The University of Iowa has a great camp program, held at the Macbride Nature Recreation Area.
The mission of the camps has changed little. Our ultimate goal as educators is to guide each camper closer to a sound environmental ethic, an informed and conscientious concern for things wild. No matter where the camper is on that path, we hope to guide them towards that goal.
This is a great model for a summer program, and has caught the attention of the press.
Christopher Murphy-Veigelt, 10, is spending this week of his summer at the University of Iowa Wildlife Camp at the Macbride Nature Recreation Area, his second year at the camp.
Murphy-Veigelt admits "this is kind of different" from how he usually spends his time. At home, his outdoor experiences are in the forest near the house, in his hammock or playing badminton.
"I'm a computer nut, but I still like camp," he said.
The efforts of The Conservation Fund and NCTC is also mentioned in the article:
Beginning in 2006, The Conservation Fund, "Last Child in the Woods" author Richard Louv, and the Secretary of the Interior hosted a dialogue on how to reconnect children with nature, involving leaders from public agencies, corporations, the media and health and environmental organizations.
This year, the issue was revisited in a National Forum on Children and Nature. The group of leaders -- including the governors of Montana, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and South Carolina -- announced that the forum will invest several million dollars in 20 pilot projects encouraging children to go outside.
