Linking people to the land

Time in nature is one of 7 tricks to stay positive

2009-11-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Happiness is within reach and nature makes us feel more positive when we spend 20 minutes or more each day surrounded by nature. It refreshes the spirit and reminds us that we belong to something larger than ourselves. When you can't find time for the otudoors spend a few minutes enjoying photos or posters of nature. Looking at pictures of nature provides uplifting effects on our outlook. Here are the 7 tricks.

Spend at least 20 minutes in nature each day
Trigger the laugh effect
Count those blessings
Exercise
Use "what's the good word?" as a greeting not "how are you?"
Savor the positive
Create a list of the 10 most positive experiences of your life.

JoAnna Brandi wrote the above in BottomLine, November 15, 2009(www.BottomLineSecrets.com

2009-10-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

40 Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures and 15 days of fun - Ways to Get Youth and Adults into Nature and Nature into Lives

Dr. Delwin E. Benson
Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist
Colorado State University
Fort Collins Colorado 80526
delwin.benson@colostate.edu; 970-491-6411
Chairman of the Center for Conservation Education
Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Dundee Illinois

Note to Parents, Teachers and Mentors:
All activities that follow can be quite safe and fun. Each needs to be thought about in relation to your area and the age or experience level of your youth. For example, if there are poisonous animals or plants, then special precautions need to be made to anticipate problems. You must scope out the area first. Ask the locals and experts about safety considerations. Tell kids how to behave if there are special risks. Be observant and helpful, but do not take the initiative and wonder away from the youth. Allow for unstructured fun and learning. However, to compete with other structures such as school, sports, music lessons, etc. help kids to include nature activities regularly in their lives.

Use age appropriate activities creating: Awareness, Discovery, & Responsibility
Young children need controlled activities, supervision, guidance, assistance, rules, and help with understanding. Adolescents want interactions with peers, less parental influences and greater adventure. Each person is different and needs vary by age and experiences in life. Have plans, but let youth explore, sense their place and decide their fate as can be allowed. Watch and be ready, but don’t hover. Make learning fun. Each encounter should create awareness, discover new knowledge and skills and develop attitudes through responsible behavior.

20 Activities start with Awareness (A), Discovery (D), leading to Responsibility (R)
Younger youth might understand these phrases best: (A) What’s that? (D) Find Out. (R) What I should do!

1. (AD)Go into the yard, open space, nearby Community Park, etc. to have fun. Run around. Get your feet wet. Look under rocks. Climb a tree. Build a fort.

2. (AD)Put on blindfolds then sit and listen for 5 minutes, longer or shorter times might be needed based on the persons involved and their experience in the environment. Discuss what you heard with other youth and parents when time is up.

3. (AD)Go for a slow walk with blindfolds on and with a partner leading the activity. Touch interesting parts of the environment such as the bark of trees, texture of plants, places that are warm and others that are cool, insects, soft grass or “sticky” shrubs. Develop senses of smell, touch, curiosity, and wonder.

4. (AD)Draw maps of your yard, open space, nearby community parks, etc. Use big sheets of paper for young kids and move up to GPS locations and better maps later. Show hills and valleys, water and dry spots, rocky areas etc. Identify where grasses, shrubs and trees grow separately and in association. Determine if someone planted the vegetation or if it is native. Perhaps Google Earth can provide a base map. What is natural? What is human caused? Track changes.

5. (ADR)Look for little parts of the environment. Toss a coat hanger and carefully see and count the plants, insects, spiders, soil, rocks, etc. where it lands. Roll over small rocks to see if worms or insects live beneath. Tell what you see. Add the small details to your maps by drawing pictures. Make and care for a worm or ant farm at home.

6. (ADR)Find a hillside that was eroded or dig small holes in the soil to learn about soil differences. Are they sandy, made up of larger particles? Are they clay which gets sticky and holds together when you add a little water? Or are they a mixture called loam? Are soils dark indicating they have decayed plant materials inside and are quite good for growing gardens or crops? Perhaps they are light colored and filled with rocks, making them more difficult to use for planting. Put everything back in its place.

7. (ADR)So far, no rocks, soils, plant, or animal names had to be learned. Now begin putting names on what you see. Get good field guides and learn how to identify major features of plants and animals first, and then begin to see the smaller specifics that separate one animal or plant from others. Learn difference between sparrows and finches first, and then spot the various species of each. Some animals might be detected best by their tracks. Plants mature and make flowers at different times of year. Record when you see animals and flowers. Compare notes to see if plants mature at same times each year and are animals seen at similar times of day and year? Tell about your favorite plants, animals and experiences in nature.

8. (ADR)Learn about nature through LandHelp, www.LandHelp.info, and elsewhere on the Internet. Look under sections about animals, forests, pests, landscape and gardening, next child in the woods, small acreage management, weather, sustainability, teaching packages, and other sites of interest. You will get more ideas for fun activities and improve knowledge for action. Bring one activity to parents or Community Conservation Club.

9. (AD)Animals are not always present throughout the year. They might migrate short or long distances, some animals will hide in holes, under rocks or in the mud during winter. Learn the times of year that they are in the area and look forward to seeing them arrive again the next year. Bird calls might be your only link.

