The American Recreation Coalition, National Forest Foundation and their partners, including the Chicago Wilderness consortium, are concerned about the trends indicating a decline in outdoor recreation. These trends are receiving more attention due to a national movement inspired in part by Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. The book and movement recognize the growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating how important direct contact with the outdoors is to healthy childhood development, with emphasis on such health issues as ADHD, child obesity, creativity and cognitive functioning.

We seek to join together to actively involve youth in the outdoors, and connect with the next generation of caretakers of public lands. You are invited to contribute personally to this effort.

Please accept this invitation to participate in the Chicago Area Recreation Forum on March 22, 2007 from 8am-4pm at the South Shore Cultural Center (7059 S. Shore Dr., Chicago, IL). This event is one of five regional forums being convened across the country to explore issues surrounding public recreation, including the growing concerns over nature-deficit disorder. Broadly, these forums will:

• Document the importance of outdoor recreation to important societal goals ranging from improved physical, mental and spiritual health to improved educational systems, to economic vitality and deterrence of crime,
• Identify local and regional successes in increasing the quality and quantity of recreation opportunities, which deserve consideration for expansion and replication, and
• Explore approaches to better connect citizens, especially urban populations, with the benefits of forest system lands and other public lands.

Specifically, the Chicago forum will also be an opportunity for Chicago Wilderness members and others to:

• Identify opportunities to increase awareness within target audiences of local natural resources and their value to area residents;
• Share successes and identify common ground with new partners; and
• Position Chicago Wilderness and its members as leaders in the fields of conservation and environmental education, as protectors of resources critical to human health, and as providers of necessary community services.

The output from the March 22 forum will be used in a national forum to be held in Washington, D.C. in April that will engage national leaders in the public and private sectors. As a leader in environmental and recreation issues in the Chicago region, your presence will be crucial to ensuring that this forum adequately captures the important opportunities and challenges within this area.