National Great Outdoors Month
Outdoor recreation is a pervasive force in America, enjoyed by nearly every one of us and providing mental, physical, economic and social benefits. Recreation ranges from enjoyment of wildlife viewing to adventure sports like rock-climbing and PHV driving and is $250 billion per annum industry. June is an especially active time for recreation in America, with millions of us commencing summertime activities and hundreds of annual events and meetings ranging from National Trails Day to National Boating and Fishing Week, National Family Recreation Week to National Clean Beaches Week. Recognition of the value of recreation and the importance of June as a time of recreation activity prompted Presidential designation of June as Great Outdoors Month for the first time in 2004.
Dozens of organizations responded to the Presidential proclamation, organizing the Great Outdoors Month Coalition to coordinate both existing and new celebrations of the diverse and valued recreation opportunities across the nation, and especially those linked to America’s public lands and waters, which cover more than a third of the nation’s surface and attract billions of visits annually.
Why did President Bush proclaim the initial Great Outdoors Month in 2004?
The proclamation of Great Outdoors Month helped the President highlight a variety of initiatives. Events and themes he embraces include: active lifestyles to combat obesity, volunteerism to strengthen our communities and our shared legacy of parks and forests, protection of our environment and enjoyment of the splendor of the great outdoors.
What are the goals of the Great Outdoors Month?
We hope to use Great Outdoors Month to highlight the benefits of active time outdoors to people, to families, to communities and to the nation. We plan to show how recreation is a valuable means for education, and that volunteerism is a great gift-to the nation and to the volunteers themselves. And we hope to reach America’s youth with the message that outdoor recreation is a fun, healthy use of leisure time.
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