10. (R)Plant vegetables, flowers or native shrubs and trees in appropriate places. Care for them properly and enjoy their growth and development.

11. (AD)Once you become aware of plants, animals, soils, rocks, and geographical features of the environment, then you can begin to learn how and why they got there. For example were the rocks and soils made from volcanoes, ocean deposits, uplifts of mountains, etc. Did plants escape from gardens? Which animals are new? Ask for help.

12. (AD)Once you know more about the environment then begin understanding the interrelationships. What animal eats plants or other animals? How are plants created from soil, water, sunlight and little seeds? Some plants and animals are very particular about their requirements. Others use a wide range of food and environmental resources. Help to provide what animals need by management. Invite managers to assist.

13. (AD)Conduct a painting class. Kids need to see specifics of color, form and texture to paint. Help them to be observant. Help them to question! Help them to answer!

14. (R)Keep journals with notes and reflections about nature and what is seen, learned and unknown. These can be personal or shared with others. Fill in the blanks.

15. (ADR)Get split rail fence materials or other similar structural items and get the kids building their own fences, forts, and play areas. These are not permanent structures, just temporary places to create and develop skills of cooperation and having fun. You could pre-build the uprights to hold fences, etc. and the kids would merely move them around to create a maze or a rocket ship to Mars. Perhaps these can be used in a neighbor’s yard, common open spaces, etc. Be sure to get permission from the owners and managers. This could be a great home owner’s association project for the area youth. Encourage kids to wear gloves, pants and good shoes, and you can supervise, but do so at a distance. They need to learn about using proper equipment, but little nicks and scratches will heal.

16. (ADR)Take field trips and hikes to new places and apply what was learned previously to the new settings. You don’t need to go far. Nature is everywhere. Use maps. Be safe.

17. (ADR)Determine your “environmental footprint.” See the sustainability section in www.LandHelp.info and work to use less energy, water or unnecessary chemicals around the home. Ride a bicycle or walk. Recycle, reuse and make do.

18. (R)Practice having good “personal footprints.” Eat proper foods. Get plenty of exercise. Outdoor activities can easily combine with kids’ health practices.

19. (R)Form a neighborhood club that helps to organize activities where you live. A little organization will help to get more done, to share the load and to help the kids. Tell people what you are doing. Your club can be an example for others.

20. (ADR)Join traditional clubs in the area such as 4-H. Contact the local office of Extension through the county government telephone listing. They operate 4-H. If you have the kids, they can help with programs, information, and leadership.

20 More Ideas for Older Youth

21. (ADR)Let youth explore. Cell phones can now contain Global Positioning Systems so parents can know where youth are at all times. Youth are only a phone call away.

22. (ADR)Volunteer with state and federal natural resources management agencies or other volunteer programs. Get hands-on experiences.

23. (ADR)Ride bicycles in the neighborhood and on city and regional trails. Enjoy the beauty of open spaces. Look for and record interesting aspects of nature.

24. (ADR)Create a nature treasure/scavenger hunt when hiking or biking to give a few objectives to youth that promote seeing and exploring. Use maps. GPSs or compasses can be used for geocaching Youth can create new explorations.

25. (ADR)Join a bike club. Develop bike riding stamina at a local health club cycling class.

26. (ADR)Enter riding contests or enjoy the freedom and new places that riding reveals.

27. (ADR)Go camping. Learn outdoor skills such as cooking and survival techniques.

28. (ADR)Go canoeing and boating. Learn how to safely operate oars and motors.

29. (ADR)Learn to fish. Take fishing seminars at local sporting goods shops.

30. (ADR)Make your own flies, lures, and fishing rods.

31. (ADR)Climb rocks. Visit local climbing walls to learn the basics. Take a ropes course. Hook up with others with similar interests. Discuss working together.

32. (ADR)Take a hunter education course from the local state wildlife agency.

33. (ADR)Go hunting. Be an ethical participant with nature not merely an observer.

34. (ADR)Attend meetings and field trips of local birding groups such as Audubon Society.

35. (ADR)Join Girls and Boys clubs, Scouts, or 4-H. They often have conservation, camping, and a variety of outdoor skills programs for youth. Have them join your group.

36. (R)Start a Community Conservation Club in your own neighborhood and connect with other activities around the area.

37. (ADR)Identify local issues that need attention and develop leadership skills, along with other leaders in the area, to make changes. Make a difference.

38. (ADR)Build your knowledge and gain inspiration by reading. Read about nature and peoples’ reactions to nature and impacts on nature.

39. (ADR)Read to younger youth and to seniors who might have dwindling eyesight or who might merely enjoy the presence and help from younger persons.

40. (R)Get others involved with nature through your leadership.

Enable “The Next Child in the Woods”

Author Richard Louv wrote a book called Last Child in the Woods that has spread a disturbing message across North America. He suggests that this is the last generation to have contact with nature unless we do something. By association, we can also infer that youth are also unaware about where their food, shelter and water come from. Youth and adults lose contact with the life and death realities of nature and therefore the impacts they have on their surroundings. There is a movement to reconnect children and adults to nature that has arisen quickly, spontaneously, and across social, political, and economic dividing lines. To learn more about the movement and how you can get involved, look into www.LandHelp.info under the Section on the left side entitled: Next Child in the Woods.” If youth do the activities suggested in this prospectus, then they are part of the movement created to ensure “The Next Child in the Woods.”

