Press Release & Photos

U.S. Department of the Interior, America’s Great Outdoors “listening session” held in Chicago

“America’s Great Outdoors” Initiative provides opportunity for disability access issues to be brought forward for resolution

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 31, 2010: 

This past April at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors, President Obama signed a memorandum establishing the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to develop a conservation agenda worthy of the 21st century and to reconnect Americans with our great outdoors. In order to protect and restore the outdoor spaces that we love, reconnecting people to the outdoors must happen at the local level. Therefore, President Obama directed the principal leaders of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to travel across the country to listen and learn from people directly involved in finding grassroots solutions for reconnecting Americans to the outdoors. It was indicated that the sessions should engage the full range of interested groups, issues, and solutions. On August 31, 2010 a public listening session was held in Chicago on the President’s ‘America’s Great Outdoors Initiative”. A number of speakers presented perspectives on the relationship of health to physical activity, and identified barriers to access that limit the full participation of people with disabilities in outdoor activities.

Morning discussions were held at Northwestern University School of Law Thorne Auditorium at 375 E Chicago Ave. Chicago IL from 8:30 to 11:30 AM.

From 1:30 to 3:00 PM attendees reconvened at Chicago Park District’s North Beach on Lake Michigan in Chicago for a demonstration of what works in expanding opportunities for physical activity and healthy outdoor living for people with disabilities (photos and AV footage of children with disabilities kayaking, playing volleyball and riding adaptive bicycles is available). Shelly Pfohl, Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition states, “If there’s one thing America has a lot of, we have a lot of outdoor space. But its accessing that and providing opportunities for all people to have access that’s important.”

LEAD AGENCIES AND PERSONS INCLUDED:

Congressman Danny Davis (7-IL); Dr. Howard Koh, Asst Sec for Health, HHS, Dr Nadine Garcia, Chief Medical Officer, HHS; Shellie Pfohl, Exec. Dir, President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, HHS; Rear Admiral James Galloway, MD, Regional Health Administrator, Region V, HHS; Will Shafroth, Deputy Asst. Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, DOI; Jon Jarvis, Director, National Park Service DOI; Harris Sherman, Under Secretary of Natural Resources and the Enviornment, USDA; Dr. Susan Hedman, Region V Administrator, EPA; Amy Salzman, Assoc Director for Policy, Outreach, White House Council on Environmental Quality, (CEQ); Michael Suk, MD, JD, MPH, FACS and Chair, Physicians for Healthier Americans through Fun Outdoors; Neil Nicoll, CEO, YMCA of the USA; Larry Labiak, Disability Policy Officer, Chicago Park District; Tina Skahill, Chief Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy; Margo Peroso, Safe Routes to School, Anita Weinberg, Chair Childlaw Center, Loyola University; Amy Rauworth, Assoc Dir. National Center on Physical Activity and Disability, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Contact: Amy Rauworth

Amy E. Rauworth, MS, RCEP

Associate Director,

National Center on Physical Activity and Disability

University of Illinois at Chicago

(M/C 626)

1640 W. Roosevelt Rd., Room 607

Chicago, IL 60608

Phone: 312-355-1584*

Fax: 312-355-4058

Email:  rauworth@uic.edu