Don't ignore the call of the wild
- Tom Stienstra
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, May 7, 2006

Ruth Coleman, who gave actor Clint Eastwood a tour of shoreline park sites in the East Bay in 2002, is the state parks director. Chronicle file photo by John Storey

As both a parent and the director of California state parks, Ruth Coleman faces the same dilemma as many: Getting kids outdoors.

Three years ago, Coleman was assigned the job of running California's state park system. With youngsters now 11 and 14, she also faces what many parents have learned can be even a bigger challenge.

"All parents are confronted with the competition of the computers and computer games," Coleman said. "These games compete against time spent outdoors playing. As a parent, we consciously restrict our children's screen time, but then it's compounded when they don't have wide open space nearby to play in."

Several studies show that if a child has not hiked, camped or fished by age 16, they likely never will. In addition, in local greenbelt areas, rules are so strict that kids can't be kids, and do things like build a fort, a tree house, or dam a creek to float a raft.

"People protect what they know and love," Coleman said. "The foundation of environmental stewardship starts with a child playing in a beautiful space for an afternoon.

"Humans need to connect to their natural environment and understand where their clean water and food comes from. If we lose a generation that has no connection to the natural process, then how can we expect this generation to protect the natural resources, thing likes clean water, land and parks?"

Coleman, 45, is the only park director in history to be appointed by both a Democrat (Gov. Gray Davis) and a Republican (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger). She was born in Los Angeles, is a graduate of Occidental and Harvard (Masters in Public Administration), and enjoys hiking, biking, camping and downhill skiing with her family. She is married to Mike Coleman, a former Eagle Scout. They took their kids, Jean and Claire, camping this weekend.

Coleman and I met at Mount Diablo State Park last week and hiked one of the park's best trails, the Fire Interpretive Trail near the Diablo Summit. The talk soon turned to our kids, parks and the future.

"Most of us adults grew up playing in wild places near our home for hours on end, all summer long, without supervision, and we learned to resolve our problems and play safely," Coleman said. "Now our children are put in manicured greenbelt or organized soccer games. They don't have much creative unscripted play. Adults solve the conflicts."

Coleman's perceptions hit the bull's-eye with me. As a kid on the Peninsula, my buddies and I would ride our bikes down to the baylands and fish for perch, mudsuckers and sharks, play "war" amid the cat tails in dried-up creek channels, go on bike-riding expeditions or meet at a playing field and create a baseball game.

Nowadays, it seems that you don't see kids playing much without adult supervision.

"Parents are afraid to let their children play where they can't see them every minute," Coleman said. "I'm guilty of it, too. I don't know if our fear is justified or manufactured by the unrelenting press stories. Accurate or not, it's affecting our behavior."

How do you inspire kids or urban adults to discover state parks?

"There are wonderful day-use opportunities within reasonable driving distance of most everyone, no matter where they live," Coleman said. "Even if you can't get a campsite, you can still have a wonderful afternoon with your family."

Because state parks and most regional parks are located beyond bicycle-riding range, it often falls to the parents to share the outdoor experience with their kids. Coleman suggests that parents read Richard Louv's newly released book, "Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" (Algonquin Books, $24.95), which describes the trend of children not playing outside.

"It's not just my kids," she said, "it's all kids."

Over the course of our hike, Coleman provided insight on several other issues:

-- Deferred maintenance. At the present, State Parks estimates a backlog of $906 million worth of deferred maintenance to infrastructure. "It's a cumulative effect of decades of inadequate ongoing maintenance. Just like a house, if you get a leak and don't fix it, pretty soon you're replacing the whole roof. This has been going on for 30 years. Right now we don't have the people or the money to do the work."

-- The core problem. "Like the governor has said, we have the infrastructure in California to support 20 million people, but now we have 37 million people. This affects everything, campgrounds, visitor centers, new parks, and other state departments and their problems."

-- Campground shortage. Summer camping reservations at dozens of the most popular state parks are filled seven months ahead. One study shows that state parks could add 10,000 campsites between Memorial Day and Labor Day and the sites would be filled overnight. "It's hard for young families to plan seven months ahead to camp. When I grew up, we could decide on a Wednesday to go camping that weekend at a state or national park. Now you can only do that at remote national forest.

"The supply hasn't kept up with the demand. If the public is willing to financially support the parks, then the state could build more campgrounds and staff them. We are building our first new campground in 20 years (at Crystal Cove State Park). It's a great first step, but demand is so much greater."

-- Aging participants. Most hikers and campers are middle aged or older. "It's out of balance. It's the proof of what I'm experiencing as a parent."

-- Can parks be both used and protected? "Absolutely. It's a function of good park design, trail design, adequate enforcement. Fundamentally, I would argue that if parks are not used, in the long run we will lose them. People don't protect what they don't know and love."

-- Access for all. "What bothers me is that we don't have a good blend representing the entire state. We want to see young people and people of all ethnic groups enjoying their state parks. We need to make sure our parks are inviting and welcoming to all people." She suggested signs and brochures in multiple languages, limited access at the minimum for those with disabilities, continued school programs (about 625,000 children take part in field trips each year to state parks), and designing group picnic and campsites for extended families.

-- Access to the governor? "Yes, I can pick up the phone and talk to his staff."

-- If she could do one thing: "Find a way to fund state parks in a sustainable way."

Hiking Burney Falls, bald eagle watching at Lake Britton, canoeing and flyfishing at Ahjumawi State Park and Fall River is featured on the TV show "Great Outdoors With Tom Stienstra," which airs at 6:30 p.m. today on KBHK-44 (Bay Area Cable 12).

E-mail Tom Stienstra at tstienstra@sfchronicle.com.