Reasons for concern about youth and adults with nature arise from their busy, over-stretched and over-stressed lives. Alternate uses of time and urban living have hindered outdoor activities. Even good intentions have unintended consequences.

Urbanizing populations live in communities with covenants to protect real estate values and public safety, but they also might serve to limit the free play of building forts, climbing trees and getting knee deep in the local pond. No wonder children are driven indoors to the lure of electronic entertainment: cell phones, computers, IPods, video games, and TV.

Fortunately, we can connect children and adults back to nature. The latest research demonstrates that hands-on experiences with nature provide benefits to people even if it is simply in the weed lot at the end of the street. Researchers cite diminished levels of ADHD, fewer incidents of anxiety and depression, improved self-esteem, enhanced brain development, higher levels of curiosity and creativity, and a sense of connectedness to the community and the environment. Society needs to get back into the wonders and realities of nature. To help youth and adults become good participants and stewards with nature, I’ll keep you informed with LandHelp and the

blog:
http://del-helplanduselandhelp.blogspot.com/;

Get into nature! Get nature into you! Take a friend!
The activities that follow provide structure to the 40 ideas and links to new activities and worksheets.

15 days of activities to involve youth and adults in nature
Dr. Delwin E. Benson
Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist
Colorado State University
Fort Collins Colorado 80526
delben@warnercnr.colostate.edu; 970-491-6411
Chairman of the Center for Conservation Education
Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Dundee Illinois

Below are themes for 15 days of activities. The “Activity Reference #s” correspond to descriptions provided on the “40 Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures - Ways to Get Youth and Adults into Nature and Nature into Lives.” The letters represent hyperlinks to supplemental worksheets and websites.
Day Themes and activities

40 Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures - Ways to Get Youth and Adults into Nature and Nature into Lives

Additional activities in Italics Activity References #s
(letters next to numbers are hyperlinks to websites)

Additional references in italics Development levels:

Awareness (A) Discovery (D) Responsibility (R)

1 Explore, learn and be responsible
Run wild, get your feet wet, climb a tree, build forts
Blindfold discovery
Take a walk
Plant and care
Tell stories about what you discovered
Visit a plant nursery
1. a, b
2.
3. c, d, e
10. f, g, h, i

AD
AD
AD
R
R
AD

2 Artful watching
Learn to paint
Learn to look carefully
13. j, k
l, m, n, o, p, q, r

AD

3 Know where you are and record where you have been
Make maps and keep journals
Make Pictures showing special places on your map and in your journal
4. s, t
14.
ADR
R

4 Look for the small
Find little parts
Make and care for an ant farm or worm box
5. u
v, w, x

AD
R

5 Rocks and soil are earth’s foundation
Take a hike learn about soil
Pick up and dispose of litter properly
6. y, z, aa
bb, cc

ADR
R

6 Enjoy nature at home
Learn about and name nature at home
Use field guides and Internet
Keep records
Talk about your favorite plants, animals and sightings
7.
8.
9. dd, ee, ff, gg

ADR
AD
AD

7 Explore new places and a new you
Visit some place new
Ride bikes
Be safe
Take a ropes course or climb rocks or walls
Discuss working with others
Join a bike club; cycle at health clubs
Enter riding contests
Learn to use simple maps of city, parks, trails, etc.
16.
23.

31.

25.
26.
ADR
ADR

ADR

DR
ADR

8 Be an explorer with the right tools
Conduct a treasure/scavenger hunt
Use maps, compass and GPS
24. hh, ii, jj, kk
ll, mm, nn, oo

ADR

9 Explore on your own
Let youth explore. Supervise as needed.
Discuss what was seen
21. pp, qq, rr, ss, tt

ADR

10 Have experts show how the world works and what you can do to help
Invite an expert to speak about how the environment is formed, how it works and what you can do
11.
12. AD
AD

11 Help your neighbors build a creative play area
Create and build a play area in your neighborhood. Get permission. Take care. Be safe
15.
ADR

12 What is you ecological footprint?
Determine your ecological footprint
Practice having a good “personal footprint” with proper eating, exercise and sustainable practices
17. uu, vv
18. ww

ADR
ADR

13 Organize a Community Conservation Club
Form a neighborhood club for youth activities
Start and official Community Conservation Club that is good for adults too
19. xx, i
36.
R
R

14 Join with the larger community of activities
Explore outdoor activities in area to have fun and to join in with existing opportunities
Volunteer to help
Go camping
Go canoeing and boating
Learn to fish
Make your flies, lures, and rods
Take hunter education
Go hunting
Go birding
Join youth other groups and clubs and have them join you
Identify local issues and help solve problems
20. a, b, yy

22.
27.
28.
29.
30.
32.
33.
34. zz, aaa
35. bbb

37.
DR

ADR
ADR
ADR
ADR
ADR
ADR
ADR
ADR
ADR
ADR

15 Life-long learning and responsible actions
Build your lasting learning by reading more
Read to younger youth
Lead others into nature
38.
39.
40.
ADR
ADR
R

