At four feet six inches, 9-year-old Lexi Monroe isn’t much taller than the clump of native bunchgrass she is trying to plant. Her knees are sinking in mud, and her shovel is losing its battle with the hard-packed soil. But the freckled fourth-grader is steadfastly determined to get her plant in the ground at her school’s backyard “wetland” in Bowie, Md.

Monroe and 36 of her classmates at Rockledge Elementary are spending the warm spring morning installing vegetation under the guidance of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Carolyn Kolstad. The knee-high trench behind the school serves as a living laboratory. There the youngsters learn how to build habitat for local wildlife and receive a first-hand lesson in environmental conservation.

As director of the Chesapeake Bay Field Office Schoolyard Habitat program, Kolstad provides biological expertise, onsite technical and design assistance and hands-on training for teachers and students. The students in the program are involved every step of the way, from planning and design through grant writing, planting and community outreach. The Schoolyard Habitat program not only teaches children about natural systems, Kolstad says, but it also sows seeds of conservation in their budding young minds. “This may be the first time some of these students have ever planted a plant,” she says. “The experience can forge a life-long connection to the natural world.”

For years, Service employees have been helping children connect with nature through the lessons at refuges, hatcheries and field stations across the country. In Chelan County, Washington, for example, high schoolers in the "Kids in the Creek" program learn to assess stream health by identifying aquatic insects. And in Ferug Falls, Minn., students at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center spend a semester studying traditional subjects in an outdoor learning environment.

Today with many children immersed in the virtual reality of television, video games and I-pods rather than the natural reality outside their front doors, this work has become more important than ever.

In his book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder," Author Richard Louv chronicles this growing disconnection with nature. He argues increased urbanization, parental anxiety, residential development restrictions and structured play have kept children on a tight leash. This separation from the nature, Louv warns, can result in physical and mental ailments — such as obesity to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder — and erode future support for conservation.

“If this gap between children and nature continues to widen,” he asks, “where will future conservationists come from?”

Kolstad sits on the ground behind Rockledge Elementary, encircled by a gaggle of young onlookers as she explains the intricacies of wetland plant plugs. She describes the different plant characteristics — roots, leaves, and in some cases, flowers — and explains that wetland plants have a unique ability to live under water.

Her words are sinking in.

“The Chesapeake Bay is a really good resource,” says student Lisa Chen, 8, as she carefully pats the soil around tiny vegetation that will soon be submerged. “The Bay gives you food and powers the city.”

"Nitrogen and phosphorus makes the fish die in the Chesapeake Bay," pipes in 10-year-old Taylor Peterson. “A wetland is a natural filter. It gets out all the chemicals.”

Kolstad’s duties as a teacher extend to her role as a member of the Service’s Children and Nature Working Group and her life as a working mother. She says she spends most of her “free time” with her 2-year-old son playing outside and exploring the universe of living things in her own backyard. For her, connecting children with nature isn’t a job; it’s a labor of love.

“The Service’s children and nature initiative is important to me because I can see the connection kids are making with the outdoors,” Kolstad says. “I see it in the eyes of children I’ve been fortunate to meet in my experience at work, and I see it in my own child’s eyes. It’s gratifying to know the passion I have for the outdoors is being passed to the next generation — not because I tell them they should have this passion, but because they have been given the opportunity to discover it on their own.”

To read this article in its entirety, along with other U.S. Fish and Wildlife children and nature stories, go to:
www.fws.gov/news/pdf/News_SuFall07.pdf

For more information about the Service’s children and nature initiative, visit www.fws.gov/children/ or e-mail Janet Ady, chief, Division of Education Outreach at the National Conservation Training Center, at janet_ady@fws.gov.