Great Outdoors Colorado

GOCO’s decision to revise its strategic plan creates an opportunity to call for more support of environmental education to help meet GOCO’s stated mission: "to help the people of Colorado preserve, protect, enhance, appreciate, and enjoy our parks, wildlife, trails, rivers, and open space through strategic grants, partnerships, and leadership." 

Your presence and comments during the public tour are important.  Speak and comment on aspects that are relevant for you.  Comments in support of environmental education in general will build understanding and context for a more detailed and specific recommendation that will be sent in writing to GOCO from CAEE. As you attend public meetings and send in comments to GOCO, consider the following.

Environmental Education in GOCO’s Strategic Plan
GOCO’s current plan includes several references to environmental education.  The current plan is available here: http://www.goco.org/About/StrategicPlan/tabid/109/Default.aspx.

GOCO has made important commitments to support environmental education:

• In the Overall Objectives section of the current strategic plan, GOCO states that one of the objectives it strives to meet through its grant program is: “Providing opportunities to engage youth in outdoor activities."  It further states that: "Youth activities and environmental education programs provide a significant opportunity to involve the future stewards of the state’s natural resources in the outdoors.”

• GOCO currently funds environmental education through the Colorado Division of Wildlife and State Parks.  This funding is crucial and should be continued and increased.

• GOCO currently provides funding for environmental education facilities.

Opportunity to Advance GOCO’s Mission through Education
The current strategic plan recognizes the value of environmental education and outdoor learning experiences, yet substantial and visible investments in environmental education programming have yet to materialize outside of Colorado State Parks and Division of Wildlife.  Much of the focus of current funding is related to infrastructure improvements.  These investments are valuable; however, in the new strategic plan GOCO has the opportunity to take the next step towards accomplishing its mission by demonstrating concrete and material support for education as a tool for helping people preserve, protect, enhance, appreciate, and enjoy our great outdoors.

The preservation and protection of our natural areas is essential, yet without education we are failing to prepare Coloradans with the understanding and critical decision-making skills that will help them meet their 21st-century responsibilities towards natural resources in Colorado. 

There is growing public concern that our nation’s children are increasingly disconnected from the natural world.  This disconnect leads to health problems, inhibits learning, and decreases childrens' interest in exercise and recreational activities.  There are many groups and initiatives that are working to build awareness and support to address this issue, including a Lt. Governor’s Healthy Children Outdoors Tour, Colorado Kids Outdoor Bill or Rights, Colorado Environmental Literacy Plan, and the Colorado Kids Outdoors Coalition.

Outdoor experiences are an invaluable component of environmental education, but without an educational component, simply "getting kids outdoors" can lack context, meaningfulness and lasting value.  The synthesis of "outdoor adventure" with hands-on, experiential learning is a powerful combination that forges lasting connections to kids' everyday life and context. 

Colorado has many individuals and organizations delivering quality programs to engage people more broadly in environmental education and outdoors programs.  However, many of these organizations operate with minimal support and Colorado currently lacks a well-organized structure to help coordinate, cooperatively identify and fund projects that work to ensure everyone in Colorado has the opportunity to learn about the environment where we live. 

Suggestions for Strategic Improvements
Consider suggesting the following improvements during opportunities for comment:

1.    Continue to support environmental education programs hosted by Colorado Division of Wildlife and Colorado State Parks.

2.    Fund innovative and collaborative environmental education programming targeting stewardship and outdoor skills and strategically focused on building and expanding partnerships with environmental education providers .

• With the increasing need for environmental education opportunities and informed citizens who can make responsible decisions about the environment, GOCO will need additional partners who can provide both access and educational programming in natural areas.  These community partners can help build a Colorado citizenry that understands the value of public land and outdoor experiences and who will become decision-makers who support Colorado’s natural places and resources.

• Frequent, long term, positive experiences in the outdoors (both formal and informal) are critical in reclaiming the health and learning benefits of nature and developing active, responsible citizens with a sense of stewardship towards the natural world. 

• Such an investment will also increase the effectiveness of current funding for Colorado State Parks, Division of Wildlife, and for environmental education facilities because these existing investments rely on community partners and the thousands of environmental education programs in the state that directly and indirectly supplement, enhance, and leverage this work.

3.    Provide funding to support statewide planning and implementation of efforts to increase understanding of the value and benefit of Colorado’s outdoor resources.  Current needs are:

• A comprehensive analysis of the availability and accessibility of nature and educational programs with strategic placement of new access in areas that currently lack these resources.

• An increase of opportunities for local, place-based environmental education and outdoor experiences.  For example, training for teachers on how to implement environmental education on school grounds and nearby natural areas with an emphasis on empowering learners to be stewards of the natural areas they play and learn in.

• Funding to support environmental literacy in K-12 schools.

4.  Develop a coordinated funding initiative with private sector involvement that would encourage strategic programmatic partnerships with underrepresented populations with experiences in local protected areas and parks, rivers, State Wildlife Areas, and State Parks.

• GOCO could create a grant program that would allow eligible grantees for its four funding purposes  (State Parks, Wildlife, Local Government, and Open Space) to apply for seed money to be matched by investments from the private sector (foundations and corporations).  This approach is similar in concept to Legacy grants and could help accomplish larger projects and connect smaller projects.

Why Environmental Education Matters
During opportunities to comment, use the following general supporting arguments for environmental education to build understanding and context for a more detailed and specific recommendation that will be sent in writing to GOCO from the environmental education community.

• Fosters a sense of place by connecting people with their communities, motivating individuals to participate in decisions that affect both the local and broader environment.

• Develops personal connections with the natural and cultural landscape of communities

• Provides critical hands-on learning and direct outdoor experiences for the intellectual and physical health of learners

• Improves overall academic performance, self-esteem, personal responsibility, community involvement, and personal health

• Results in a citizenry empowered to meet their future responsibilities regarding the environment.

• Builds decision makers who value natural spaces and outdoor experiences.

• Helps citizens understand how their decisions affect Colorado’s environment.

Contribute to a Written Recommendation
CAEE will be creating and submitting a written recommendation for GOCO’s Strategic Plan from the environmental education community and there are several ways to be involved.  If your organization would consider supporting a written recommendation or write a recommendation letter to GOCO please contact CAEE.  You can also submit any comments/suggestions for inclusion to the recommendation to CAEE.