URL Addresses Noted Previously (a through bbb)

a: http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2008/mar/ed_1
b: www.njsacc.org/pdfs/activities-color.pdf

c: www.heritagewoodsonline.co.uk/Environmental games and activities booklet.pdf

d: http://www.naturely.com/sense.htm

e: http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/SoloWalk.html

f: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Activities/MoreActivities/Garden

g: http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef006.asp

h: www.growing-minds.org/plans/ConstructABeanStalk%5B1%5D.pdf

i: www.ni-environment.gov.uk/print/018_adopt_a_tree_new.pdf

j: http://www.howstuffworks.com/easy-outdoor-crafts-for-kids1.htm

k: http://www.playdateyakima.com/2008/07/01/10-outdoor-art-activities/

l: www.arlingtonecho.net/pdf_files/wordwalkgr3.PDF

m: http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/SecretSmells.html

n: http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/SensualAwarenessInventory.html

o: http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/NaturalOrchestra.html

p: http://www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/projects/nov04/pg1.html

q: http://kids-educational-activities.suite101.com/article.cfm/a_language_arts_lesson_to_bring_outdoors

r: www.cpaws-southernalberta.org/education/pics/pond-study-lesson-plan.pdf

s: www.arlingtonecho.net/pdf_files/map_mkr4.PDF

t: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/resources/activities/journal.phtml
u: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/earlyyears/images/huntforminibeasts_tcm4-117847.doc
v: http://iitc.tamu.edu/lessons/lesson55.html
w: http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/print/edu003.pdf

x: http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/print/edu004.pdf
y: http://ontarioecoschools.org/newsletter/March_2009/downloads/Interpretive%20Hike%20from%20CelebEcoSchools08.pdf
z: http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/land/soil/grownups.weml#teachers
aa: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3747082

bb: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/aw/wm/publications/recycle/publie043.pdf

cc: http://www.arlingtonecho.net/pdf_files/littergr1.pdf

dd: http://www.naturely.com/interview_a_tree.htm
ee: http://www.sciencespot.net/Media/ncsquares.pdf
ff: http://www.thewildones.org/Curric/animalObs.html

gg: www.sciencespot.net/Media/ncatoz.pdf
hh: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/kids/explore/nature_treasure_hunt.phtml
ii: http://www.greenhour.org/images/activities/PDF/Nature-Scav-Hunt.pdf
jj: http://www.naturely.com/scavenger_hunt.htm
kk: http://www.audubon.org/educate/educators/six_and_up.html
ll: www.arlingtonecho.net/pdf_files/dnt_lst5.PDF
mm: http://www.us.orienteering.org/Forms/orienteering_lesson_plan.pdf
nn: www.jcschools.org/DEPARTMENTS/SecondaryEducation/coordinated_school_health_files/Where_are_you_handout.pdf
oo: www.arlingtonecho.net/pdf_files/mapkeycpgr1.PDF
pp: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_lf_k0700_1441.pdf
qq: http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/winter/activities/games/nature.htm
rr: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/earlyyears/images/huntforminibeasts_tcm4-117847.doc
ss: http://www.greenhour.org/images/activities/PDF/wildlife_hike_checklist.pdf
tt: www.projectwild.org/documents/WildlifeisEverywhere_000.pdf
uu: http://www.state.ct.us/ott/PolicyAndEducation/YDYW2008/WorkshopHandouts/The%20ABC%E2%80%99s%20Of%20Measuring%20and%20Reducing%20Your%20Carbon%20and%20Ecological%20Footprints/Ecological%20Footprint%20Lesson.pdf
vv: http://pub.em.ed-prod.access-eis.com/pub/assets/pdfs/eco-footprint_lesson_plan_grades_3_4.pdf
ww: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/kids

xx: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/Child/com/commun.htm

yy: http://youthdevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/top_10_outside_activities_for_kids
zz: http://www.audubon.org/educate/educators/six_and_up.html

aaa: www.ni-environment.gov.uk/print/014_bird_watching_new.pdf

bbb: http://www.nrdc.org/greensquad/intro/intro_1.asp

Your Turn to Help with 2 Think Tanks about Clubs for adults and geting kids into nature

2009-01-12T11:29:00.000-08:00

I've shared my ideas, now it is your turn. What will we need to do to get kids and adults frequently active in nature? Tell your stories. I'm attending 2 think tanks on the topics and I can carry your ideas forward.
Del

News about getting kids and adults into nature at home

2008-12-29T09:41:00.000-08:00

See the recent article for tips to get youth into nature and families participating at home.
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812280303

10 Steps to For Starting and Keeping Hunting, Fishing, Birding, and Outdoor Clubs

2008-10-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

Delwin E. Benson, Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist at Colorado State University and Chair of the Center for Conservation Education at Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Dundee Illinois

The following steps are directed toward state fish and wildlife agencies and could be adopted for planning by other organizations.

