|
 The American Recreation Coalition has whipped the "Last Child in the Woods" public-relations frame into a stiff, self-serving, lather. They have done so with the full (though perhaps unwitting) support of the conservation community -- even though the outcome sought by the ARC's is antithetical to the interests of the conservation community which, no doubt, truly seeks the worthy objection of connecting children with nature.
The Outdoor Industry Association has likewise brought it's non-motorized access groups into the fray, while The Nature Conservancy went so far as to pay two statisticians to point out a NON-causal, and thus possibly meaningless, correlation that many are now saying actually links increasing video gaming by kids to declining visitation to the Great Outdoors. The researchers never claimed a linkage. They clearly stated that their protocols were incapable of linking cause and affect -- and yet the spinners of this yarn spin on.
THIS FRAME IS A RECREATION INDUSTRY-CREATED FRAUD. It is one great big put on -- one worthy of spinmeister Frank Luntz.
 The "We need to make public lands more relevant to youth" frame was created by and for anti-environmental, anti-wilderness, pro-industrial tourism forces. Its purpose is to RADICALLY TRANSFORM how public lands are managed and to refocus the emphasis of outdoor recreation from one set of traditional values to a replacement set created by industry for industry.
Its purpose is to ESTABLISH THE NEED for public land managers to bring the recreation industry into the day to day management of public lands --- because only the private sector can provide recreational experiences that kids will find relevant (or so we are being told).
For 25 years the ARC been working to replace wildness with mildness and nature with artifice. To accomplish their mission, they've used every trick in the book. They've even created a new toolbox for this purpose www.tools4outdoors.us , doing so in partnership with Ticketmaster Corporation and seven federal agencies.
Please do not be fooled by the ARC's new "Youth - Outdoors - Technology" campaign described in the appended January 26, 2007 ARC News Release. Once you realize it's smoke and mirrors, the fraud becomes quite transparent.
Scott
PS... Since 1999 I have been blowing the whistle upon this fraud. Learn more.
---- begin quoted ----
#01-07 (January 26, 2007)
American Recreation Coalition - NEWS
Contact: Derrick Crandall, 202-682-9530
NEW RESEARCH EFFORT WILL EXAMINE
YOUTH/OUTDOORS/TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION
Washington, D.C. (January 26, 2007) - Candid comments by a panel of young people active in the outdoors at the January 2007 Partners Outdoors national conference have sparked a research effort to better understand the relationship of the outdoors to today's American youth and the possible roles for technology in attracting them to, and improving their experiences while in, the outdoors. The research will combine resources of the Forest Service, the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks and the American Recreation Coalition (ARC) and will be field tested in Los Angeles in mid March 2007.
According to ARC President Derrick Crandall, the youth panelists at Partners Outdoors delivered two clear messages to the public and private recreation leaders gathered at Lake Arrowhead, California. First, parents should plan actions which increase young people's contact with the outdoors, even in the face of resistance and expressed preferences for time at malls and on computers. Second, federal, state, local and private recreation interests must assist by helping find ways for youth to enjoy time outdoors, whether pursuing traditional activities or utilizing new gadgets and technology.
Forest Service researchers and engineering staff reacted promptly, designing a pilot research effort to look closely at the relationship between pre-teen children and the outdoors. The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks will arrange for and host a diverse group of young people at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, an urban wilderness and recreation complex. Forest Service social science researchers out of the Pacific Southwest Research Station are developing research protocols and will be there to observe the activities. They believe that such observations, here and elsewhere, will have long-term national implications for providing outdoor recreation experiences that will make young visitors into lifelong outdoor recreationists. Debbie Chavez, lead researcher, said that these efforts build upon traditions of the Forest Service in the region, including the Children's Forest in the San Bernardino National Forest. The research is especially relevant in southern California, she noted, because of the multi-cultural nature of communities near the forests and the tradition of visitor interest monitoring for the four national forests ringing Los Angeles.
The Forest Service's San Dimas Technology and Development Center (SDTDC), a premier engineering cadre long assisting the Forest Service to develop emerging technology for natural resource management, fire fighting and other tasks, will play a central role in the research efforts. SDTDC Director John Fehr noted, "I've reviewed countless national forest plans and observed lengthy discussion of alternatives for habitat and natural resource management. I've never seen a discussion of alternative means to challenge the growing disconnection between youth and the outdoors." Fehr went on to say that if getting youth into the outdoors is a national priority, then forest plans need to address it and the SDTDC can assist in this effort by "exploring ways to reach kids with technology before and during their forest experiences and then provide practical guidance to forests on alternative approaches and new strategies, from podcasts to geocaching."
Jon Kirk Mukri, General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, a participant and panelist at Partners Outdoors 2007, has enthusiastically embraced the efforts of the Forest Service and the American Recreation Coalition to move forward in Los Angeles with recommendations for action developed at the three-day conference. He hopes that the "March 17 pilot program will lead to a sustainable national research effort equipping both the public and private sectors to better understand how to develop a strong link between America's youth and the outdoors in the Twenty-First Century."
The Partners Outdoors program was initiated in 1992 to draw together tomorrow's leaders from federal recreation-providing agencies and the recreation industry in order to accomplish two goals: (1) to reinforce an awareness of shared customers and interdependence of the public and private sectors and (2) to catalyze partnership-based actions to better serve recreation visitors to public lands.
This year's conference theme, "Unlocking the Fun and Benefits of the Outdoors to Urban Americans, Especially Urban Youth", is especially relevant in light of recent national publicity about decreases in national park visitation, a childhood obesity epidemic and the 21st century's changing American demographic. And making visits to the outdoors enjoyable and memorable by providing appropriate, diverse opportunities for healthy fun and learning for children and families is now a major focus of federal land management agencies.
-30-
|
- Privatization 
