Nature Patriot

An Independence Day Reflection on Nature & Nation

Patriot. 

What’s the first image that comes to mind when you read that word?

Raise your hand if the your thoughts veered dystopian to an image depicting a bald (head shaved?), White man brandishing an AR-15? If I’m being honest, this was my unfortunate first thought.

But it’s not right. 

Per Oxford Languages, a patriot is: a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.

I like this definition. In it, peaceful protest for human (and nature’s) rights – and against threats to those rights – is a means of defense and an embodiment of patriotism. 

I’ve participated in a lot of protests in my day – each one surrounded by patriots. In fact, in the 2017 Denver Women’s March the day after President Trump’s inauguration, I carried a hastily-Sharpied, corrugated cardboard sign reading “This is patriotism.” The people around me? Patriots. 

As my across-the-street neighbor hangs her U.S. flag on her front porch and my family prepares to head to the 4th of July parade, I’m taking a brief moment to reflect on the connections between nature-based learning, politics, and patriotism. 

Nature lovers

Ok. Similar exercise as above. Read the bolded question below and then close your eyes to picture it.

What does a nature lover look like?

Did you imagine hiking boots, hydration packs, and mountain bikes? Bullets, hooks, and motors? Binoculars, a raised garden bed, barefeet? A serene scene of a single person in a meadow or forest? Hugging a tree? A hunter posing behind a downed elk?

Here’s what Substack’s AI image generator thinks of:

nature lover

Oxford tells us: A nature-lover is a person who enjoys spending time in the countryside and observing wild animals and plants.

This definition is limiting. And static. Does your picture of a nature-lover align with it? I can conjure up dozens of images that don’t match – but are indeed people who love nature. 

I prefer Wiktionary’s definition: A nature lover is “a person who has an intense interest in the natural world, especially one who frequents natural places for enjoyment and recreation.”

This definition is expansive and captures one of my fave parts of nature and humans. It’s probably part of why I’ve gravitated toward this as my life’s work. Because I love things that bring us together, and nature is a powerful unifier. 

In his closing remarks at the last two International Children & Nature Network conferences, @Richard Louv (author of Last Child in the Woods), described children and nature advocates’ cause as “hopeful” and “happy.” 

I love hope and happiness. And, I can’t just float around in hope and happy – I also love getting $h!t done. Which is why I love-love-love nature connections in schools and, specifically, nature-based learning through nature-based learning practices. 

It actually makes way for a new term I’d like to define - a nature-patriot.

A “nature patriot” is: a person who vigorously supports Nature and Nation and is prepared to defend human-nature connections for hope, happiness, and unity.

Georgia

Which brings me to Georgia. Last year in Atlanta, during the Children & Nature Network’s conference, I listened to Senator Sheikh Rahman from Georgia’s 5th District talk about how getting folks to sign onto legislation in support of outdoor learning was easy. He remarked on how nature brings people together across political divides. Though experiences of, in, and with nature differed, people caring about nature appeared near-universal. 

Led by Senator Rahman, in March of 2021, Georgia senators passed a statewide resolution to create an Outdoor Learning Study Committee. It passed with 47 yeas (did anyone else think this was spelled “yays?” Just me? I like it better that way in this particular instance. Happier. Anywho…) This resolution kicked off a statewide exploration of how outdoor learning can support health, wellbeing, and education of Georgia’s children. 

Rahman said¹, 

“We…know that outdoor learning improves children’s academic performance, focus and behavior—and helps inspire a love of learning. Expanding outdoor learning opportunities can help all of our students thrive.”

Yes.

The report generated from this study (informed by tons of powerhouse experts) included lots of rad recommendations. Here are some of my faves:

• 🌿🍎 An explicit focus on outdoor learning in teaching programs (e.g. training teachers in nature-based learning practices)

• 🌿💵  funding or other support to ensure that each Georgia child participates in regular, meaningful outdoor learning experiences on campus (aka nature-based learning) as well as field trips to natural areas, outdoor learning facilities, and/or residential environmental education centers

• 🌿📚creation of a grant program…that would increase educator capacity through educator training and teaching supplies, improve learning spaces at schoolyards and nature centers, and fund travel to and costs of visiting nature centers or hosting nature-related programs at school.

What I love most is that the recommendations traverse the whole Pyramid of Nature-Connected Learning – and include explicit support for nature-based learning and nature-based learning practices.

Nature-Patriots

Georgia — and other places, from Nebraska to New Mexico — have built a trail where nature-patriots can shine.

We need this. The hope. The happy. The unity. Especially in schools.

In case you haven’t read, local school boards across the U.S. are increasingly becoming battle grounds where we work out our Nation’s deepest divides. Masks as individual rights embodied or violated. “Woke” teachers. Gender neutral bathrooms. Charters, choice, parents’ rights. Girls as fragile vessels. If you are in the mood for something truly chilling (pretty far from the happy-hope toward which I gravitate), listen about how rightwing extremists are leveraging local school board elections to drive voter turnout for state and national rightwing candidates.  

I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say this: the so-called ‘school board wars’ are an attack on Democracy. An attack on our Nation. From within.

A solution? More patriots. More patriots armed with achievable strategies that unify rather than divide. Nature-patriots ready to advocate for nature-based learning in schools.

We need school board members – from across the ideological and political spectrum – to embrace hope and happy and to unite around children’s wellbeing and learning through outdoor nature-based learning. We need parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and EVERYONE who cares about students to do the same.

Here’s to a healthy 4th of July for all. We’re going on a family bike ride today. Keeping our nature-patriotism close to home for the day.

-Becca

1. https://www.childrenandnature.org/resources/georgia-senate-committee-to-study-opportunities-to-expand-outdoor-learning/