Land&People, Vol. 33, No. 2 - Fall/Winter 2021

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1 A BENEFIT TO MEMBERS OF THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND

THE PEACE MAKERS MEET THE COMMUNITY BEHIND ST. PAUL'S NEW MIDWAY PEACE PARK + WILDFIRES EXPLAINED + MINI-GOLF COURSE TAKES FLIGHT + MAKING ROCK CLIMBING WELCOMING TO MORE PEOPLE

with future generations.

Three ways to improve parks and open spaces tomorrow, while enjoying retirement savings today: 1. Those aged 72 or older must take a Required Minimum Distribution from their IRAs in 2021. Distributing these funds directly to The Trust for Public Land is a tax-wise way to give.

2. Donors age 70½ and older can make a Qualified Charitable Distribution of up to $100,000 directly from their IRAs to The Trust for Public Land and save on taxable income.

3. Name The Trust for Public Land as the beneficiary of your IRA or other retirement plan, which would otherwise be taxed heavily if passed on to your heirs.

learn more about the benefits of designating your retirement funds to the trust for public land at

tpl.planmygift.org or contact our office of planning giving at plannedgiving@ tpl.org

adair freeman rutledge

share your love of nature...

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ƚ ƝƫƢ ƚ Ƨ Ƭƚ ƧƜơƞƳ ƠƨƧƳ ƚ ƥƞƳ

ƥƨƫƞƧƳƨ ƝƚưƤƢƧƬ

FE AT U R E S

ƍƋ Ǝƍ “Climbing is about place, and it’s about the people we find in our places. ”

Ɯ ƚ ƫ ƨ ƥ Ƣ Ƨ ƞ Ʋƚ Ƨ Ơ

~ ƞ Ƨ Ɲ ƫ Ƣ ƚ ƫ Ƣ Ɯ ơ ƚ ƫ Ɲ Ƭ ƨ Ƨ Ƣ Ƨ ƭ ơ ƞ Ʃ ƫ ƨ ƛ ƥ ƞ Ʀ Ƭ ƨ ƥƯ ƞ ƫ Ƭ Ʃ Ơ ƃƁ

Making Midway Peace Park ................................................................... 30 Great parks, like Midway Peace Park in St. Paul, start with community.

The Problem Solvers ............................................................................................ 42 Climbers of color find their place within a sport that’s not always welcoming.

A Never-Ending Story ........................................................................................ 54 In fast-growing Bozeman, voters come together in support of parks for the future of their town.

ƌƉ TPL .ORG · 1

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2 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

D EPA R T M EN T S

The importance of equitable access to parks.

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From the President · 11

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Board Spotlight · 13 Get to know Happy Haynes.

Contributors · 14 Mailroom · 15 First Look · 17 $Q H[WUDRUGLQDU\ ƎƉ PLOOLRQ JLIW D PLQLDWXUH JROI FRXUVH LQVSLUHG E\

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ƨƧ ƭơƞ ƜƨƯƞƫ Community members celebrate the RSHQLQJ RI 0LGZD\ 3HDFH 3DUN ZKLFK QRZ VHUYHV PRUH WKDQ ƌ ƎƉƉ residents of St. Paul. Read about it RQ SJ ƌƉ 3KRWR &DUROLQH <DQJ

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BLUE GOOSE HOLLOW TRAILHEAD, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE 'DWD LV NH\ WR FORVLQJ WKH SDUN HTXLW\ JDS LQ $PHULFD 7KDWōV ZK\ The Trust for Public Land publishes its annual ParkScore® LQGH[ WKH JROG VWDQGDUG RI SDUN FRPSDULVRQ DFURVV WKH ƊƉƉ ODUJHVW 8 6 FLWLHV 7KLV \HDU ZH looked at the data in a new way.