1. Agencies/Organizations must seriously want to relate to their customer base and are willing to discuss internally about Recruitment and Retention needs and their roles to nurture, support and to work with their customers.
2. Appoint a leader to move the initiative forward with committee members from appropriate topical and regional subunits (research, I&E, License Sales, Hunter Education, Fish, Wildlife, Nongame, Head Office, Field Offices, etc.).
3. ID existing leaders with clubs and organizations that are nature-related and plan to work with them on a systematic basis just as you would with funding, seasons, and habitat management.
4. ID barriers to working with customers using existing literature, focus groups, and formal studies.
5. Hold a state Summit and ask club leaders to take on roles vital to the state such as R&R generally and specifically: start more local clubs; develop ranges; offer programs for youth, men and women; assist with harvest needs, access, habitat protection; etc.
6. Provide recognition and incentives for existing and new clubs that participate (free subscriptions, patches, money, speakers, special events, etc.).
7. Ask, support and reward your staff to participate with clubs (provide information, help with leadership, give talks, engage members in agency programs, etc.).
8. Assist existing clubs and form new clubs. Help with organizational suggestions. Establish outcomes and action committees. Give financial incentives. Ask clubs for specific help (harvests to reduce deer numbers or monitor herd structure, start an R & R program, etc.
9. Communicate agency/organization wants, needs and functions through a complete network of local clubs which meet often, have numerous functions, and are easily accessible by all.
10. Continuously encourage, prompt, nurture, and ask your customers to be active with nature at home, at work and during recreation.

Go Play Outside

2008-10-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

Nebraskans are finding ways to get kids learning about nature in their yards and forming local clubs to help others keep the momentum moving forward.

See: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10472956

Do you have a stoy to tell? Tell us here with words and pictures.

Community Outdoor Clubs

2008-10-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Making Anglers, Hunters and Outdoor Users at Home in Society:
The Club Concept Revitalized - April 2008
Recruitment and Retention requires frequent and local activities with mentors – clubs fill the void

What do studies and professionals say are the keys to recruitment and retention?
• A close support group of family and friends. Hunters make hunters! Anglers make anglers! Parents in the outdoors can get kids into the outdoors!
• Outdoor activities must favorably compete with the modern alternatives.

Clubs can provide social contacts, reinforcement and support
• Rod and gun clubs rose in prominence in the 1800s, 1930s
• Local clubs were asked to affiliate nationally and take action on behalf of angling, hunting, wildlife, and conservation of the land.
• Environmental groups sprouted in the 1960s for funding and lobbying
• Now is the time for clubs to come to our aid again by asking our many agencies and unaffiliated organization to join forces and promote local clubs.

What club model could we follow?
• European hunting clubs show the value of building social capital, mentoring, and the power of clubs to sustain hunting throughout the expansion of humans.
• Civic clubs, such as Rotary International, give us insights into the value of weekly meetings, extensive committee structures and civic action as a mission.
• Our own heritage of rod and gun clubs and the foundation and existing network to begin new efforts.

Ten considerations to bring the power of clubs to the people and people to the clubs
1. Give hunters a local home
2. Start with local clubs and organizations
3. Hold weekly meetings with broad audience appeal
4. State and federal agencies can support clubs and their programs
5. Club members need a direct tie to the land and management of lands and wildlife
6. Local and national businesses should support clubs
7. Outdoor media should be part of recruitment and retention by supporting clubs
8. People value of proximity and repetition and miss events when they cannot attend
9. People want to anticipate and prepare for events, enjoy then, then talk about them
10. Clubs provide the social network that is currently missing

Model clubs should have the following attributes:
• Support conservation and outdoor responsibility and stewardship
• Have personal and social reasons for existing: visions with dreams and goals
• Develop concrete objectives for conservation and enjoyment
• Create an atmosphere that welcomes and nurtures the new and inexperienced
• Maintain a broad base of leaders and competent officers
• Use sound organizational structures with relevant functions
• Actively recruit, develop and retain members
• Conduct interesting and useful meetings and programs
• Activate committees to carry out diverse programs
• Encourage diverse participants, young and old, male and female
• Gain and earn support from governments, businesses and the community at large
• Cooperate with existing angling, conservation, shooting, and hunting groups

Some precautions about clubs but not a reason to avoid clubs
• Hunters and people in general have decreased their civic engagement and lost some social capital.
• Joining clubs is no guarantee.
• Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone examined 500,000 interviews dealing with civic participation and reported that society has become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures including the PTA, 4-H, church, civic groups, recreation clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues.
• Putnam wrote not to discourage club involvement but rather to show that decreasing civic engagement wasn’t good. He encouraged clubs.

Conclusions
Doers make Doers! Clubs provide what anglers, hunters and other users say they need: places to go and a support base of mentors. Clubs can provide what education theory recommends: positive experiences with repeated inputs over time. Club leaders already exist that can form the foundation for socialization of hunters and shooters. The club concept worked in the past and should work even better today but leadership must meet the challenges with strong, unified and persistent actions. There aren’t many new ideas in world to discover and sometimes we fail to find solutions that are immediately before us because we are looking for something that does not exist. Success with conservation clubs would improve if every related agency and organization in every state and province partnered with outdoor businesses to make it their goal to encourage the club concept. Good ideas need proper timing to germinate and ideas take time to mature. Clubs have the components for successful recruitment and retention: interested people as mentors, places to go, topics of mutual interest to discuss, and leaders who can take the concept to a higher level.

