By Vanessa Bullwinkle

Kathy McGlauflin, Director of Project Learning Tree, and Tom Martin, President & CEO of the American Forest Foundation, the national sponsor of PLT, were guests at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors in Washington, D.C. on April 16. 

President Obama delivered remarks, and Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, and Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, lead the conference to address the challenges, opportunities, and innovations surrounding modern-day land conservation and the importance of reconnecting Americans and American families to the outdoors. 

The conference marked the kickoff of the Great Outdoors Initiative—a new effort to promote community conservation efforts and reconnect people with the outdoors by re-imagining conservation for decades to come.

In a statement issued by AFF, Tom Martin said, “We applaud the Obama Administration’s leadership in acknowledging the vital role America’s forests and working landscapes play in the economic and environmental health of communities all across the country.”

In America, the “great outdoors” includes 262 million acres of woodlands owned by family forest owners.  These families own more than one-third of the nation’s forests and woodlands—an essential component to conserving America’s Great Outdoors.  By contrast federal forest lands comprise only 25 percent of our forests.  

“We also commend the Administration for addressing the need to reconnect Americans with the natural world,” said Tom Martin.  “At a time when too many children suffer from “nature deficit” and increasing rates of obesity, forests provide recreational opportunities to get kids outdoors and learning about our environment.  Through Project Learning Tree®, our premier environmental education program, AFF is taking a leading role in getting kids away from “virtual reality” to the true virtues of nature.  We will continue to seek additional federal resources to ensure that environmental education is part of every child’s education.”

In a series of blog posts that day, Tom Martin emphasized that environmental and outdoor education must be a core part of our educational curriculum and not just an add-on. “We need the Administration to include it in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,” he wrote. “AFF’s Project Learning Tree network of 500,000 environmental educators knows how vital EE is to preparing our kids for the future. Every student learns outside!”

If you have a special story to share about teaching or learning in America’s Great Outdoors, or why woodlands are important to your family, students, and community, make a comment on AFF’s blog, and we will let the Administration know how significant these issues are to you.