During a walk in her community, Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, saw a young girl picking up paper in her yard. McAuliffe asked what she was doing, and the girl replied, “I’m picking up my world.”

“It was an affirmation of what I’ve long believed: Give children the opportunity to connect with the environment, and great things will happen,” McAuliffe said.

The Sierra Club recently honored McAuliffe with a leadership award for her support of hands-on outdoor environmental education programs.

McAuliffe sponsored the Senate version of House Bill 1677, the so-called Leave No Child Inside Act. The bill establishes the Outdoor Education and Recreation Program Account to give low-income and at-risk students a chance to reconnect with the outdoors. The 2007–09 state operating budget includes $1.5 million for the program, which will be managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Numerous studies suggest that students with access to high-quality outdoor education and recreation programs are more likely to stay in school, excel in science courses and be physically fit.

“If we give children the right tools, they will take care of our world,” McAuliffe said. “It’s as Frank Lloyd Wright said: ‘Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.’”