Outdoor Recreation in America

Hundreds of hosting organizations and partners – federal and local agencies, nonprofits, recreation businesses and more – made June 12 a day of outdoor fun for thousands of families – especially underserved and urban families with kids. National Get Outdoors Day (GO-Day) 2010 was the third annual GO-Day and united groups to combat indoor, inactive lifestyles which are fueling the nation’s obesity epidemic and threatening today’s children with shorter life expectancies than their parents. The national effort was again led by the USDA Forest Service and the American Recreation Coalition (ARC), but the 91 official GO-Day sites involved a varied mix of organizations in the natural resources, recreation, healthcare, youth services, and media fields. The partners were united by a shared belief in the mission of National Get Outdoors Day:

Unify public and private-sector interests in efforts to influence American lifestyles, especially among youth, in ways that maximize the physical, mental and other benefits derived from activities in the Great Outdoors through a focused effort to invite Americans to designated sites on a single day, as well as to highlight and assist the efforts of National Get Outdoors Day partners year-round.

The effort to reduce childhood obesity through outdoor activities has gained national attention this year. President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative (www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors) seeks to reconnect Americans to the outdoors. In addition, the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative (www.letsmove.gov), which aims to combat childhood obesity and help American families make good nutritional choices, added a “Let’s Move Outside” component on June 1, highlighting outdoor physical activity as essential to children’s health.

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was the special guest at the June 2010 Recreation Exchange, hosted by the American Recreation Coalition (ARC). Top federal agency representatives and recreation enthusiasts gathered on Agriculture’s Whitten Patio to hear the Secretary’s remarks about the Obama Administration’s America’s Great Outdoors (AGO) Initiative and for the presentation of ARC’s 2010 Legends Awards.

Harris Sherman, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment, introduced the Secretary and praised his key role in implementing President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. Mr. Sherman recognized the importance of outdoor recreation, particularly its ability to connect people to the environment, its contribution to the health of Americans, and its economic importance. He also noted that the upcoming National Get Outdoors Day (GO-Day) – which introduces children and families, many of them first-time public land users, to fun outdoor activities and outdoor recreation skills – was a prime example of the great work that can be accomplished through partnerships between land management agencies and non-governmental organizations, and he cited GO-Day as a wonderful way to connect people to their local national forests.

Washington, D.C. – Recreation community leaders, allies, friends groups and government agency partners gathered in Washington, D.C. to participate in briefings, events and celebrations of the many significant contributions of the recreation community during Great Outdoors Week 2010 (June 7-12).

Achievements of the Beacon Award winners, accomplishments of the Recreational Trails Program, the third annual National Get Outdoors Day, the need to build the connection between outdoor recreation and healthier Americans (with the help of some of the nation’s leading physicians), and more were addressed during the week. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack also served as the special guest at the June Recreation Exchange luncheon and helped present the American Recreation Coalition’s Legends Awards to exemplary federal agency employees.

Great Outdoors Week is coordinated by the American Recreation Coalition (ARC) and includes events co-hosted by more than a dozen federal agencies and national organizations. The week is a key component of Great Outdoors Month, a month-long celebration of outdoor recreation in America that also features National Trails Day (June 5), National Fishing and Boating Week (June 5-13), National Get Outdoors Day (June 12), the Great American Backyard Campout (June 26) and for the first time in June, National Marina Day (June 12).

To read the full report, click here.

Washington, D.C. – The 2010 recipients of the American Recreation Coalition’s Beacon Awards, which recognize outstanding efforts by federal agencies and partners in harnessing the power of technology to improve public recreation experiences and federal recreation program management, will be honored during Great Outdoors Week on Monday, June 7. Winners of the 2010 Beacon Awards are:

Washington, D.C. – The American Recreation Coalition (ARC) will present its 2010 Legends Awards to six federal managers in recognition of their outstanding work to improve outdoor recreation experiences and opportunities for the American people. The awards will be presented on June 10, 2010 during Great Outdoors Week – ARC’s celebration of the value and importance of outdoor recreation. Initiated by ARC in 1991, the Legends Award program calls on federal land management agencies to each nominate an individual whose extraordinary personal efforts have made a real difference in enhancing outdoor recreation programs and resources. The 2010 Legends Award recipients will represent the Bureau of Land Management, Federal Highway Administration, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service.