The revitalized clubs should become part of weekly socialization. Not attending the events should be felt as a distinct loss.

Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures – Extension and Organization Support

2008-10-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Del Benson, Professor and Wildlife Specialist

The following ideas are provided as a guide for Extension and other organizations to reach out to more youth and adults in neighborhoods and to form lasting behaviors about the out-of-doors.
1. Make plans for your organization to reach more people in more neighborhoods more often.
2. Try new methods because the old methods resulted in fewer participants in many nature-based outdoor activities such as angling, hunting, golf, and visits to parks. Richard Louv’s book entitled “Last Child in the Woods” suggests that modern youth have “Nature Deficit Disorder.”
3. Organize “block leaders” to spread the word. See the last blog with ideas for finding and empowering block leaders.
4. Ask block leaders to find interested parents, youth and more leaders on more blocks.
5. Provide leaders with 40 Neighborhood Outdoor Adventure ideas (see earlier blog) and other materials from 4-H or other sources of environmental materials.
6. Supply leaders with procedures, content materials, fact sheets, and door prompts to share with others.
7. Establish procedures for participants to be part of Extension and 4-H or other existing community organizations.
8. Maintain lists of leaders and youth.
9. Have success stories published internally for recruiting others and available for with local media to use.
10. Advertise “Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures” opportunities with local media
11. Link the neighborhood activities with other environmental activities in the community such as field days, visits to local parks and environmental learning centers.
12. Link with school and after school programs.
13. Become part of the community network that works with kids in nature.
14. Use county fairs to promote, acknowledge and to show off Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures.
15. Use county fairs as a forum for promoting and celebrating Outdoor Adventures beyond the current scope.
16. Supply or encourage creation of T-shirts or other paraphernalia to help promote a local identity.
17. Make sure participant know about LandHelp.info so they can see what is happening in other places and they have a constant resources to use for more information.
18. Contribute to this blog so we can improve and help others to help themselves.
19. Create Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures in your neighborhood.
20. Enjoy nature where you live with the ones that you love.

Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures - Parents and Block Leaders

2008-10-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Del Benson, Professor and Wildlife Specialist
1. Promote awareness and interest and identify key parents and other leaders in the neighborhood to participate as block leaders who move the activities forward. Where to find leaders:
*Home owners association meetings and communications
*Alumni of colleges and universities with natural resources programs
*Professionals with local state and national natural resources agencies and their volunteers
*4-H and Scouting parents and leaders
*After school assemblies
*Contacts through school teachers
*Civic club members in the community such as Rotary or Lions
*Outdoor groups and clubs such as fishing, birding, hunting, and wildlife and nature groups
*Contact outdoor writers to spread the news and to show the successes
*Ideas and procedures promoted in various written and electronic media
2. Block leaders spread the opportunities and procedures to other parents and youth in their immediate neighborhood and help to select leaders on other blocks.
*Make door-to-door contacts
*Hang prompts on doors or leave a fact sheet to prompt actions
3. Suggest 6 activities to start the process and hand out the 40 Neighborhood Outdoor Adventure Activities
*Go outside every chance you get and look, smell, touch, and enjoy
*Plant indoor or outdoor plants and care for them as thy grow, flower or provide a food to harvest
*Turn off appliances and water when not in use
*Itemize, draw and describe “nature” in the yard or on neighborhood walks
*Put up and maintain bird feeders and nest boxes then watch the visitors
*Get guides to birds, insects, mammals, plants, etc. and discover
4. Suggest 1 follow up activity
*Hike or bike with friends to the local pond, park, nature area, or vacant lot
*Parents picnic to discuss ideas
*Join in with local agencies and organizations that offer nature study
*Train on a technique
*Create a neighborhood club to meet regularly as parents and youth
*Join 4-H by contacting county government and the Extension organization
*Always have participants prepared for: what’s next - next activity or new adventure
5. Leave parents and youth with aids to take further actions
*Inform them about LandHelp.info and the Section called “Next Child in the Woods” where they can get more ideas and learn what others are doing
*Help with projects for 4-H, Scouts, and community service
*Leave your contact information so they can follow up with you

Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures

2008-10-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

To follow are 40 ways to get into the outdoors where you live. Do them! Tell me what you learned!

40 Neighborhood Outdoor Adventures -
Ways to Get Youth into Nature and Nature into Youth

Dr. Delwin E. Benson

Note to Parents, Teachers and Mentors:
All activities that follow can be quite safe and fun. Each needs to be thought about in relation to your area and the age or experience level of your youth. For example, if there are poisonous animals or plants, then special precautions need to be made to anticipate problems. You must scope out the area first. Ask the locals and experts about safety considerations. Tell kids how to behave if there are special risks. Be observant and helpful, but do not take the initiative and wonder away from the youth. Allow for unstructured fun and learning. However, to compete with other structures such as school, sports, music lessons, etc. help kids to include nature activities regularly in their lives.

