Washington, D.C. - On Thursday, September 29, 2005, Kathy McGlauflin, Project Learning Tree (PLT) Vice President, had the opportunity to join Judge William Sessions, former Director of the FBI and National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF) Board Member, Diane Wood, NEETF President, and Sue Bumpous, North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Manager of Communications, to meet with and recognize members of Congress who helped support the restoration of $9 million in funding for the EPA’s Office of Environmental Education.

On behalf of the entire environmental education community, the group met individually with the following representatives and presented each of them with a beautiful framed certificate containing an original watercolor representing our nation’s environment:

Senator Hillary Clinton (NY); Congressman Charles Taylor (NC); Congressman Norm Dicks (WA); Congressman Sherwood Boehlert (NY); Congressman Jim Walsh (NY); and Senator Conrad Burns (MT).

The meetings were very successful and helped lay the groundwork for future, possibly increased, congressional support for environmental education. In addition to the certificate, each recipient was given information on environmental education in their respective states (including PLT State Coordinator information) and information on NEETF, NAAEE, and PLT.

The environmental education community encourages all educators to take the time to thank these members for their leadership. Visit NAAEE’s website at www.naaee.org for information on environmental education legislation and for help in reaching your representatives and senators.

Project Learning Tree (PLT) is the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation. PLT uses the forest as a “window on the world” to increase student’s understanding of our complex environment and to help students learn the skills they need to make sound choices about the environment. Developed in 1976, PLT has a network of more than 500,000 trained educators using six curricula covering the total environment. The American Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization, works for healthy forests, quality environmental education, and to help people make informed decisions about our communities and our world.