COMMUNIT Y the local spotlight
For more information on similar programs, check out these sites online: Desert National Wildlife Refuge: fws.gov/desertcomplex/ Get Healthy Clark County: gethealthyclarkcounty.org/ Get Outdoors Nevada: getoutdoorsnevada.org/ Nevada’s Safe Routes to School: walknevada.com/ Sierra Club, Toiyabe Chapter: nevada.sierraclub.org/
Around 50 people piled into buses and rode up
daughter Samantha on every trip, says, “I’ll
“We needed a central rallying point for the
to Mt. Charleston for the first Families in Nature
continue doing it as long as they have it. I know
idea that it’s critical to get children outside
outing, a blue butterfly-watching excursion in
with budget cuts, it might not last, but I hope we
to have some of those basic, elemental
April 2009. Since then, the increasingly popular
can find sponsors to continue it. It’s so helpful to
experiences they are cut off from,” Baca says.
program has taken families on similar outings
my family and the other families we’ve met.”
The Nevada Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights
So, how do you find out if there’s something
Alliance (COBRA) conducted focus groups
like Families in Nature in your area? One way is
identifying outdoor activities that appeal
to visit nvoutdoorkids.org, the web site of the
to kids. Then it built the online portal and
Nevada Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights. It’s
launched a marketing campaign directing
a clearinghouse for information on camping,
them to those activities. “People of all ages
Varela-Wynants attributes the success of the
fishing, hiking trails, picnicking, parks, and
tend to think everything around Las Vegas is
program to cultural sensitivity. After a failed
other outdoor recreation in Nevada.
barren wasteland,” says Angelina Yost, visitors’
every other month to Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, and other sites around Las Vegas. The Nevada Recreation & Park Society recognized Families in Nature with a Program Excellence award for 2011.
attempt to have families meet at one site, she understood that participants wanted to share the ride out. Observing frequent family picnics in the neighborhood, she encouraged program participants to provide the food for potluck lunches. “They really took ownership of it,” Varela-Wynants says. De Regalado, who took her four-year-old
b l vd s l v. c o m
Led by the Public Lands Institute, with initial funding from SNAP, some 40 institutions have joined forces behind the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights. Several other states have
services manager for the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex. “They don’t realize there are seven million acres of public land surrounding Las Vegas Valley.”
adopted similar bills for their children, and it
Funding for such awareness-building will
was important for Nevada to follow suit, says
soon end, but Baca says Outside Las Vegas
Mauricia Baca, executive director of Outside
Foundation will keep the momentum going.
Las Vegas Foundation.
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family/kids/pets
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