Earlier we had a thread on being exposed to the outdoors and a life long interest in wildlife/conservation/fitness, etc.
I had no idea that “Congress is considering A No Child Left Inside Act that would make federal funds available for environmental education.”
What a good idea!
Story in the Denver Post. Learning goes into the wild. By Nancy Lofholm. The Denver Post
This is a very ambitious program, far exceeding the size of all federal efforts. It is a plan for Colorado only. Perhaps 1/4 of the money would come from and oil and gas severance tax. The bulk would be raised privately in cash or land donations.
Open space dreams to protect wild. Coalition’s goal would help protect land in 24 regions. By Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News
Update 4-25. Ritter gets behind severance tax initiative. By Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News
Some of my very first and best memories (I must have been about 3 years old) are of the outdoors. By that I don’t mean the lawn or a favorite tree.
My grandfather located and developed mining properties . . . unsuccessfully when I was boy because he was in his mid-70s, but he recruited my father and uncles to help during the summer.
I recall that for day after day, they would climb up the mountain above Hyrum, Utah. I’d ride on my father’s back. Later they build a road and we’d go up in the truck to the Moon Mine prospect.
While they worked, I was left to sit on edge of the prospect surrounded by sagebrush with a view of Cache Valley, Utah spread below. There was the occasional rattlesnake, the mountain slope was a slightly steep, I might have been stung by a bee, perhaps there were scorpions. The situation would be regarded as incorrect by those who give advice on child rearing.
It was wonderful . . . glorious!!. The world was so new, green, and the valley with the Wellsvelle Mountains rising on the other side seemed endless. To me the world was welcome and so right. I have never stopped loving the outdoors.
While only a few children have an experience like that, my path was already partially set. I never stopped loving the outdoors.
Today few children are given a connection to the outdoors. Undue fear of hazards, dangerous people, and the enticements of video games, television, and the computer stand in the way.
As far as formal education, 8 years of George Bush’s misconceived “no child left behind” that ignores physical activity and outdoor education, has already ruined half of generation. This will have profound negative effects for our future.
The article below worries about Montana’s outdoor recreation economy, but the problem is much deeper than that.
Numbers bode poorly for recreation tourism. By Daniel Person. Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer
This southwest Montana national forest is the largest in Montana, with many mountain ranges, splendid backcountry and scenic frontcountry as well. There are many species of wildlife. I could go on, but the important point is that the comment period on the new forest plan has been extended to the end of April.
Not only has there been controversy from off-road vehicle users, various conservation organizations have had differing perspectives.
Hoping folks will comment, here is some information from 3 conservation sources and the Forest Service. Please add more links as you wish in the comments.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/b-d/forest-plan/index-plan-document-maps.shtml
http://www.greateryellowstone.org/issues/issue.php?threatID=32
http://www.wildmontana.org/takeaction/actnow_detail.php?id=4
http://www.wildlandscpr.org/action-alert/comment-deadline-extended-beaverhead-deerlodge-revised-forest-plan
‘Barb’ commented on a post that Ralph wrote a year ago today. It deserves to be reposted on its first birthday.
At Potamogeton Park, Madison Range, Montana. Gallatin National Forest. Photo by Ralph Maughan
The National Park Service has come out against the giant coal-fired electrical generating plant planned for north of Ely, Nevada. Now it and majority leader Harry Reid are in opposition as well as it appear local residents.
Park Service: Ely, Nevada coal-fired power plant plan ‘unacceptable‘. Elko Daily Free Press.
The Salt Lake Tribune features an article about a letter that a couple of Utah legislators wrote associating wilderness designation in the state with aiding terrorists. Letter links wilderness, threats of terror. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance takes the brunt of these bumbling assaults on preserving wild places, wilderness that when properly protected actualizes the most potent and important manifestations of genuine public freedom remaining - the wild.
“Man always kills the thing he loves, and so we the pioneers have killed our wilderness. Some say we had to. Be that as it may, I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?”
- Aldo Leopold 1949 A Sand County Almanac
There needs to be a special page of this important topic.
Go to it.
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