A widening circle of researchers believes that the loss of natural habitat, or the disconnection from nature even when it is available, has enormous implications for human health and child development. They say the quality of exposure to nature affects our health at an almost cellular level.

No other youth group like the Scouts has trained so many future leaders while at the same time being a nature organization with its outdoor focus.

Nature-the sublime, the harsh, and the beautiful-offers something that the street or gated community or computer game cannot. Nature presents the young with something so much greater than they are; it offers an environment where they can easily contemplate infinity and eternity.

As the nature deficit grows, another emerging body of scientific evidence indicates that direct exposure to nature is essential for physical and emotional health. For example, new studies suggest that exposure to nature may reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that it can improve all children's cognitive abilities and resistance to negative stresses and depression.

The real cultural war is between the culture of narcissism and what might be called the culture of renewal.

The future will belong to the nature-smart...Th e more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.

Most people are either awakened to or are strengthened in their spiritual journey by experiences in the natural world.