Draft North Carolina Environmental Education Plan,
Third Edition, Released For Public Comment

The N.C. Office of Environmental Education is pleased to announce the release of the Third Edition of the North Carolina Environmental Education Plan. The plan provides goals and objectives for environmental education in North Carolina and strategies for reaching those goals. The staff in the office collaborated with members of the N.C. Environmental Education Advisory Council over a 16-month period to draft the goals and objectives for the plan. The N.C. Environmental Education Advisory Council is made up of representatives from the academic, business, cultural arts, agricultural and environmental communities.

The office published the first N.C.Environmental Education Plan in 1995 following an 18-month process that included a statewide conference and regional meetings. However, the roots of the plan date back to the 1973 Environmental Education Act, the resulting 1974 Master Plan for Environmental Education and the 1993 North Carolina Environmental Education Act. The 1995 Plan, which was slightly modified in 1999 and currently serves as the state’s EE Plan, outlined a broad, long-range vision, and has performed extremely well as a guiding framework for the office and other environmental educators in North Carolina. The office hopes this new plan will continue the legacy of the current plan and will guide the state in building a citizenry that cares about the environment, has the ability to make sound environmental decisions and the desire to responsibly participate in activities that solve challenging environmental problems.

To make sure that the plan is representative of the state's environmental education community, the office is providing the draft of the plan for public review and comment. The final draft will include a table of contents, acknowledgements and an evaluation section. It will also have captions and credits on some of the photos. The plan is scheduled to be completed by June 30.

If you would like to provide comments on the draft plan, please review
the draft and complete the online survey by June 1, 2009.

Governor's proposed budget and N.C. Senate Budget Eliminate the N.C. Office of Environmental Education

Office status currently under review by House NER Committee

The Governor’s proposed budget, as well as the Senate’s proposed budget, recommends the elimination of the N.C. Office of Environmental Education, including six of the seven staff positions.

At this time, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural and Economic Resources is reviewing the status of the Office. When the N.C. House completes its version of the budget, it will go to a conference committee comprised of members from both the House and Senate. The joint conference committee will vote on a compromise budget bill. Once this bill is ratified by the General Assembly, it is sent to the governor for her consideration.

The Office of Environmental Education is currently maintaining all of its services and projects. EE News Tips will provide updates as they occur.

The Governor's version of the budget can be viewed in the 2009-2011 Recommended Operating Budget, page 78. The N.C. Senate's version of the budget can be viewed on Senate Appropriation Committee's report, under "Section H Natural and Economic Resources," page H-6, items 25 and 26.

N.C. Office of Environmental Education Receives
Walmart Stormwater Grant

Grant will aid in updating popular river basin materials

The N.C. Office of Environmental Education was recently awarded $99,075 from the Walmart Stormwater Compliance Grant Committee!

This grant will allow the completion of three important tasks as part of the Office’s adult education program. First, edits will be made to the river basin poster, booklet and eight of the river basin inserts that were created by the office and continue to grow in popularity. These edits will reflect river basin boundary changes recently adopted by the NCDENR Division of Water Quality. Second, this grant will provide funds to print more river basin materials to meet the current demand. Finally, we will take this opportunity to qualitatively evaluate the river basin publications.

“It seems odd that river basin boundaries would change,” said Rachel Smith, the office's adult environmental education program manager. “We think the river basin publications will be a great opportunity to explain why these changes are being made and will be able to help in the process.” The Division of Water Quality is making these changes in some of the coastal basins to align the boundaries with federal Natural Resources Conservation Service datasets which are based on natural features rather than political boundaries.

Since the Office of Environmental Education began producing the river basin materials, more than one million of the various publications have been requested and distributed. “We’re thrilled that these materials have been so well-received,” said Smith, “and we’re thankful for receiving these funds so that we can continue to provide a necessary resource and serve in an educational role while these changes are being made.”

President's budget includes Funding for National Environmental Education Act programs

The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) and the National Wildlife Federation have reported that President Obama's budget includes $9.038 million in funding for programs outlined in the National Environmental Education Act. NAAEE is working with Congress in hopes of increasing the amount to $14 million.

This news comes soon after the introduction of the No Child Left Inside Act on Earth Day in the U.S. House and Senate.

Funding for the National Environmental Education Act, the passage of NCLI, and funding for the University Sustainability Program would be an environmental education trifecta for NAAEE and other groups that support environmental education.

Details and updates on these programs will be covered in upcoming issues of EE News Tips.

North Carolina EE Week / Earth Day Blog
Continues to Grow

To bring to attention to the great
things happening in environmental
education in North Carolina, the Office of Environmental Education started a North Carolina EE Week/Earth Day 2009 Blog that features stories and photos from events around the state during the month of April.

The blog has really taken off in popularity and now showcases events and activities from across the state that were held during National EE Week, on and around Earth Day and on Arbor Day in North Carolina. "At first this blog was just a simple way of reporting on Earth Day and EE Week," notes Marty Wiggins, community development program manager with the office. "But we feel that it has now morphed into a guide for communities and agencies in planning events for 2010 and beyond. We've really been impressed by the variety and innovation exhibited by local communities, organizations and agencies. The photos are great too!" The office has made the blog a permanent feature of its Community Connections resource page, and may use it to generate ideas for a communty Earth Day events guide for 2010.

The blog is still active and entries are still being accepted. If you hosted or participated in a related event, send one or two photos (no more than two, please) and a brief story or press release describing your event or the activity you participated in to Marty.Wiggins@ncdenr.gov.

40th NAAEE National Conference to be held in
North Carolina!

The North American Association for Environmental Education has announced that its 2011 conference will be held at the Raleigh Convention Center. North Carolina's active environmental education community and infrastructure, including the Environmental Educators of North Carolina, the N.C. Office of Environmental Education and the N.C. Association of Environmental Education Centers, were certainly factors in attracting this major conference. Of course, it is still in its early planning stages, but information about this and the 2009 and 2010 conferences are available on the NAAEE Web site.

EE News Clips!
An environmental education news round up from around the state.

Environmental Education Center News
Stories about the EE Centers listed on www.eenorthcarolina.org!

Parent News
Updated list of articles related to children and caregivers.

EE School News
Stories about public and private elementary and secondary schools and education policy.

College News
Same as above, but from higher education.

Research and Resources on EE, Learning, and Behavior
Articles, reports and peer-reviewed literature on the benefits of environmental education

Informed Consumer News!

The Office of Environmental Education also maintains the "Eco-Smart Consumer" Blog and an Informed Consumer Section that has several lists of updated news articles that cover many topic areas, including farming, food, green building, rivers, outdoor recreation, energy, lawn and garden care and more. These article posts are part of our consumer education and healthy community intiatives. Check them out!