Winners of the 2010 Legends Awards are: William Boggs, Bureau of Land Management; Robert Morris, Federal Highway Administration; Dan B. Kimball, National Park Service; James E. Lynch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Nancy Haugen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Floyd Allen Thompson III, U.S. Forest Service.

Washington, D.C. – President Barack Obama and nearly all of America’s governors have proclaimed June as Great Outdoors Month. The proclamations, requested by a coalition of outdoor recreation and conservation organizations, celebrate the many special events held during June, including National Trails Day®, National Fishing and Boating Week, National Get Outdoors Day, National Marina Day and the Great American Backyard Campout, and the benefits of time outdoors to the health of Americans, young and old.

President Obama’s proclamation states, “America’s vast and varied outdoor spaces are a source of great national pride, and we have long strived to protect them for future generations. Our lands provide countless opportunities for exploration, recreation, and reflection, whether in solitude or with family and friends. During Great Outdoors Month, we renew our enduring commitment to protect our natural landscapes, to enjoy them and to promote active lifestyles for ourselves and our children.” Referring to America’s great outdoor spaces, the proclamation goes on to say, “These places are especially important today, as an increasing number of Americans, especially children, fall into unhealthy sedentary lifestyles.”

Washington, D.C. – Excitement is growing across the nation about plans for Great Outdoors Week and Great Outdoors Month 2010. Great Outdoors Month celebrates a variety of important events and actions that occur during June, and highlights the benefits of active fun outdoors and our magnificent shared resources of forests, parks, refuges and other public lands and waters. Great Outdoors Week (June 7-12) showcases efforts enhancing outdoor recreation for all Americans in the 21st century through awards, briefings and other events in the Nation’s Capital.

Great Outdoors Week is coordinated by the American Recreation Coalition (ARC) and includes events co-hosted by more than a dozen federal agencies and national organizations. Great Outdoors Week's action-packed schedule will feature a special presentation of the Beacon Awards – honoring innovative uses of technology in public lands management – at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, an ice cream social with “celebrity scoopers” from the public land management agencies followed by a walk on the National Mall, a presentation of the Legends Awards honoring outstanding public land management employees, the Recreational Trails Program award ceremony and briefing, a Recreation Exchange Luncheon, and a youth fishing event on the National Mall.

June is a special time to celebrate America’s Great Outdoors. Presidential recognition of Great Outdoors Week was begun in 1997 by then-President Clinton and has continued ever since. Since 2004, Presidential proclamation of Great Outdoors Month has come annually, celebrating a variety of important events and actions that occur during the month. Great Outdoors Month highlights the benefits of active fun outdoors and our magnificent shared resources of forests, parks, refuges, and other public lands and waters. Media attention to the proclamation triggers actions by millions of households and prompts public discussion of important issues linked to outdoor recreation, including volunteerism, health, and outdoor ethics.

Additionally, the majority of governors issue proclamations declaring June as Great Outdoors Month in their states, and many take further actions ranging from Governor’s Outdoor Conferences to hosting campouts for local kids on their state capitol grounds.

State proclamations of Great Outdoors Month 2010 will be posted here as they arrive.

To download the Great Outdoors Month 2010 Proclamations Powerpoint, click here.

