Description: |
Because of the economic crisis, many law firms are asking their incoming first year associates to defer their start dates (only a couple months while others are a full year) and are offering stipends to these deferred associates, especially if they work at public interest organizations during their deferment.
Spend your deferred time working on a mission your wild about at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the nation’s largest member-supported conservation organization, which is at the forefront of global warming issues, reconnecting our children with nature, and protecting America’s wildlife and habitat.
We have large offices in downtown Washington, DC and Reston, Virginia (suburban Washington, DC). We also do active legal and policy work out of our field offices in Anchorage, Alaska; Boulder, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Missoula, Montana; Austin, Texas; Montpelier, Vermont; and Seattle, Washington.
Project Description: Education Policy in the Pacific States
The conservation movement has a problem. Studies show that children who spend little time outdoors are less likely, as adults, to engage in outdoor recreation or place a priority on conservation of natural resources. As our children become adults who are isolated from the natural environment, America’s national, state and local lands from Yellowstone to neighborhood parks are losing their public constituency and face an increasingly uncertain future.
Staying indoors isn’t just bad for the environment—it is bad for children too. Studies show that isolation from nature may be a significant contributing factor to a wide range of childhood maladies, including obesity, asthma, attention disorders, and depression. Today’s generation of “indoor children”—wired an average of six hours a day to television, the internet, video games, and cell phones—is missing the physical, emotional and developmental benefits of active outdoor play. Experts around the country are beginning to agree that children may need access to nature the same way they need good nutrition and adequate sleep.
A wide-range of laws and policies, ranging from regulations governing child-care providers to a lack of appropriations for environmental education, make it hard to make sure children have a chance to get outdoors. To reverse this trend, National Wildlife Federation is working to evaluate the current laws and regulations of states around the nation and propose legislative and regulatory changes to ensure kids get outdoors.
NWF’s Pacific Region seeks a pro bono counsel to evaluate state law and policy on kids and the outdoors in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii, identify the highest impact changes in each state, help evaluate the political prospects for change in each state, and work to enact agreed upon regulatory and legislative changes. Two experienced lawyers work in the region and can supervise the work.
Location in Seattle, Washington or Anchorage, Alaska (sites of NWF’s Pacific Region offices) is a plus, but the position could also be based in NWF’s Reston headquarters or another field office as needed. |