Reconnecting with nature

Saving Pennsylvania from declining outdoor interests

By SANDY LONG

WILKES-BARRE, PA — Perhaps the wisest—and clearly the simplest—solution came from the youngest participant in the community meeting. When asked for his top recommendation to reconnect Pennsylvania residents with the great outdoors, 12-year-old Everett Appleby said matter-of-factly, “Go outside.”

Conducted as a follow-up to Governor Ed Rendell’s three-day Outdoor Conference in March, the May 31 brainstorming session held at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA was the second of five meetings scheduled throughout Pennsylvania to continue gathering input from all interested parties.

According to Rendell, the information gleaned from the March conference along with the post-conference meetings, will be incorporated into a final report by the end of the year with recommendations for action.

Robert B. Miller Jr., Advisor to Rendell for Hunting, Fishing and Conservation, along with a team of four men from the office of administration, conducted the Northeastern Pennyslvania session. Following a short movie that provided a snapshot of the initial conference, a Powerpoint presentation summarized conference findings related to the various impacts on outdoor recreation, from changing demographics to the impact of sprawl and the statewide decline in hunting.

Participants broke into groups to generate recommendations on ways to address the problem of declining interest in outdoor recreation, then presented their conclusions for the larger group. Citing the connection between being outdoors and developing a concern for nature, many suggested the need to first reconnect parents and educators with outdoor experiences in order to help children form similar relationships. Mandating outdoor education to reduce sedentary indoor activities was another popular response, with one participant citing an “epidemic of inactivity,” that has led to the current rise in childhood obesity and diabetes.

Other recurrent points included the need to improve communication and cooperation between existing agencies and to capitalize on current technology to reach today’s tech-savvy youth.

Some additional suggestions advocated the following: encourage nature play, getting “hands dirty and feet wet,” set aside differences and promote partnering between organizations and individuals, provide more outreach to urban areas, develop the same tools used by professional marketers to influence people’s positive perception of healthier outdoor lifestyles and create walkable communities by establishing greenways.

Approximately 300 people, including policy makers, sportsmen’s groups, conservation organizations and representatives of the business, health and education sectors participated in the initial conference, though attendance has been substantially lower, averaging 50 people, at the follow-up sessions. Miller said that the governor’s team is strategizing other ways to involve Pennsylvanians and that, in addition to the five meetings originally scheduled, it is likely that other sessions will be added.

Though a balmy spring evening beckoned outside, Appleby and the others chose to remain inside to figure out how to motivate fellow Pennsylvanians to turn off their televisions and computers—and get out there.

For additional information, visit www.connectoutdoors.state.pa.us or contact Miller at ra-gac@state.pa.us or 717/772-4285.