From now until Earth Day, we invite you to read our daily staff tips on how you can make a difference for wildlands.

I think it’s important that our kids get outdoors and experience all that the wilderness has to offer. The thing that most people don’t know is that nature is closer than they think: we can find wild treasures in our own backyards and local parks, and on daily walks.

I remember my 5th grade teacher showed us bugs under rocks behind our school; that was one of the first times I was exposed to wilderness — that and a weekly hike with my dad through the woodlots and beaches near our house.

Previous Tips

Tip 1: Speak up for our nation's forests.

Tip 2: Leave no trace when visiting your favorite places

Tip 3: How to weigh in on conservation decisions

Today, kids can do what I did: try to count the different trees and birds on their walks to school or around town. And there are also many community activities young people can partake in to enjoy their wilderness, such as picking up the trash in their communities and working with their schools to adopt and care for their local parks.

On a broader scale, things are looking up for America’s youth and the outdoors. The “No Child Left Indoors Act” provides incentives for states to develop an environmental education curriculum that connects our students with nature. With this legislation, I am hopeful that every young person will have more opportunities to learn about nature, especially elements of the natural world — like water, soil, plants, and wildlife — that are basic components of our communities and our lives.

— Vera Smith, Recreation Planning Program Director, Denver, Colorado

photo: Young girl looking through binoculars, Olympic National Park in Washington. Photo by Jeff Fox.