Work with age appropriate activities
Young children need controlled activities, supervision, guidance, assistance, rules, and help with understanding. Adolescents want interactions with peers, less parental influences and greater adventure. Each person is different and needs can vary by age and experiences in life. Have plans, but let youth explore, sense their place and decide their fate as can be allowed. Watch and be ready, but don’t hover.

20 Activities Starting with Awareness and getting into Action That Apply in Different Ways to Several Ages and Experience Levels

1. Go into the yard, open space, nearby Community Park, etc. to have fun. Run around. Get your feet wet. Look under rocks. Climb a tree. Build a fort.

2. Put on blindfolds then sit and listen for 5 minutes, longer or shorter times might be needed based on the persons involved and their experience in the environment. Discuss what you heard with other youth and parents when time is up.

3. Go for a slow walk with blindfolds on and with a partner leading the activity. Touch interesting parts of the environment such as the bark of trees, texture of plants, places that are warm and others that are cool, insects, soft grass or “sticky” shrubs. Develop senses of smell, touch, curiosity, and wonder.

4. Build maps of your yard, open space, nearby community parks, etc. Use big sheets of paper for young kids and move up to GPS locations and better maps later. Show hills and valleys, water and dry spots, rocky areas etc. Identify where grasses, shrubs and trees grow separately and in association. Determine if someone planted the vegetation or if it is native. Perhaps Google Earth can provide a base map. What is natural? What is human caused? Track changes.

5. Look for little parts of the environment. Throw a metal coat hanger that has been rounded and carefully look at the plants, insects, spiders, soil, rocks, etc. where it lands. Roll over small rocks to see if worms or insects live beneath. Add the small features identified to your maps by adding layers of detail.

6. Find a hillside that was eroded or dig small holes in the soil to learn about soil differences. Are they sandy, made up of larger particles? Are they clay which gets sticky and holds together when you add a little water? Or are they a mixture called loam? Are soils dark indicating they have decayed plant materials inside and are quite good for growing gardens or crops? Perhaps they are light colored and filled with rocks, making them more difficult to use for planting.

7. So far, no rocks, soils, plant, or animal names had to be learned. Now might be a good time to begin putting names on what you see. Get good field guides and learn how to identify major features of plants and animals first, and then begin to see the smaller specifics that separate one animal from others. For example, learn the difference between sparrows and finches first, and then begin to learn the various species of each. Some animals might be detected best by their tracks.

8. Learn about nature through LandHelp, http://www.landhelp.info/, and elsewhere on the Internet. Look under sections about animals, forests, pests, landscape and gardening, next child in the woods, small acreage management, weather, sustainability, teaching packages, and other sites of interest. You will get more ideas for fun activities and improve knowledge for action.

9. Animals are not always present throughout the year. They might migrate short or long distances, some animals will hide in holes, under rocks or in the mud during winter. Learn the times of year that they are in the area and look forward to seeing them arrive again the next year. Bird calls might be your only link.

10. Plants mature and make flowers at different times of year also. Once you learn to identify them, begin to record when you see flowers and compare notes the next year to see if the timing is similar. Plant native trees in appropriate places.

11. Once you become aware of plants, animals, soils, rocks, and geographical features of the environment, then you can begin to learn how and why they got there. For example were the rocks and soils made from volcanoes, ocean deposits, uplifts of mountains, etc. Did plants escape from gardens? Which animals are new?

12. Once you know more about the environment then begin understanding the interrelationships. What animal eats plants or other animals? How are plants created from soil, water, sunlight and little seeds? Some plants and animals are very particular about their requirements. Others use a wide range of food and environmental resources. Help to provide what animals need by management.

13. Conduct a painting class. Kids need to see specifics of color, form and texture to paint. Help them to be observant. Help them to question! Help them to answer!

14. Keep journals with notes and reflections about nature and what is seen, learned and unknown. These can be personal or shared with others. Fill in the blanks.

15. Get split rail fence materials or other similar structural items and get the kids building their own fences, forts, and play areas. These are not permanent structures, just temporary places to create and develop skills of cooperation and having fun. You could pre-build the uprights to hold fences, etc. and the kids would merely move them around to create a maze or a rocket ship to Mars. Perhaps these can be used in a neighbor’s yard, common open spaces, etc. Be sure to get permission from the owners and managers. This could be a great home owner’s association project for the area youth. Encourage kids to wear gloves, pants and good shoes, and you can supervise, but do so at a distance. They need to learn about using proper equipment, but little nicks and scratches will heal.

16. Take field trips and hikes to new places and apply what was learned previously to the new settings. You don’t need to go far. Nature is everywhere.

17. Determine your “environmental footprint.” See the sustainability section in LandHelp and work to use less energy, water or unnecessary chemicals around the home. Ride a bicycle or walk. Recycle, reuse and make do.

18. Practice having good “personal footprints.” Eat proper foods. Get plenty of exercise. Outdoor activities can easily combine with kids’ health practices.

19. Form an official neighborhood club that helps to organize activities in the area. A little organization will help to get more done, to share the load and to help the kids. Tell people what you are doing. Your club can be an example for others.

