COVER STORY: Colorado supports

Environmental Learning for Kids

Underserved youth will benefit from the Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Program

By Kiana Marsan

Last month, the state legislature passed a bill (HB21-1318) to create the Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Program. Modeled after similar government initiatives in New Mexico and California, it would provide over $3 million over four years in funding to groups with a focus on encouraging underrepresented communities into outdoor spaces.

Since 2019, movement on this bill has been pushed forward by a coalition of over 60 outdoor advocacy and conservation organizations. Support from groups such as the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, and Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK), among others, was instrumental to its passage.

BIPOC youth are one of numerous groups that would benefit from this funding in Colorado. Almost 75% of marginalized populations in the U.S. live in areas where nature is inaccessible. In Colorado, people of color have 18% less park space than white folks and low-income neighborhoods have 26% less than their wealthy counterparts.

In 2017, a study found that out of all outdoor participants, only 10% were Hispanic, 9% were Black, and 6% were Asian. These dismal numbers are the direct impact of longstanding income, environmental, and racial inequities that disadvantage BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and push them out of environments that privilege the white and wealthy.

This negatively affects the mental wellness of youth of color, who miss out on opportunities for positive identity development. Research has shown that outdoor recreational experiences lead to improved social skills and a greater sense of self-efficacy in children. In these spaces, kids learn how to form bonds with their peers, gain new knowledge and skills, and challenge themselves. Through this exposure, they are more likely to become participants in recreation through adulthood.

The Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Program will be funded by spillover money from the Colorado