Nature & Environment on ScoutmasterCG Archive

The Philosophy of Camp Fires

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Kneel always when you light a fire – John Oxenham Sit at your camp fires conscious that it gives us more than heat and light. We have passed on the simple skills required to kindle a warming flame for millennia. We are united with the past around this common hearth gazing into the embers, dreaming dreams.

Archaeologists study centuries-old fire pits.

Evidence of fire remains for tens of thousands of years – use it reverently knowing that the signs it leaves will long outlive us. Fire is elemental – a powerful connection to the great cycles of nature. Fire releases sunlight stored by trees who grow from this old brown earth. Fire is the sun at our command. Laid within a little henge of stones, the circle of time, of the sun, of the orbits of the planets.

B.P.'s Blog - Nature Study

Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

Why is Nature Lore considered a Key Activity in Scouting? That is a question on which hangs the difference between Scout work and that of the ordinary Boys’ Club or Brigade.

Nature lore, as I have probably insisted only too often gives the best means of opening out the minds and thoughts of boys, and at the same time, if the point is not lost sight of by their trainer, it gives them power of appreciating beauty in Nature, and consequently in art, such as leads them to a higher enjoyment of life. This is in addition to what I have previously advocated in Nature study, namely the realisation of God, the Creator, through His wondrous work, and the active performance of His will in service for others.

Trophic Cascades and the Scout Law

Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

One of my favorite writers and noted American naturalist Aldo Leopold is, perhaps, the first to describe what is now known as a “trophic cascade”.

Leopold observed over-grazed mountain slopes and connected this with the extermination of wolves. How trophic cascades work, and how they can be restored is explained in this video about the far-reaching effects of the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone; Scouting provides young people the opportunity to understand how our own lives are woven into the fascinatingly complex web of life. This understanding has its own cascading effect. How we are connected to the web of life informs how we exercise our rights and obligations as citizens, how our actions affect these connections, and our solemn responsibility to act with integrity to protect and preserve our connections to the natural world.

Nature Based Recreation in Decline?

Sat, 23 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Here is part of the abstract of a report entitled “Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation” by Oliver Pergams and Patricia Zaradic.

After 50 years of steady increase, per capita visits to U.S. National Parks have declined since 1987. To evaluate whether we are seeing a fundamental shift away from people’s interest in nature, we tested for similar longitudinal declines in 16 time series representing four classes of nature participation variables: (i) visitation to various types of public lands in the U.S. and National Parks in Japan and Spain, (ii) number of various types of U.S. game licenses issued, (iii) indicators of time spent camping, (iv) indicators of time spent backpacking or hiking. The longest and most complete time series tested suggest that typical declines in per capita nature recreation began between 1981 and 1991, are proceeding at rates of –1.0% to –1.3% per year, and total to date –18% to –25%. … In conclusion, all major lines of evidence point to an ongoing and fundamental shift away from nature-based recreation. (The full paper is available for a fee at PNAS ) I have not read the paper(at ten dollars for the privilege to do so I’ll pass). The study reveals what many people have suspected all along – people are probably spending more time online, watching TV or playing video games than they did in the past thus allowing less time for nature based recreation.

The Vernal Equinox

Sat, 23 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Our old brown earth has, once again, wobbled through winter and brought spring to the northern hemisphere. As goes the old saying “the first day of spring and the first spring day may be far apart”. Take a few moments to welcome spring.

Emily Dickinson captured the sharp paradoxical heart of early spring in all it’s sweet sadness: The saddest noise, the sweetest noise, The maddest noise that grows, – The birds, they make it in the spring, At night’s delicious close.

Why Leaves Change Color

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Autumn’s crisp temperatures, fall colors and clear nights make for great camping.

Every Scoutmaster should know the answer to the question “why do leaves change color?”. Here’s some information from the United States Department of Agriculture: During the growing season, most tree leaves are green because they are full of chlorophyll.

Plants use chlorophyll to capture sunlight for photosynthesis, the process that enables them to manufacture their own food. The amount of chlorophyll is so high during the summer that the green color masks all other pigments present in the leaf. As the days grow shorter in the fall, chlorophyll production slows down and eventually stops. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that are present in the leaf then become visible. More information available at the USDA website

Scouting as Ecopsychotherapy

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Things that stand the test of time. like Scouting, begin with instinctive inspirations before they are explained scientifically. A growing field of psychotherapy recognizes the benefits derived from direct contact with the natural world.

Traditional therapies look inward for answers while ecopsychotherapy allows answers to be derived from contact with the natural environment.

Scoutmasters have seen the benefits of getting out in nature on their Scouts for many years.

Nature calms and focuses, soothes and quiets. For example Dr. David Busch agrees with a growing number of mental health professionals who believe that many people suffering from mental/emotional issues could be helped by spending more time connecting with nature.

Appreciating Nature Modifies Behavior and Shapes Attitudes

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

A recently published study from the University of Rochester asserts that Nature Makes Us More Caring “Stopping to experience our natural surroundings can have social as well as personal benefits,” says Richard Ryan, coauthor and professor of psychology, psychiatry and education at the University of Rochester.

While the salubrious effects of nature are well documented, from increasing happiness and physical health to lowering stress, this study shows that the benefits extend to a person’s values and actions.

Prayer of the Woods

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights, the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun, and my fruits are refreshing draughts quenching your thirst as you journey on.

I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table, the bed on which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat.

I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead, the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin.

Study Shows Nature Walks Alleiviate ADHD Symptoms

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

This article from the New Your Times reports that children with ADHD benefited from short walks in natural settings.

I wonder if there are even greater benefits to a weekend in the woods? A small study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign looked at how the environment influenced a child’s concentration skills. The researchers evaluated 17 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, who all took part in three 20-minute walks in a park, a residential neighborhood and a downtown area.

Walden

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0000

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Thoreau Walden is a record of Thoreau’s experiment with transcending ‘normal’ living in an attempt to understand the intrinsic nature of our existence. A weekend in the woods is Walden in miniature, a philosophical retreat. We build our home on a piece of ground and explore life devoid of schedules, petty distractions and expectations.

Kneel When You Light a Fire

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Kneel always when you light a fire.

John Oxenham

Sit at a campfire and be conscious of it’s greater significance than the heat and light it produces.

All cultures in all times knew the simple skills required to kindle a warming flame. We are united with them when we share this common hearth, it warms us, brings light and breeds dreams as we gaze into the embers. Archaeologists rely on the persistent remains of fire pits to identify and date centuries-old sites. That the evidence of fire persists for so many millennia suggests that we use it knowing that the marks we leave will long outlive us.