May Newsletter

Los Angeles Kids Making the Outdoors Home! 

As summer ramps up some urban kids from Los Angeles have already had a taste of the outdoors thanks to support from Los Angeles Wilderness Training. These girls, along with about 15 friends from A Place Called Home, were out at Chilao Campground enjoying some springtime outdoors! 

The National Park Service wants Everybody Outdoors!

Through their newly launched Find Your Park campaign and as part of the roll-out of their centennial celebrations in 2016, The National Park Service is aiming to get 4 million fourth graders outdoors. But we're also thrilled that they're reminding us -- through the #findyourpark videos -- that parks aren't just far away iconic spots like Yosemite and Yellowstone but rather places near and far where you find "pride and gratitude and fun!" While still a journey in process, we think this is a terrific step forward to making the parks more welcoming to all.  

The National Park Service says #FindYourPark!!  And they don't just mean National Park, they mean ANY park! 

More outdoor leadership trainings and a big thanks to our newest sponsors! 

Both Tara and Jill, Outdoors Empowered Network staffers, instructed a recent wilderness course in Tahoe National Forest. Check out more pics from this wild-weather-Wilderness Leadership Training on BAWT's facebook Page
 

We're thrilled to announce that we've received incredibly generous support from two terrific corporate sponsors this spring. Keen Footwear and Eureka! Both donated a LOT of gear that we've passed on to our member organizations around the country so they can camp and hike and have fun outdoors this summer!  Thanks Keen and Eureka! We couldn't do it without you! 

Toni tells us: Why we Camp in Chicagoland!

Written by Toni Preckwinkle, President of the Board of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. 

Mrs. Preckwinckle, we couldn't agree with you more!  Thank you for your leadership!  The campsites are now OPEN!

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This summer, as we head into the final stretch of our centennial celebration, we’re extremely proud to reintroduce camping to Cook County residents and visitors for the first time in more than half a century.

The first site to open, Camp Shabbona Woods in South Holland, will welcome campers beginning Memorial Day Weekend, Friday May 22, 2015. Additional sites in Willow Springs, Northbrook, Oak Forest and Palatine will open throughout the summer, offering tent campsites, RV campsites, small and large cabins for families, groups and couples of all ages and interests.

This achievement has been a long time in the making. Conversations early in my first term led to the development and release of an extensive Camping Master Plan in January 2013. Since then, we’ve completely reimagined these campground locations, adding cabins, tent pads, shelters and fire rings, while updating bunkhouses and dining halls. We’ve brought on experts in site management and reservations. And we’ve developed programs to help our guests learn camping skills and engage with the surrounding landscape. The Forest Preserves has invested approximately $30 million in the campgrounds to date.

Why such an investment? Simply put, camping has a unique ability to connect us to nature and one another.  When we camp, we step outside everyday routines. We come together while preparing and sharing meals. And, of course, we share the wonders of the natural world, from watching a wood duck take off across the water to learning the constellations of the night sky.

And while camping can certainly require expensive gear and hard-won skills, it needn’t be that way. Camping can be for everyone. With a range of lodging, training and gear options, we aim to make camping easy, affordable and enriching for both seasoned outdoors enthusiasts and first-time campers.

I hope you’ll learn about all our new offerings in this month’s Forest Way and visit fpdcc.com/camping to learn more about Forest Preserves of Cook County Camping. Camping is the kind of experience that can change a life. I believe it has the power to create generations of Cook County residents more strongly connected to their forest preserves than ever before.

Taken from a previously posted BLOG by the Forest Preserve of Cook County.  Toni Preckwinkle is the President of the Board of the Forest Preserve, one of Outdoors Empowered Network's most important partners in the midwest.  We are supporting them with consulting assistance as they incorporate a gear library and training program (called the Camping Leadership Immersion Course or CLIC program) in one of their FIVE new campgrounds.

March Newsletter

Political Momentum for Getting Kids Outdoors!

Ironically, I was camping with my own kids when the much anticipated Every Kid in a Park initiative was announced last month. President Obama's pledge to provide all fourth grade students and their families' free admission for a year to national parks and other federal lands and waters signaled a major policy shift in support of our efforts to get kids outdoors. I was late to the breaking news...I guess I should go camping more often!

Here in California, the political momentum was furthered by Assembly Bill 988, introduced just a week later by Assembly Member Mark Stone (D - Monterey Bay) and Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins (D - San Diego). The proposed legislation would provide education about the environment and outdoor recreation for California children, prioritizing opportunities for underserved and at-risk students. In introducing the concept, Stone said, "In many underserved communities, participation in outdoor environmental education and recreation programs are the only exposure kids have to nature and the environment."

And lastly, Secretary Jewell continues to champion the cause by attracting corporate partners to support her Play, Learn, Serve, and Work initiative. Most recently American Express signed on to the tune of $5M to support work in 50 cities!

We're encouraged and working hard to position Outdoors Empowered Network and our member affiliates to leverage and support these exciting initiatives!

Help us get more kids outdoors. Donate now!

Save-the-Date!
Our 2015 National Summit is coming. November 4-8, San Francisco. Read more >>

Looking for an outdoors skills training near you?
Check out what our member affiliates are doing in the SF Bay Area, Boise, Chicago, Seattle, and Southern California. Read more >> 

In the News!
Our member affiliate, Washington Trails Association, is featured in the April issue of Sunset Magazine, on newstands now (shown on the left).

Copyright © 2015 The Outdoors Empowered Network, All rights reserved. 
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A Successful Summit!

We did it!

"As a gear library manager, it was extremely helpful to speak with and brainstorm with operators of other gear libraries around the country. I was able to broaden my perspective and see the bigger picture. I got tons of useful and practical ideas that I am going to try to implement at work here in the Bay Area."-   

Ashley, Bay Area Wilderness Training Equipment Manager

This month, ten organizations from across the country came together in California to attend the first ever Outdoors Empowered Network National Summit!

Nestled in the gear room of our local affiliate, Bay Area Wilderness Training, we swapped stories, discussed challenges, and planned for progress. With each organization presenting on their current work and hopes for the future our common missions and goals came to the forefront of the conversation. As a growing network made up of organizations with incredibly varied capacities, working in very different parts of our organizational life cycles, peer groups formed.  As a growing network made up of organizations with incredibly varied capacities working in different regions, peer groups formed between organizations, and as action oriented as this crowd is, calls were set up that will take place this month.  These exciting, early conversations will continue!

Ultimately, we were all there for one reason - to connect and grow our network that empowers youth through the outdoors, by training and providing gear to the adults that work with them everyday.  

Soon, resources were being shared and challenges sought to be overcome through 
encouragement and collaboration. We received fabulous insight from thought leaders like Mary Roscoe and Dr. Nina Roberts only to have their words spark more ideas and methodology.

On our final day, we toured the Camping at the Presidio Program to witness first hand what a campground placed in the middle of a city could look like. Our guide Zak spoke to every aspect of running an urban camping program: how to manage the land, store gear, and build community involvement. 

Zak Klein shows off the Camping at the Presidio program's drying room for wet gear. 

Over the course of the three days, our energy only grew stronger, and the words "We are the Network" kept coming to fruition in all conversations. Through partnerships and friendships we watched our Network grow enormously in three short days - and we're still looking up. 

If you missed the action and want to learn more - we want to share with you. Take a look at our Summit Resources to learn from the presentations and handouts. Or scan our photo gallery to see what this year's activities looked like.  If you know of a person or organization who might like to be involved, we'd love to hear from you!