If a child never sees the stars, never has meaningful encounters with other species, never experiences the richness of nature, what happens to that child?

We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see. Or hear. Or sense.

We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past--the portrayals of family life on such television programs as "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" and all the rest.

Reconnection to the natural world is fundamental to human health, well-being, spirit, and survival.

Nature is one of the best antidotes to fear.

Some kids don't want to be organized all the time. They want to let their imaginations run; they want to see where a stream of water takes them.

Prize the natural spaces and shorelines most of all, because once they're gone, with rare exceptions they're gone forever. In our bones we need the natural curves of hills, the scent of chapparal, the whisper of pines, the possibility of wildness. We require these patches of nature for our mental health and our spiritual resilience.