FOREST SERVICE WORKS TO IMPROVE CHILDREN'S HEALTH

FOREST SERVICE WORKS TO IMPROVE CHILDREN'S HEALTH

http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2007/releases/05/kids.shtml

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2007 - The U.S. Forest Service awarded a half
million dollars in matching challenge cost-share funds today to
improve children's health and close the widening gap between America's
youth and the outdoors.

In a noon ceremony, at the USDA Whitten Building, officials presented
awards to 24 Forest Service applicants and their partners from around
the country. The awards, matched dollar for dollar by agency partners,
will top $1.5 million. The projects will help improve children's
health, combat obesity, and connect kids to the land in a hands-on
way.

"This opportunity is important to us for a lot of reasons," said Gail
Kimbell, Chief of the Forest Service. "We can help address troubling
declines we see in the mental and physical health of our children. At
the same time, we can inspire future conservation leaders, who can
perpetuate the critical role nature role forests play in the quality
of life for Americans."

More than 250 groups vied for the awards. The Forest Service sought
proposals focused on underserved and urban youth; recreation and
conservation education; solid, broad-based partnerships; and
innovative techniques. Most of the projects, resulting from the
awards, will take place on national forests, which offer a myriad of
outdoor recreation and educational opportunities across the country.

Studies show a growing chasm between children and nature, which has
led to drops in physical and outdoor recreation. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, headquartered in Atlanta,
Ga. about two-thirds of young people, grades 9-12, do not engage in
recommended levels of physical activity.

Keynote speaker, author Richard Louv, whose scientific research
supports the Forest Service program and led to the book-Last Child in
Woods-drew attention to the distance between kids and nature. Nature,
he said, is as essential to childrens' health as nutrition and
adequate sleep.

Co-hosts for the event included the American Recreation Coalition, the
National Forest Foundation and ReserveAmerica.