BLM Tells People to Take It Outside

Mail Tribune (of Southern Oregon) – January 02, 2008
By Paul Fattig

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Medford District is launching a major cutting program this year, but no trees will be axed.

The new recreation program's goal is cutting pounds off young people by getting them off the couch and into the woods.

Called "Take it outside — connect with your public lands," the goal of the agency's nationwide effort is to improve the physical and mental health of children while educating them about the environment and land stewardship.

"This program is aimed at health issues in regards to kids," Leah Schrodt, environmental education specialist with the BLM's Medford District. "Childhood obesity is out of hand in this country. But it isn't just the lack of physical activity. Many children also have a disconnect from the outdoors.

"This coming year — 2008 — is when we want to take off with it," she added.

Schrodt is a member of a national BLM committee heading up the program at the field level. Nationally, the BLM program was sparked by "Last Child in the Woods," a 2005 book by Richard Louv that is aimed at saving the nation's children from what he describes as "nature-deficit disorder." The book started a nationwide trend to reconnect young people with the outdoors.

Locally, that means encouraging young people to get out and enjoy nature, said Schrodt, 31, who coordinates the BLM's educational program at Lower and Upper Table Rocks offered each spring and summer. She also coordinates the BLM's environmental education program at McGregor Park in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps in the upper Rogue River watershed. Both sites offer educational hikes.

As a fifth-grader in Ashland, Schrodt participated in a guided nature walk onto Lower Table Rock.

"I really enjoyed that day," recalled Schrodt, now 31. "Knowing that plant — woolly meadow foam — grew nowhere else in the world, I always remembered that."

While many of today's adults and previous generations spent much of their childhoods hiking and camping, few children today enjoy similar lifestyles, Schrodt said. The latter often spend much of their time before computers and televisions, she said.

Schrodt, whose childhood was immersed in nature, thanks to her parents, notes getting out on a wilderness hike or just a stroll in a park can open a young mind to the wonders of nature.

"With things like attention-deficit disorder — tests have shown with many kids when you put them outside, that helps them immensely," she said. "On so many levels, getting young people outside helps them with their mental, spiritual and physical health."

Moreover, outdoor activity sparks an interest within young people about the future of public lands, she said.

"A big concern in this agency is that we are seeing young people becoming less and less connected and interested in our natural areas," she said. "And that's our future work force. We need young people who are interested in becoming land managers."

In the program, the BLM will be working with a variety of local groups, including ScienceWorks, Klamath Bird Observatory, Siskiyou Field Institute, Bear Creek Watershed Education Partners, Oregon Trout, Southern Oregon Historical Society, North Mountain Park, Southern Oregon University, Oregon State University Extension Service, Mount Ashland Youth Programs, Lomakatsi and the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy.

"I would urge parents to look for any opportunity they can get their kids outside, whether it's an event at Hanley Farms or at North Mountain Park," Schrodt said, referring to the Southern Oregon Historical Society's historic farm in Central Point and a park in Ashland.

"Or families can simply go out and hike," she added, noting both the BLM district and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest have numerous hiking trails.

"When I'm working with kids, many of whom have challenging lives, I'll often tell them, 'Nature is always a place you can go to catch your breath,' " she said. "I tell them when I've gone through hard times, nature was always there for me."

For more information, check out www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/children_and_nature.html.

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