National initiative pushes for nature-based learning, Miami kids among first to participate

Nicole Zummar/ Staff Writer

nicole.zummar@fiusm.com

Miami will soon launch a program under the supervision of the United States Department of the Interior.

On Friday, March 13, the United States Secretary of the Department of the Interior held a small event at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove to formally inaugurate the Youth Initiative of the Department of the Interior.

The initiative’s purpose is to have more children connected with the outdoors and develop an appreciation for the natural assets around them. The goal is to develop these opportunities in 50 cities, with Miami being one of the first 10 that will launch the program in partnership with the Young Men’s Christian Association.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has ambitious goals for the initiative, among them are to have 10 million kids playing and learning in the outdoors, one million volunteers across the United States’ public lands and 100,000 jobs for young people as scientists, park rangers and more across America’s backyard each year.

The event began with opening remarks from Pedro Ramos, superintendent of the Everglades National Park.

Ramos introduced Tomas Regalado, mayor of Miami, who expressed his support to Jewell and the Youth Initiative and his excitement to have Miami participate in an “initiative for the United States’ future” as the first city to publicly announce it.

Following Ramos’ remarks, Jewell performed the official announcement of the program and expressed her delight to be not only in the warm Miami weather, but also “in a city that is surrounded by such natural beauty.”

According to Jewell, from a young age, she has always maintained herself engaged with the outdoors and has visited many of the United States national parks and public spaces, from hiking in the Wichita Mountains during her job in petroleum engineering in Oklahoma, paddling in the Buffalo River in Arkansas, to the exposure of public lands in Seattle as chief executive officer of Recreational Equipment, Inc. and finally as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

“The common thread that runs through all [my jobs] I would say is the love for the outdoors,” Jewell said, “It has driven where I lived and how I’ve volunteered my job and it has been all of those volunteer experiences that have led me to this job.”

Children are the driving force of this initiative. According to Jewell, children have become disconnected with nature. Today, they spend an average of 44 hours a week in front of a screen compared to 30 minutes of unstructured play in the outdoors.

“When adults are telling you what to do all the time, you’re not learning how to be creative…seeing things that you might want to find on your own,” Jewell said, “Most of us grew up with some kind of place—it could be a vacant lot, a little creek—that helped shape our childhood.”

Jewell feels that many children today are missing out on these types of places and that something must be done.

“We need to get more children engaged with nature and the great outdoors because it feeds their soul,” she said.

With an amount of $5 million in funding with American Express, the initiative is already seeking to begin implementing plans with YMCA to have a growing number of children playing and learning outside.

There will be a full-time employee in the YMCA of South Florida who will be coordinating the resources to get kids connected with the public lands.

The Department of the Interior aims to have children feel welcomed in Miami’s public lands, from the Everglades to Biscayne Bay to local parks and natural areas.

“[Children] are going to understand what’s happening with the Everglades and why they need to restored. Your children will be charting a course for [Miami and its public lands] for the future,” Jewell stated. “It is our job to create an environment for these children to really love and respect the outdoors.”