Issue 14

More Kids in the Woods

The Forest Service (FS) launched the More Kids in the Woods costshare award program in the spring of 2007 with support from the American Recreation Coalition and the National Forest Foundation. The purpose of the agency-wide program is to help close the gap between America’s young people and nature, and to ensure that future generations remain active in caring for the Nation’s natural resources.

The effort was fueled in part by public response to Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, which describes a generation so plugged into electronic diversions that it has lost its connection to the natural world. Louv argues that giving young people the opportunity to connect with nature is as important as any other conservation effort.

In October 2006, then FS Chief Dale Bosworth announced More Kids in the Woods as a pilot cost-share program and issued the first agency-wide call for proposals. Former FS Chief Gail Kimbell further contributed to the effort by expanding the Agency’s partnerships with nature-based youth organizations. For each of the last 3 years, the Agency contributed $500,000 towards the internal cost-share award program, which provides field units with seed money to enhance partnerships aimed at connecting children with nature.

Field projects join FS units with local partners such as conservation education organizations to offer hands-on outdoor experiences for youngsters. Each year the awarded projects reach about 25,000 youth. The projects primarily offer first time experiences to urban and underserved youth and focus on recreational and environmental stewardship. This year, two More Kids in the Woods proposals from the FS Southern Region received funding: Earth Tomorrow in Atlanta, GA, a program that fosters environmental stewardship in urban teens of color; and Connecting Urban Youth in Louisville to Nature, which will provide field trips and habitat restoration projects for fourth graders and their teachers in Louisville, KY.

More Kids in the Woods: www.fs.fed.us/emphasis/kids.shtml

For more information:

Kristen Nelson at 202–205–1406 or kristennelson@fs.fed.us