One Denver nonprofit agency is using Great Outdoors America week to highlight the role of Colorado’s natural resources in the fight against childhood obesity.
GO Week takes place in Washington, D.C. and aims to raise awareness of outdoor issues including conservation and how outdoor recreation benefits states' economies. Colorado Senator Mark Udall is among a group of Congressional representatives being honored at an event Wednesday.
In the Denver metro area, Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK) works with roughly 20,000 students each year, using fishing and other outdoor activities to teach them about nature. The group’s leaders say Colorado’s rivers are a great source of both exercise and better nutrition for the kids they serve.
"They’re standing up, they're moving around. They're bending over to get worms to put on their hook," ELK CEO Stacie Gilmore tells Colorado News Connection. "You can eat fish, which is a wonderful source of healthy protein."
This week, ELK is joining 17 other national organizations in asking for First Lady Michelle Obama’s support for more funding for outdoor recreation through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. That fund uses a portion of royalty fees from offshore oil and gas drilling, rather than taxpayer money, to support parks and outdoor spaces.
In other outdoor news, earlier this week Colorado congresswoman Diana Degette reintroduced a bill to protect 750,000 acres in Colorado as designated wilderness. The proposal is similar to one DeGette offered in 2011.
