A BRIEF INFORMATION SKETCH ABOUT THE PROPOSED EVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER OF THE SOMERSET COUNTY PARK COMMISSION, NEW JERSEY Following is a very brief description of the proposed Environmental Education Center to be developed at Lord Stirling Park in Bernards Township, Somerset County. The complete Philosophy and Plan are contained in two reports, totaling 80 pages, which have been submitted to the Park Commission and Board of Chosen Freeholders as guide lines for development. WHAT IS THE "ENVIRONMENT"? Environment in reference to humans may be defined as not only our natural surroundings, but also our man-altered surroundings, including social conditions with their importance as factors in the physical, mental, and moral development of the human species or the individual. Perhaps the best definition is one given by a fifth grade boy who said, "Environment is what I eat, what I wear, what I breathe, where I sleep, what I do and if I don't, I won't." Environment is everything around us at any given time. WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION? Environmental Education is defined as that education which deals comphrehensively with both human resources and conditions and natural resources and conditions. It is aimed at producing a citizenry which is knowledgeable concerning problems that affect our total environment, understands how to be effective in helping to solve these problems, and is motivated to work toward their solution. WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER? An Environmental Education Center is a new concept of using land, physical facilities such as buildings and trails, educational equipment, and educators who are also well-trained naturalists, ecologists, and conservationists, to teach people about themselves and their interrelationship with their surroundings. The essential features are the land, the specially trained staff, and the effort to teach about the total environment of people, and not just about natural resources, or bird study, or conservation. The programs of such a Center are human oriented so that individuals who could care less about identifying birds or flowers will come to realize that they are a part of a complex, interwoven world in which their very existence has either a positive or a negative effect upon everything around them, including such things as water quality, air quality, and the quality of life for other humans. WHAT IS THE GUIDING PURPOSE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER? The Center has as its guiding purpose the stimulation of awareness and understanding of our total environment, natural and altered, among people of all ages by providing learning experiences that cannot be duplicated in any other type of facility, and to develop a sense of responsibility for the care and wise use of our natural resources. PROGRAMS? Programs will be conducted for all ages, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens, and for all interests. Many programs will be co-sponsored or co-operated by community organizations who may wish to work with the Park Commission or utilize the facilities of the Center. The Center will be responsive to the interests and the needs of the county. Program areas now contemplated include: 1) Teacher Education 2) Edult Education 3) Guided Group Visits 4) Natural History Field Schools 5) Naturalist aide Program 6) Vocational Education in Environmental Sciences 7) Civic Leadership Training 8) Youth Advisor Training 9) Naturalist Apprentice 10) Research 11) Consultation Services 12) Nature & The Arts 13) Dissemination of Information 14) Natural History Art Festivals. STAFF? The ultimate staff will include the Chief Naturalist, three interpretive naturalists, one "extension" naturalist who will be available for programs in areas other than the Center itself, such as other parks, and schools. Additional staff will include part-time paid instructors, volunteers, and supportive staff as necessary to ensure programs of the highest quality. With the full staff, it will be possible to directly teach between 25,000 to 30,000 people per year. Many others will utilize the Center without the personal guidance of a staff person by using self-guiding facilities, or just visiting to walk the trails or view the exhibits. FACILITIES Approximately 400 acres of the 750 acre Lord Stirling Park will be used for the Environmental Education Center. The land includes marshes, swamp (part of the great swamp basin), ponds, bogs, open fields, woods, the Passaic River, and numerous streams. On the land it will be necessary to construct an Interpretive and Education Building, with classrooms, auditorium, offices, exhibit areas, laboratory, library, Natural History Shop, and other facilities; trails, including boardwalks, landuse demonstration areas; conservation practices demonstration areas; facilities for the handicapped. Also proposed are a Planetarium and a combination Museum-Conference Center for interpretation of the history of the area, and to accommodate large conservation and environmental conferences. All of the Park Commissions park, present and future, will be utilized in the programs as well. DEVELOPMENT PLAN? It is proposed that development be carried out in 8 phases over a ten-year period ending about 1979-80. The major portion of development, including the Interpretive & Education Building will be done in the first 4 phases over four to five years to 1973-74. The Planetarium and the Museum Conference Center are deferred to the later 4 phases. FINANCING? The Somerset County Park Commission will seek County, Federal and State assistance for development. Such assistance has already been used in acquiring the land for the Center. Also, the Park Commission will seek assistance from