Children & Nature

This morning Steve perused some furniture photos we took while living in Santa Fe to use as a template for shelves he is building. While he had that folder opened, I noticed some of the thank you notes I received from the kidlets I taught while working at Audubon New Mexico and just had to share. (Note: the big person in the first drawing is me. Ha!)

The "wall" mentioned above is a dam on the Santa Fe river. I found it very interesting that this was the dominant remembrance of this child.

Here is some good news on the children & nature front:

Maryland Children in Nature Plan Draft Now Available for Public Comment

As you may know, in April Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley issued an Executive Order establishing the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature. Over the past few months, the Partnership has been working diligently on a plan to increase recreational and educational opportunities for children to connect with nature, which will be submitted to Governor O’Malley later this month. The Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature’s draft plan and appendices are now available online for review and comment and can be downloaded at the following web site:

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/education/children_nature/partners/ThePlan_011209.asp

Public comments can be submitted through the survey tool on the above web site and will be accepted through the end of this week. We welcome comment from those of you working on NCLI plans across the country.

Your input is critical to this effort’s success and we greatly appreciate your timely and thoughtful response as we prepare for the submission of this groundbreaking plan! As always, thank you so much for your input and dedication.


Julie Dieguez
Asst. Coordinator Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition
www.mdncli.org