Direct experience in nature is critical and decreasing. Nature is important to children's development in every major way - intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and physically. City parks offer a sense of place, opportunity for daily experience with nature, experiences that improve school achievement, and alleviate isolation. Camp Long was created more than 65 years ago for the purpose of bringing people close to nature and providing safe and enjoyable outdoor camping and climbing experiences.

"Although domesticated nature activities -- caring for plants and gardens -- also have a positive relationship to adult environment attitudes, their effects aren't as strong as participating in such wild nature activities as camping, playing in the woods, hiking, walking, fishing and hunting," says environmental psychologist Nancy Wells, assistant professor of design and environmental analysis in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell. In addition, teachers have had to give up on field trips and other environmental explorations as school budgets shrink and schools devote more time to tested subjects.

A growing movement is encouraging our public schools to devote more resources and attention to environmental education. No Child Left Inside is a national coalition of more than two dozen environmental and educational groups that supports proposals by Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland and Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island to include environmental education in the reauthorizations of the No Child Left Behind Act. The proposals provide new funding for environmental education, particularly to develop rigorous standards, train teachers and create statewide environmental literacy plans. They also propose giving states that develop these environmental literacy plans access to additional funds.

On the state level, Washington has dedicated $1.5 million to fund outdoor education and recreation youth programs to help get our children back outside to learn about and enjoy nature. No Child Left Inside is a grant program administered by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Camp Long has partnered with Outdoor Opportunities to provide climbing activities to teens in the Seattle Parks and Recreation system in the summer of 2008. For more information visit www.parks.wa.gov/NoChildLeftInside/

This week, Camp Long will host singer Tom Rawson at the annual Coffee House Fundraiser. If you would like to support Camp Long's goal of get youth and adults outside, please contact us at camplong@seattle.gov.