20. Join traditional clubs in the area such as 4-H. Contact the local office of Extension through the county government telephone listing. They operate 4-H. If you have the kids, they can help with programs, information, and leadership.

20 More Ideas for Older Youth

1. Let youth explore. Cell phones can now contain Global Positioning Systems so parents can know where youth are at all times. Youth are only a phone call away.

2. Volunteer with state and federal natural resources management agencies or other volunteer programs. Get hands-on experiences.

3. Ride bicycles in the neighborhood and on city and regional trails. Enjoy the beauty of open spaces. Look for and record interesting aspects of nature.

4. Create a nature treasure hunt when hiking or biking to give a few objectives to youth that promote seeing and exploring. Youth can create new explorations.

5. Join a local bike club. Develop bike riding stamina at a local health club cycling class.

6. Enter riding contests or merely enjoy the freedom and new places that riding reveals.

7. Go camping. Learn outdoor skills such as cooking and survival techniques.

8. Go canoeing and boating. Learn how to safely operate oars and motors.

9. Learn to fish. Take fishing seminars at local sporting goods shops.

10. Make your own flies, lures, and fishing rods.

11. Climb rocks. Visit local climbing walls to learn the basics. Hook up with others with similar interests.

12. Take a hunter education course from the local state wildlife agency.

13. Go hunting. Learn to be an ethical participant with nature not merely an observer.

14. Attend meetings and field trips of local birding groups such as Audubon Society.

15. Join Girls and Boys clubs, Scouts, or 4-H activities. They often have conservation, camping, and a variety of outdoor skills programs for youth.

16. Start outdoor adventure clubs in your own community and connect with other activities around the area.

17. Identify local issues that need attention and develop leadership skills, along with other leaders in the area, to make changes. Make a difference.

18. Build your knowledge and gain inspiration by reading. Read about nature and peoples’ reactions to nature and impacts on nature.

19. Read to younger youth and to seniors who might have dwindling eyesight or who might merely enjoy the presence and help from younger persons.

20. Get others involved with nature through your leadership.

Enable “The Next Child in the Woods”
Author Richard Louv wrote a book called Last Child in the Woods that has spread a disturbing message across North America like a storm. Essentially, he suggests that this is the last generation to have contact with nature unless we do something. By association, we can also suggest that youth are also unaware about where their food, shelter and water come from. I suggest that youth are losing contact with the life and death realities of nature and therefore the impacts they have on their surroundings. There is a movement to reconnect children to nature that has arisen quickly, spontaneously, and across the usual social, political, and economic dividing lines. To learn more about the movement and how you can get involved, look into http://www.landhelp.info/ under the Section on the left side entitled: Next Child in the Woods.” If youth do the activities suggested in this prospectus, then they are part of the movement created to ensure “The Next Child in the Woods.”

Reasons for concern about youth and nature arise from the busy lives of today's over-stretched and over-stressed parents and children. Alternate uses of time and urban living have hindered outdoor activities. Even good intentions have unintended consequences.

Urbanizing populations live in communities with covenants to protect real estate values and public safety, but they also might serve to limit the free play of building forts, climbing trees and getting knee deep in the local pond. No wonder children are driven indoors to the lure of electronic entertainment: cell phones, computers, Ipods, video games, and TV.

Fortunately, there are ways to get children connected back to nature. The latest research demonstrates that when children have hands-on experiences with nature, even if it is simply in the weed lot at the end of the street, they reap the benefits. Researchers cite diminished levels of ADHD, fewer incidents of anxiety and depression, improved self-esteem, enhanced brain development, higher levels of curiosity and creativity, and a sense of connectedness to the community and the environment. Society needs to get back into the wonders and realities of nature. For more information, check out http://www.landhelp.info/; under the Next Child in the Woods Section and the many other resources to help youth and adults become good participants and stewards with nature.

Get into nature! Get nature into you! Take a friend!

Use LandHelp for storing and retrieving information

2008-10-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

I developed LandHelp to help you who are professionals, land users and just plain folks who can learn more, act more, have fun in the outdoors, and who must become good stewards. Check out http://www.landhelp.info/.

Use http://www.landhelp.info/ to understand and to help humans to be part of the land!

1. Use LandHelp to address your questions and to solve your problems

2. Use LandHelp to picture how land and its resources should look
3. Use LandHelp to create the story of your place on the land
4. Use LandHelp to enact a plan to manage the land whether personal or with others. This section is being upgraded during the summer. Watch for changes.
What is LandHelp?
· LandHelp is pre-researched and pre-sorted for users to retrieve useful information to manage the land's resources wisely: including soil, water, air, plants, animals, people, and human developments.
· A First-Stop-Shopping Internet storage and retrieval site with holistic natural resources information
· A “brand name” used to identify natural resources educational information without bounds
· A compendium of information links, unique files, and an outline planning framework with links to facilitate planning
· A common place for professionals to store useful information for people interested in land, plants, animals and how to manage them

Why a Need for LandHelp?
· Information is often created but not used beyond professional outlets
· Persons in need of information are confused about where to go for answers
· Valuable information should be housed in an electronic library
· Rather that reinvent information, LandHelp is a better way to store and retrieve it

Put LandHelp to work for you.