Save The Trail Coalition

Testimony -- December 10, 2009

before the Montgomery County Planning Board

Testimony Mary S. Rivkin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Good evening. I am Mary Rivkin, I live in Battery Park in Bethesda, and am a Professor of Early Childhood Education at UMBC. I am here to advocate for children having places to be outdoors.

The Trail is an important place for children in Lower Montgomery County. Children need to be outdoors and in nature.

There is a wealth of empirical evidence on the benefits of nature, such as reducing symptoms of ADHD and increasing fitness.

Comprehensive and recent reviews of such research can be read at

"www.childrenandnature.org.%20%20" www.childrenandnature.org. 

The State of Maryland has strongly supported this point with the Governor’s 2008 Executive Order on Children in Nature and its subsequent report on actions and policies the State should support in order to increase children’s access to and enjoyment of natural space (at www.dnr.state.md.us/).

In October, the Governor announced his “Children in Nature Action Plan for 2010” with its first item a proposal to acquire more land to connect children and families to nature, with trails and parkland.

The Capital Crescent Trail is an irreplaceable contribution to this endeavor—an urban linear park connecting children and families to nature. It is a perfect example of what is most important in bringing children into nature—it is close to many children. The term is “nearby nature.” Children no longer roam freely outdoors as in past generations, but rather need to be accompanied to natural areas.

The long stretch of trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring is accessible to many children and their families who bike and walk to it, and once there enjoy safe, uncomplicated exercise and pleasure. Because it is nearby to so many in the densely populated down-county area, it receives constant use. Anyone who has ridden bikes with children knows the overhanging fear of cars that shadows such rides; but once on the Trail the only shadows are from the abundant trees. In fact, the trees, shrubs, and wildflowers of the mature woods lining the Trail constitute an argument for the Trail as excellent “nearby nature,” rich in diversity, rich in vistas –think of the views of the creek valley in the changing seasons.

If we want children to grow to be healthy adults and stewards of the natural world, they need to experience the natural, unbuilt world. Unfortunately, two tracks with fast trains every few minutes hurtling by a narrow path landscaped with tiny trees cannot replace the singular stretch of beauty and peace that the Trail is now. No one will be able to call the proposed Purple Line “nearby nature.” And a further regret for the down-county children must be that “nearby nature” will not be increased elsewhere in the area.

Montgomery County, especially the Lower County, already fails the State standard for open space. More density and more infill argue against creating accessible nature places for children. Yet, of the ninety thousand peoplewho live in the Bethesda Chevy Chase Planning Area, about one in four is a child (birth to 17).

No one gains short-term profits from children’s age-old explorations of rocks, bushes, trees and streams. Yet, society, we all, gain from children knowing and loving their home place –first they love the Trail and Rock Creek Park, and then they love more largely, the whole planet.

George Eliot wrote in Mill on the Floss, “We never could have loved the world so well had we not spent our childhoods in it.”

Governor O’Malley has proclaimed an “Outdoor Bill of Rights” for children

http://www.governor.maryland/documents/OutdoorBillOfRights.pdf

www.governor.maryland/documents/OutdoorBillOfRights.pdf

I urge the Members of the Montgomery County Planning Board to conserve the Trail and safeguard these rights. A copy of this Bill of Rights is attached.

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