DATE: October 18, 2007

CONTACT: Fran Mainella, (864) 656-3400
fmainel@clemson.edu

WRITER: Ross Norton, (864) 624-9566
rnorton@clemson.edu

Author touts the benefits of 'No Child Left Inside'

CLEMSON, S.C. — Richard Louv wants children to go outside. The author of “Last Child in the Woods” is bringing his message to Clemson University next week when he hopes both the faithful and the uninitiated will be inspired to stick a big toe into the wilderness.

Louv visits campus Tuesday, Oct. 23, to deliver the annual George B. Hartzog Jr. Lecture, the key event in the Clemson University Environmental Seminar Series and awards program to honor those who make important contributions to park services on a state and national level. Louv will deliver the keynote address at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.

His book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder,” launched a national movement among park and outdoor professionals, when Louv pointed out just how far removed many children — and adults — are from nature.

Even outdoor organizations play a role in separating youngsters from the outdoors, according to Louv, who also blames schools and families for the divorce of children from nature.

Richard J. Dolesh, director of public policy for the National Recreation and Park Association, said, “Richard Louv has become the spokesman for our age regarding the crisis we face in seeing a generation of children who are losing their fundamental connection with nature and the outdoors.”

Dolesh says Louv’s book and his personal advocacy have raised the national consciousness on the issue, especially for members of the National Recreation and Park Association and more than 1,000 public agencies across the country.

“If there is to be a next generation of young stewards for our parks and public lands, it will be in large measure due to the fact that Richard Louv has acted as a canary in the coal mine to wake us to the alarming prospect of a future in which there will be none who remain to take care of our parks, public lands and natural resources,” he said.

Louv is chairman of the Children & Nature Network. He speaks about a transformation in the relationship between children and nature and how society is teaching young people to avoid direct experiences in nature. He also describes a new body of evidence demonstrating just how important contact with the outdoors is to healthy child development, in a range of issues from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to child obesity and cognitive functioning.

National Park Service Director Mary Bomar said park professionals have a vital role to play in re-engaging the American public with nature.

“Our collective need is to stimulate a sedentary generation, to restore children to outdoor living and to connect with an ever-widening cultural pool of neighbors who should be visitors and participants,” she said.

“We offer programs and platforms to encourage the active lifestyles that are our most valuable weapons in the war against weight and personal isolation among our youth. Safe and accessible recreation facilities for all ages are a necessary part of the job of renewing the vitality of this nation,” Bomar said.

Louv also will be honored with the Walter T. Cox Award at an awards luncheon after the lecture. The award recognizes sustained achievement in public service on the firing line.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a book signing before the invitation-only awards ceremony and luncheon at the Madren Conference Center. Louv’s appearance is part of an ongoing program named for George B. Hartzog, a South Carolina native and influential former director of the National Park Service. The program has been administered by Clemson University’s department of parks, recreation and tourism management since 1978.

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