• Presidential Proclamation
• Alabama Proclamation
• Alaska Proclamation
• Arizona Proclamation
• Arkansas Proclamation
• California Proclamation
• Colorado Proclamation
• Connecticut Proclamation
• Delaware Proclamation
• District of Columbia Proclamation
• Florida Proclamation
• Georgia Proclamation
• Hawaii Proclamation
• Idaho Proclamation
• Illinois Proclamation
• Indiana Proclamation
• Iowa Proclamation
• Kansas Proclamation
• Kentucky Proclamation
• Louisiana Proclamation
• Maine Proclamation
• Maryland Proclamation
• Massachusetts Proclamation
• Michigan Proclamation
• Minnesota Proclamation
• Mississippi Proclamation
• Missouri Proclamation
• Montana Proclamation
• Nebraska Proclamation
• Nevada Proclamation
• New Hampshire Proclamation
• New Jersey Proclamation
• New Mexico Proclamation
• New York Proclamation
• North Carolina Proclamation
• North Dakota Proclamation
• Ohio Proclamation
• Oklahoma Proclamation
• Oregon Proclamation
• Pennsylvania Proclamation
• Rhode Island Proclamation
• South Carolina Proclamation
• South Dakota Proclamation
• Tennessee Proclamation
• Texas Proclamation
• Utah Proclamation
• Vermont Proclamation
• Virginia Proclamation
• Washington Proclamation
• West Virginia Proclamation
• Wisconsin Proclamation
• Wyoming Proclamation

Will Shafroth, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, was the special guest at the April 2010 Recreation Exchange hosted by the American Recreation Coalition. Prior to taking his position at the Interior Department, Mr. Shafroth was a founder and executive director of the nonprofit Colorado Conservation Trust from 2000 to 2008. The group increased the pace and effectiveness of land and wildlife habitat conservation in Colorado, raising $18 million in private contributions, spurring the investment of $35 million into conservation projects, and leveraging $200 million in public funds. His efforts helped preserve 30,000 acres of wildlife habitat and open space.

Additionally, Mr. Shafroth was a key player in the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund (GOCO), serving as its first executive director. During his time with GOCO – which is funded by Colorado lottery proceeds – Mr. Shafroth oversaw the granting of $250 million for 1,600 projects that preserved 300,000 acres of wildlife habitat, ranchland and open space. The initiative built diverse partnerships with ranchers, sportsmen, conservationists, businesspeople and government officials, including state administrators and legislators. GOCO also established parks, trails, environmental education centers, a statewide cattlemen's land trust and youth conservation corps across the state. GOCO grants leveraged more than $1.5 billion in additional funding, said Mr. Shafroth, and became a catalyst in increasing the importance of the great outdoors in the lives of Coloradans. He noted that in 1992 there were only a handful of land trust groups in Colorado. Today, there are over 40. He explained that the Obama Administration is hoping to replicate Colorado’s success in increasing the relevance of the outdoors – but this time on a national level – with its first Administration-wide outdoors initiative – America’s Great Outdoors.

Mickey Fearn, The National Park Service’s (NPS) Deputy Director for Communications and Community Assistance, was the guest speaker at the March 2010 Recreation Exchange hosted by the American Recreation Coalition. Mr. Fearn has responsibility for NPS Communications, Public Affairs, Strategic Planning, Tribal Relations, International Affairs, Partnerships, Legislative and Congressional Affairs, Policy, State and Local Assistance Programs and Information Technology. His updated title and expanded role emphasize a new focus at NPS on outreach and communications efforts, especially to groups currently underrepresented among park visitors.

Prior to coming to NPS, Mr. Fearn played key roles in the Seattle city government. His accomplishments included creation of a Seattle Parks and Recreation Summer Youth Program connecting urban youth to the natural world while promoting personal responsibility and healthy lifestyles. In Seattle, he served as Manager of the City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative, Director of the City's Innovation Project, and Director of Seattle's Neighborhood Leadership Program. Mr. Fearn also served as a Washington State Parks and Recreation Commissioner for 12 years. Prior to his time in Seattle, he worked for the Governor of California, the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Mayor of Oakland, California.