Screenshot of the panel discussion during Conservation Breakfast. Clockwise from upper left: Land Trust Board President and moderator Jane Guiltinan; Land Trust Preserve Manager Carrie Clendaniel; local educator Matt Orr; and Land Trust Education Coordinator Devon Buckham.
Thanks to everyone who attended our virtual Conservation Breakfast on March 6! This year’s program, “Connecting Kids and Nature through Outdoor Education” was one of our most inspiring yet, with insightful words from keynote speaker Richard Louv, Land Trust staff and board members, local educators and students, and community and Tribal members.
We were honored to begin the event with warm words and a blessing shared by Dana Ward, member of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council. Following welcoming remarks from Executive Director Richard Tucker and Land Trust Board President Jane Guiltinan, who moderated the event, the 100+ participants enjoyed a fascinating presentation from Richard Louv, author of the groundbreaking bestseller Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder and other books that discuss the importance of childhood connections to nature and their impact on physical and mental health and overall wellbeing.
Richard Louv during Conservation Breakfast 2025.
As he began, Louv took a moment to recognize the innovation and success of the well-loved youth education programs the Land Trust has developed over the last 12 years, which have reached thousands of public school students in East Jefferson County at no cost to schools — and which we’re continuing to expand and grow.
“Jefferson Land Trust’s education programs deserve great praise,” Louv said. “What you’re all doing with your education programs is at the cutting edge, because you’re diversifying, and moving in directions that environmental education hasn’t always moved.”
During his presentation, Louv contextualized the growing phenomenon of “Nature-Deficit Disorder,” a phrase he coined, on an increasingly urbanized and screen-dependent planet. Yet over the last three decades, he says, a growing movement focusing on the importance of reconnecting children to nature is calling and empowering us to take action in our families, schools, and communities.
Using specific examples and studies, he provided a detailed overview of the numerous benefits of providing children with access to nature, including better physical health, higher executive function, better learning outcomes, development of leadership qualities, and much more. He also described some of the sobering risks when nature-based experiences are absent: physical dangers like obesity and vitamin deficiency, increased depression and loneliness, lower lifespan overall, and more.
Local students on a Land Trust field trip at Valley View Forest Preserve.
“Teachers in particular have said to me again and again, almost with the same words, this sentence: when I get the kids outside into nature, the troublemaker in my class becomes the leader. Not just better behaved, but the leader. And it’s made me wonder: how many leaders are we losing because we’re raising kids disconnected from the natural world?”
As he concluded, he commented, “It’s not just important to take kids to nature, but also to create nature. Conservation is enormously important. We need to create nature where kids live, learn, and play.”
Following Louv’s presentation, Land Trust Education Coordinator Devon Buckham and Preserve Manager Carrie Clendaniel were joined by local Chimacum teacher Matt Orr to discuss the Land Trust’s educational programming and the wide-ranging positive impacts this has for students, teachers, and families. Get the latest on our innovative youth education programs here.
2025 Fairbank Award winner Lorenzo Roel Flores McCleese. Photo courtesy of Lorenzo.
In 2023, the Land Trust established the Fairbank Award for Youth Environmental Action to celebrate and encourage local youth who are taking leadership roles in environmental and conservation matters. During Conservation Breakfast, we were excited to introduce Lorenzo Roel Flores McCleese as the winner of the 2025 Fairbank Award and accompanying $1000 prize!
We were very pleased that Lorenzo, who grew up in Port Townsend, could join us to accept the award virtually from the University of Washington (UW), where he’s in his second year, studying environmental science and data science and pursuing a minor in diversity.
Lorenzo thanked his family; his UW environmental community; his mentor, Paul Metellus; and the Brotherhood Initiative, a cohort-based group that focuses on empowering and supporting men of color at UW.
“Conservation and environmentalism have always been a passion for me,” Lorenzo shared. “I want to implement these values into a future career, studying climate change as a researcher. This award will help me fund my education and allow me to continue the work I’ve been doing.”
We were very pleased to conclude our program with inspiring remarks from Hazel Windstorm, who recently completed a six-week winter internship at the Land Trust. A lifelong Port Townsend resident, Hazel grew up exploring the natural places the Land Trust protects, and said she’s taken part “in more Land Trust programs than I can count, for more years than I can remember.”
Hazel Windstorm during Conservation Breakfast 2025.
She continued, “I’ve been lucky enough to grow up with constant access to opportunities like these: programs which taught me how ecosystems function, how ecologists measure these functions, and how to build communities — both human and non-human — that are resilient in the face of drastic change. But more simply, they’ve instilled in me a deep love of the natural world around me.”
As we wrapped up the program, one lucky participant, Kelsey Lang, was randomly selected as the winner of a signed copy of Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods. Congrats, Kelsey!
Our sincere thanks to everyone who joined us, to our wonderful sponsors, and to all our amazing speakers for making this such a powerful and positive event.
Take a look ahead at the Land Trust’s upcoming education programs and projects for kids (and adults!) here.
PS: Did you miss it? You can watch the full recording on YouTube!
