A COMMUNITY KEYSTONE

How Hartley Nature Center is affecting the health of our community

BY KATELYN KAMMER

This summer, I wrapped up eight months at Hartley Nature Center as an environmental education intern. I had the opportunity to teach, learn, experience and explore the park with students, campers and families from the community.

During my time there, I noticed an inclusive, adventurous and engaging spirit. Hartley is cool that way. Being outside connects so many of us in a multitude of ways. It centers us, inspires, motivates and provides us with the space to grow and learn.

From teaching school programs and camps to interacting with the public daily, I realized the positive impact the center has on our community’s health. There is a contagious passion from the staff to create memorable experiences with the outdoors and a healthy connection to nature. With Hartley Nature Center’s mission to inspire lifelong connections to nature through education, play and exploration, it’s clear to see how Hartley has filled our community with a brighter perspective of what it means to connect with the outdoors and develop healthy, lifelong habits starting at a root source: nature.

Not only does HNC offer educational programs for schools, engaging summer camps for kids, and member events for families and public programs. Hartley Nature Centers sits in the heart of Hartley Park, a local mecca for outdoor recreational activities. HNC provides our community with:

• 676 acre of trails, wildlife and natural land

• Affordable equipment rentals open to the public (cross-country skis, snowshoes, and kick sled rentals)

• School programs

• Promotes a healthy and active lifestyle

• Nature-based outdoor preschool

During my time at HNC, I had the opportunity to connect with enthused families and individuals renting equipment, running the trails, and exploring the park with a leisure hike. I hear excitement and comments about their enjoyment in nature, spending time with their families, connecting with the environment and engaging in healthy activities. Or when teaching summer camp and seeing kid’s eyebrows raise with excitement when they spot the tracks of a whitetail deer. Their enthusiasm is a reminder of the connections with nature I am inspiring and get to see firsthand. I hear parents rave about how their child attending the preschool has developed a healthy connection to nature through daily outdoor play and exploration. These are a few examples of how Hartley is sparking healthy connections and habits with the outdoors.

As I finished my degree this summer studying Public Health Education & Promotion at the University of Minnesota Duluth, I learned the extensive list of health benefits the outdoors brings an individual. Spending even a short time outside lowers stress and increases physical wellbeing. Even simply looking at a picture of greenery for a few seconds can improve a person’s mental health.

Experiences with nature teach us things that tablets, computers and books just cannot. A podcast released by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences explained that being outside stimulates a child’s creativity and spending time in natural surroundings encourages a positive intellectual, emotional and physical connection with nature. I spent some time talking with Judy Gibbs, an active member of the community with a long connection to HNC. When I asked Judy how Hartley Nature Center impacts the health of our community, she replied passionately, saying, “Hartley gives people safe and easy opportunities to get out into the world.”

Enjoying the outdoors is a great way to engage and connect with like-minded, outdoorsy members of the Twin Ports community. With the many hiking, biking, running, skiing, snowshoeing and walking trails available, Hartley Park has the perfect platform to engage with nature, family and friends.

There are endless ways to explore and connect with nature, which in turn teaches us to live a healthy and whole life. From the eyes of an intern, I have seen the community thrive at Hartley Nature Center. From toddler to grandparent, a connection with nature never weakens.

Katelyn Kammer is a former environmental education intern at Hartley Nature Center. She wrote this for Moms & Dads Today.