At the Fund, we believe kids have a basic right to a healthy childhood.

With major advances in medicine, education and other fields, kids today should enjoy a higher quality of life than ever before. But children are developing chronic health conditions, such as obesity and depression, earlier and more frequently than ever before.

Researchers suggest that the decline in children’s health is linked, in part, to their growing disconnect from nature and outdoor activity.

Children’s disconnect from nature, if left unchecked, shortchanges their health and happiness now—and creates a future generation of adults who are less healthy. At the Fund, we also believe that young people who grow up without experiencing nature are much less likely as adults to be strong champions for protecting the outdoors.

You can learn more about the relationship between American youth and nature in  America's Great Outdoors: A Promise to Future Generations.” Released in early 2011, the report is part of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, which aims to reconnect Americans to nature. A separate Youth Report was produced based on responses gathered during 21 "youth listening sessions." In these sessions young people voiced a strong desire to spend more time outdoors and talked about challenges that made outdoor recreation difficult or inaccessible to them. Read more about the report > >

Our Efforts

The Fund's mission to protect America's favorite places includes conserving parks, trails, and recreational areas where families can enjoy the outdoors.  Read about some of our recent projects in Colorado, Delaware and Vermont.

We also have been a leader in bringing together corporations, educators, community planners, government officials and others to join us in our efforts to get kids outside.

Outdoor Nation—Summer 2011

Outdoor Nation grew out of the National Forum on Children and Nature, an initiative the Fund helped lead. The summits are an opportunity for young adults to meet and find solutions to the challenges that are keeping people indoors. 

Last year, we were a sponsor of the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit in New York City and contributed $50,000 in scholarships for youth leaders to move to the next level in their efforts to reconnect children with nature. This summer Outdoor Nation will conduct regional youth summits in New York, Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Atlanta. The Fund is providing $10,000 to each summit to help support the ideas generated at each gathering.

Outdoor Nation also offers other youth grants and resources to connect children with nature. Learn more >>

National Forum on Children and Nature

The National Forum on Children and Nature was a groundbreaking effort led by the Fund in collaboration with Rich Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods" and head of the Children and Nature Network. The 54-member Forum was made up of a diverse group of public and private leaders dedicated to improving children’s health and overall well-being, while encouraging them to rediscover America's outdoors.

In 2008, the Forum endorsed 30 demonstration projects nationwide that creatively reconnected kids with nature. These projects shared relevance, impact and an ability to be replicated, among other features.

30 demonstration projects

Would you like to help us protect land so kids have access to the outdoors? Make a donation today.