Susan Smartt

It's no surprise that conversations across the country continue on the need to advance science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. By 2014, about 2 million STEM-related jobs will be created, and over the years this number will grow.

Every week, discussions take place on Capitol Hill...

On Monday, Feb. 27, there was a rare example of government agencies banding together to effect change in environmental education. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a new agreement to develop programs that use our national parks, national wildlife refuges and...

Environmental literacy is critical to conserving and protecting our natural resources and ensuring a healthy planet. How can we expect our policy makers, citizens and children to make decisions that will protect the planet if they do not value our wild places or understand the threat of global climate change?...

This weekend was a big milestone for the environment. The Department of the Interior officially began the nation's largest river restoration project on the Elwha River in Washington's Olympic National Park with the removal of the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams. When the dams on the Elwha River were created...

For those of us who advocate on behalf of environmental education, June was a pretty good month. First, President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative led to the establishment on June 13 of the Federal Inter-agency Council on Outdoor Recreation, bringing together federal, state and tribal agencies...

The story of our National Parks has been co-opted by cable news fueled brouhaha's involving guns, drugs and drilling for oil. It is time to take back our parks.

It is sometimes hard to stay optimistic about the future of America's Best Idea. But this optimist is ready and willing...