What are you reading?

I just started "So Sad to Fall in Battle," by Kumiko Kakahashi, a Japanese general's writings during World War II. ... I'm just finishing "Paper Tiger" by Tom Coyne, an author who decided to put his life on hold for a year and see if he could qualify for the PGA. I'm a big golfer, so it's very interesting to read how he went about doing that. ... Kind of an ongoing golf book that I read a lot is "Golf Dreams" by John Updike. ... And the fourth book I have going is "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv. ... His conclusions are that direct exposure to nature and the outdoors is essential for healthy childhood development. ...

'Aulani Wilhelm was also reading Louv's book — did you discover it through people who work in conservation?

The National Park Service has a national steering committee for wilderness, and I'm on that committee, and we meet about twice a year ... Some folks were talking about it there, and I thought, well, I have to have this. I was also talking to someone at Yosemite about connecting the children, and he sent me the book, too.

Is Louv's thesis reflected in your work to protect Haleakala for our children, such as opposition of the proposed solar telescope?

Children are our constituency of the future. If we want to continue to preserve and protect these special places that national parks are, we have to connect children to that experience and the value of national parks. So as they grow and become leaders, they understand that nature is part of our world and become stewards of our natural environment. That's a lot of what the National Parks Service is about — protecting for future generations.