One of the many comments about the PROS Plan delivered to the Planning Commission Hearing on the PROS Plan: 5.20.25

Dear Planning Commissioners:

I am writing to applaud your close attention to the PROS Plan, which stands to benefit Kitsap County residents, young and old.  I write today to advocate for the plan to optimize equitable nature and green space access for children in places where they live, play, and learn.

I am a pediatrician, have served in the Seattle Children’s Hospital for 27 years.  I also volunteered for the Sierra Club ICO (Inner City Outings, now called Inspiring Connections Outdoors). ICO volunteers take kids out on camping, hiking, and snow-shoeing trips.  Kids who live in urban environments with fewer parks and who have financial and transportation limitations that prevent access to wilderness areas outside of city limits.  I know first-hand how immersion in nature transforms the lives of young people.  A 12-year-old girl on one of our trips saw snow for the first time.  An adolescent you would swear was delinquent was awed by an expansive country landscape (“Wow!  It’s like a painting”).  I have seen the minds of kids transformed by nature.

I also know through published data that exposure to nature and green spaces – called “green exercise” is critical to the development of a healthy child – physically and mentally.  Multiple well-conducted studies have demonstrated benefits to “green exercise,” including weight control, lower depression, better grades (e.g. science knowledge), better behavior, and overall overcoming some of the challenges of growing up in poverty.

In this era of epidemic childhood stress and anxiety, protecting as much land as possible to maintain green space and wildlands is critical.  Paving over wildlands for any reason, including recreation, would directly contradict that goal.

We have extensive green spaces in Kitsap County.  I thank you for acting to preserve our green spaces for the health of the children of Kitsap.  Please preserve as much as you can.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Anne M. Stevens, MD, PhD

Kitsap Resident

References: 

Digging Into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids

Nature and Children’s Health: a Systematic Review  Review of 296 studies in the literature supports a positive relationship between nature contact and children’s health, especially for physical activity and mental health.

NIH Pychological impacts of “screen time: and “green time” concludes that nature may be an under-utilised public health resource for youth psychological well-being in a high-tech era.

A review in adults: Acute effects of outdoor versus indoor exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis – PubMed

The effects of green exercise on the mental and physical health of people with chronic conditions: a systematic review – PubMed A review in those with chronic health conditions (Green exercise was found to positively affect participants’ quality of life in three studies and mental health in four studies. Compared to non-exercise groups, green exercise significantly improved physical and mental health in patients with breast cancer, COPD, cardiovascular disease risk, chronic low back pain, obesity, and diabetes)

Send your own comment by email to the Planning Commission by May 27, 5 pm.

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