Four Bills That Will Support Equitable Access to the Outdoors, Right Now
Outdoor recreation is the most common way that Americans come to know their public lands and waters and develop a stewardship ethic. Everyone in America, no matter where they live, deserves have access to outdoor opportunities and to have the benefits of nearby green spaces for their mental and physical health. During COVID-19, individuals have relied on outdoor recreation more than ever to provide solace, exercise, or a way to disconnect from stress and reconnect with family. And yet, as the pandemic has made increasingly clear, not everyone has safe and accessible local green spaces. In particular, Black and brown communities are more likely to have fewer outdoor spaces and more barriers to accessing the outdoors (source). Along with supporting programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund that provide resources for creating new green spaces in urban areas (and elsewhere), Outdoor Alliance supports a number of other efforts to improve access to the outdoors, especially for underserved communities (meaning those communities with fewer green spaces and less accessible outdoor recreation).
Senator Harris’s (D-CA) and Representative Barragan’s (D-CA) Outdoors For All Act would create a dedicated funding source for the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) grant program to improve access to outdoor recreation opportunities in underserved communities. ORLP supports projects to acquire land or develop green space or outdoor recreation in urban communities, including low income neighborhoods that are underserved by parks and other recreation resources (source). You can view our testimony letter on this bill right here.
Representative Huffman’s (D-CA) Active Transportation for Public Lands Act would dedicate more funding for non-motorized trails on public lands, including bicycle routes, new trails, and sidewalks to improve accessibility and help connect public lands with other forms of transit, including converting abandoned railroad corridors for pedestrians and bicyclists and other human-powered “active transportation.”
Senator Booker’s (D-NJ) and Representative Gomez’s (D-CA) Transit to Trails Acts would create a grant program to connect underserved urban communities and rural communities to green spaces. The bill focuses on creating public transportation to connect communities with insufficient parks and green spaces with public lands and outdoor recreation. This program makes existing public lands more available to local communities that lack good access to green spaces, helping to ensure that public lands are not just available, but accessible to everyone in America.
Finally, Senator Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Representative Smith (R-NJ) have introduced the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act which will create a task force focused on helping veterans get access to the outdoors as a complement to medical therapy. It focuses on identifying and removing obstacles to access, improving collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs and public land managers, and creating more opportunities for veterans to get outside. You can read our letter of support for this bill right here.
Use the tool below to send a letter of support on these bills to your lawmakers: