CONSERVATION EDUCATION
Conservation education helps people of all ages understand, appreciate, and conserve our country's natural
resources. Through structured educational
experiences and activities, people can develop life-long skills and habits for understanding and
becoming involved in environmental issues.
While conservation education includes learners of all ages,
many programs focus on school age children. Integrating the
curriculum standards of schools into these programs is becoming
increasingly important. As finances become tighter for schools,
incorporating programs that do not meet these standards will
become more difficult.
Local partnerships involving school districts, state and federal agencies, universities and local
conservation organizations are often critical in developing and maintaining conservation education
programs. Broad-based partnerships ensure that the programs developed are balanced and focused on
teaching "how to think" rather than "what to think".
Conservation Education Resources
The Forest
Service Conservation Education Program strives
to connect American people with their environment. It provides
tools for effective participation in sustaining our natural
and cultural resources. This web page provides links to many
related web sites and other resources, including partner organizations
and grant information.
Through EE-Link,
NAAEE provides environmental educators with online access
to information about EE trainings, programs, jobs, events,
organizations and other important resources. EE-Link is funded
by the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP),
through the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental
Education.
With the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education (NPEEE) at Northern Illinois
University, NAAEE developed
"Guidelines for EE Materials". These Guidelines were used in reviews, published in
"The Environmental Education Collection: A Review of Resources for Educators vols 1-3", of over 100 popular materials.
NAAEE and NPEEE are developing for using these Guidelines in ongoing reviews of
new EE materials as they appear on the market.
GreenWorks! is the community
action, service-learning component of PLT, built around action projects that partner educators, students,
and communities. GreenWorks! blends service activities with the academic curriculum and addresses real
community needs as students learn through active engagement. PLT provides a
guidebook with practical pointers for getting
a GreenWorks! projects. GreenWorks!
grants are also available.
The Environmental Protection Agency's
Environmental Education Grants Program awards $2 to 3 million annually. Small grants of
less than $25,000 are administered regionally while large grants of up to $250,000, administered in
Washington, DC. A Solicitation notice and a fact sheet on these grants are available in PDF format. Applications
due in fall each year.
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![[Photo]: Western sandpiper](/common/images/winging_northward1_th.jpg) Winging
Northward, a distance-learning
project about migratory birds, is making its journey south. The
video project takes advantage of recent technology to make virtual
visits to Alaska’s
Copper River Delta a reality for schoolchildren across the Western
Hemisphere. More...
Conservation Education Links
- Cooperative associations, interpretive
associations and friends groups enhance the experiences
of millions of people who visit public lands. They operate
bookstores, develop publications and support interpretive
and educational programs. The Association
of Partners for Public Lands (APPL) is the
umbrella organization for these non-profit partners and
provides training, networking and other resources.
- NAAEE's
Affiliates Partnership is a network of professional environmental education associations
in 55 states, territories, provinces, and regions throughout North America and around the world.
Funding
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PARTNERING WITH THE FOREST SERVICE
