Traci Price of Oregon Trout and Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland) are calling for the passage of a "No Oregon Child Left Inside" Act. The Act, HB 2544, would start the ball rolling towards a state environmental literacy plan, ensuring our children have basic understanding of the environment. From an Op-Ed by Price and Rep. Buckley today:
Preparing our youth for these mounting challenges has become complicated in an age largely disconnected from the natural world. Our nation's youth spend far less time outside than their parents did when they were young. In fact, from 1997 to 2003, the percentage of children in the United States ages 9 to 12 engaging in outdoor activities declined by 37 percent, while obesity rates have soared. And with ongoing school budget cuts, we can only expect kids to spend even less time outdoors while at school.
Aside from fresh air, the natural world provides an applied learning platform without parallel. The challenging environmental inheritance we will give the next generation ought to at least come with the tools needed to deal with it. This starts by connecting them to their local surroundings.
Read their whole Op-Ed in today's online Oregonian.
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