nature is a neighborhood investment for all of us and by working together no child will be left inside.

Natalie Lucas Receives First Green Youth Leader Award
During the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) annual awards luncheon, Sierra Club's Building Bridges to the Outdoors project and NAAEE presented Natalie Lucas with the first annual Green Youth Leader Award. Natalie is a senior at Sinagua High School in Flagstaff, Arizona. Natalie spent her childhood exploring the Ponderosa Pine forests of Arizona. As she got older, Natalie began to notice that many of the natural places she loved as a child were being negatively impacted by development. She decided to learn more about nature and how she could protect it.

Natalie began giving back to her community by volunteering with the Arizona Youth Corps where she worked with the fire department to protect the forests of Arizona. Natalie serves as a member of the Arizona Governor's Commission and the Flagstaff Youth Commission and is a member of her school's national recognized Envirothon Team. During her junior year of high school, Natalie joined Sinagua's Preserving Environments and Conserving Energy (PEACE) club, where she participated in a campaign to reduce the use of plastic bottles in her school.

Natalie became a leader in environmental education after participating in a Sierra Student Coalition training during the summer of 2008. Now Natalie is the president of Sinagua High School's PEACE club and is educating people about the environmental hazards of plastic bags. She is also launching a citywide campaign to reduce and eventually eliminating the use of plastic bags in Flagstaff.

BBTO Partners in the News
Sierra Magazine, September/October 2008
"Staring Down Doomsday: City Kids vs. Eco-Fear"

The No Child Left Inside Act has overwhelming passed in the House of Representatives. As part of the No Child Left Inside (NCLI) coalition, Sierra Club supports the No Child Left Inside Act. The NCLI Act creates a new grant system to fund nonprofit organizations, State educational agencies, local educational agencies or institutions of higher education to build national capacity in environmental education. Funds would be used to support outdoor learning activities, environmental justice instruction, research, teacher training, and the creation of state environmental literacy plans.

The No Child Left Inside (NCLI) coalition was formed in 2006 to find new ways to encourage kids to experience nature and learn about the environment. With over 800 members, the NCLI coalition is growing stronger by the minute. Check out the NCLI coalition video and learn more about the coalition.

The Children & Nature Network is a great resource to learn about and meet others in the movement to reconnect children with nature.

Just in time for summer, our friends at the National Wildlife Federation released a new report highlighting research and policy solutions for getting kids outside.

Click here to see an interactive map of BBTO project partners!

Featured Partner:
Since 2005, over three hundred participants from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago's Keystone and Torch leadership clubs enjoyed their first meaningful outdoor experience by spending a weekend at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore through the Sierra Club's BBTO project.

At the Dunes Learning Center, youth learn about the environment, explore the great outdoors, receive leadership training, and initiate and plan service-learning projects, events and activities in their local communities. This year more than forty Keystone participants are making a commitment to care for their local environment by adopting and tending to a Forest Preserve.
Read about our recent dinner celebration.
See the blog entry.

• Organize a family outdoor outing.
• Take a walk through a local park.
• Enjoy a backyard picnic.
• Contact a decision maker in you community and let them know why getting kids outside is important to you.
• Get together with other concerned community members to brainstorm how you can get kids involved in outdoor activities in your neighborhood