I feel that you are making a grave error with your decision to cut the Outdoors Girl column from The Baltimore Sun. In an outdoor state such as Maryland, letting go of a community and statewide resource such as Candus Thomson is akin to obliterating a national treasure such as the Liberty Bell or vandalizing the Washington Monument. Those national icons are symbols of our country. For Maryland, a state rich with its outdoor opportunities, the knowledge that Candus Thomson holds and shares daily with outdoor enthusiasts in the state is equally to be treasured.

As an elementary teacher, I have seen far too many times the effects of "Nature Deficit Disorder" on children (and adults alike), where they are too "plugged in" to get out and enjoy the bounty that surrounds them outside. This is evident with our nation of growing waistlines as well. We need an enthusiastic voice, one voice, to invite us outdoors and show us the amazing natural resources that we have around us. Candus Thomson, and her years of experience, do this.

I have written a post on this subject on my environmental education blog, Green Team Gazette (http://greenteamgazette.blogspot.com/2011/07/sad-but-true-baltimore-sun-ousts.html). Bottom line: We need an Outdoors column. Daily. The people of Maryland, the kids of Maryland, need this. Ultimately, for the sake of your readership, The Baltimore Sun needs this!

Vicki Dabrowka, Pasadena
The writer, an environmental educator and author, is creator of "Green Team Gazette" and a member of the Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Educators. She teaches at Eagle Cove School, a Maryland "Green" School in Pasadena.