Foundations. The North Jersey Conservation Foundation has given assistance already, and other Foundations will be approached. In addition to these sources of funds for development the Park Commission is hopeful that many individuals, organizations, businesses and industries in the region will support the development. Such assistance will be vital if the Center is to be developed fully to meet the needs of the County. Contributions large and small, will be sought. For operations, once established, the Center will rely basically upon the tax support funds given to the Park Commission annually for operations by the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Some operational assistance will come from the sale of merchandise in the Natural History Shop, and for minimal fees charged for some programs. COMMUNITY SUPPORT Somerset County needs an Environmental Education Center, as do most areas of the United States. Considerable community enthusiasm and support has been expressed already, but much more will be needed to make the Center a reality. Our Center will become an integral part of the county community, and can be a dynamic influence in the efforts to give present and future generations of county citizens a better environment and higher quality of life than we now enjoy. "For further information, please fill out the attached form. If a group of which you are a member is interested in learning more about the Center, please indicate this interest. If your group, or you as an individual, are interested in supporting the development of the Center, please indicate this also. Please detach and return to: Walter A. Jones, Chief Naturalist Somerset County Park Commission Environmental Education Center Project P. O. Box 837, Somerville, N.J. 08876. I am concerned about my environment, particularly in Somerset County, and I am interested in the Park Commission's Environmental Education Center. I would like further information as to how I might become more actively involved in supporting the development of the Environmental Education Center, either financially or through voluntary service. My organization may like to have a program about the Environmental Education Center, and I will contact you later for more specific arrangements. I would like to be included on the Park Commission Mailing List to receive further information about the progress being made in the development of the Environmental Education Center, and the efforts of the Somerset County Park Commission to help achieve a high quality of life for all of the people of Somerset County. DEAR MR. CHANEY: The report by Martha Wright in the June 1, 1970, issue of Conservation News was most interesting, and well done. However, it should be noted that the U.S. Office of Education is not the only tardy education establishment. Many state departments of education are just as slow to promote environmental education, and most, though not all, local school boards move even more slowly. Part of the problem arises because very few educators who are in the critical decision making positions know what "environmental education" is. There is a distinct and vital difference between environmental education and either conservation education or outdoor education. All three are separate in their objectives and methods even though all three, along with "nature education", have the same basic genesis, or rather all are along the same evolutionary line. Conservation education is that education which teaches the care and wise use of natural resources. As such, it is basically a subject, or a course content. Outdoor education is the use of the outdoors to enhance a school's existing curricula, whether mathematics, science, social studies, or whatever. Outdooor education is a method, or a body of methods and techniques. Important to understand here is that outdoor education conforms to the school's basic existing curricula, and changes the approach to teaching within that curricula. Therefore, it does not necessitate a change in content, or texts, or teachers, or administrative approaches. Environmental education is about 5-6 years old-still embryonic. Since most educators in administrative roles can not adequately define and do not fully understand either conservation education or outdoor education which are considerably older, it is small wonder that they are slow to grasp environmental education which, given the opportunity, will be revolutionary. If education is to change the attitudes which underlie most of our environmental problems, and bring forth the needed changes in application of technology, a "revolution" is essential. Environmental education is that education which deals comprehensively with both human resources and conditions and natural resources and conditions, integrating existing bodies of knowledge and extending research so that individuals more fully understand the complex bio-physical interrelationships of which they are a part, so as to achieve a citizenry that is knowledgeable concerning problems that affect our total environment, understand how to be effective in helping to solve these problems, and is motivated to work toward their solution. To initiate environmental education within a school system texts may need to be changed, or written, teaching methods will need to be reviewed and probably changed rather drastically, administrative systems may need considerable alteration. Outdoor education can be "applied" by one teacher with one class, but environmental education requires that the total school system be involved in the application of its concepts. Further, teachers have to extend their thinking and teaching beyond the confines of their particular specialties. Thus for example, a mathematics teacher must know enough biology to be able to teach 46-880 0-70- -26 |