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TPL .ORG · 9

O FFICERS president and chief e xecutive officer

Diane Regas s e n i o r v i c e p r e s i d e n t, g e n e r a l c o u n s e l , a n d c o r p o r at e s e c r e ta r y

D. Malcolm Carson senior vice president of field progr ams

Jeff Danter senior vice president of p o l i c y a n d g o v e r n m e n t r e l at i o n s

Bill Lee senior vice president and c h i e f f i n a n c i a l a n d a d m i n i s t r at i v e o f f i c e r

James Obendorf senior vice president and c hief m a r k e t in g a nd co mm u ni c at i o n s o ffi c er

I Ling Thompson senior vice president and chief phil anthropy officer

Patricia Watson

our mission:

THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND CREATES PARKS AND PROTECTS LAND FOR PEOPLE, ENSURING HEALTHY, LIVABLE COMMUNITIES FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. h o w yo u c a n h e l p : Our work depends on the generous support of people like you. d o n at e: Use the envelope inside this magazine, or visit tpl.org/donate for other easy ways to give. l e a r n m o r e: Get timely updates on our park and conservation work near you.

Sign up for our e-newsletter at tpl.org/enews. s h a r e: Help us make the case for parks and open space. When you’ve finished reading this issue, pass it on!

Land&People magazine is a benefit to members of The Trust for Public Land.

10 · L A N D & P E O P L E · F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

from the president

nichol as lea bruno

ONWARD TO EQUITY if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the news, you’re not alone. The pandemic continues to stretch our resilience while communities on one side of the country reel from damaging floods and hurricanes, and communities on the other publisher and managing editor Jennifer Ramsey produc tion manager Hannah Kohut s ta f f w r i t e r s a n d editors Joanna Fisher-Whilden Laurie Isola Miya Brown

side grapple with the impacts of multiyear-long droughts and devastating wildfires. At the same time, millions of Americans continue to face countless barriers and prejudices in their daily lives.

We’re a nation in need of healing—from the pandemic, for our climate, and as a society against inequality and division.

At The Trust for Public Land, we believe in the healing power of nature. Every park, trail, and

designers Rachel Andrade Miya Su Rowe Ben Whitesell

wilderness is an opportunity for each of us to

media produc tion manager Elyse Leyenberger

challenges we face. This is why we’ve committed

d i g i ta l produc tion Jeremy Sammons Laurie Isola

renew and reconnect. The parks we create illuminate a path through some of the greatest to creating more places that bring us outdoors from parks to trails and playgrounds to open spaces, while making them available and welcoming to everyone.

Since our founding, we have created hundreds of parks, playgrounds, and gardens; developed thousands of miles of trails; and put a quality park within a 10-minute walk of home for more than nine million people across nearly all 50 states. Half of the people who reside near a park

© 2021 The Trust for Public Land.

All rights reserved. 10-Minute Walk Community Schoolyards, Conserving Land for People, Conserving Nature Near You, Creating Parks and Protecting

created by The Trust for Public Land live at 75 percent below the median household income and more than two-thirds identify as Black, Hispanic and Latinx, Asian, or Indigenous. Our work is

Land for People, Fitness Zone, Land for People, Land&People, LandVote, Northwoods Initiative, Our Land, Outside For All, Parks for People, Parks Unite Us, ParkScore, The Trust for Our Land, The Trust for Public Land, TPL, and The Trust for Public Land and LandVote logos and all other names of The Trust for Public Land programs referenced herein, as well as their logos, are registered or commonlaw trademarks of The Trust for Public Land.

focused on ensuring that everyone has access to nature, but to close the park equity gap we need to better understand where those gaps are.

complete look at our park systems in America shows major disparities across race and income.

In our largest cities, residents of neighborhoods with majority people of color have access to an average of 44 percent less park space per capita than residents of neighborhoods that are predominantly white. Mounting research shows that the way a city distributes resources and invests in parks directly affects the well-being of residents. We know that access to green space has implications for physical and mental health and in shaping our quality of life. Green spaces also offer protection from the effects of climate change, including extreme heat and flooding. Access to quality parks isn’t just a nicety, it is a necessity.

In this issue of Land&People magazine, you’ll read how we are working with communities to address these inequities head on.

Now that we have the data to pinpoint where parks are needed most, the time has come to set a new standard for outdoor access. And, with the help of supporters like you, we can continue to bring the healing power of nature to communities today and long into the future.

That’s why earlier this year, we added a new measure, equity, to our annual ParkScore® index.

The ParkScore rating system measures how well the 100 largest U.S. cities are meeting the need for parks and is a go-to resource for communi-

Diane Regas

ties, cities, states, and researchers. This more

president and ceo T P L . O R G · 11

M EET YO UR MATCH

This year, an anonymous donor will generously match your gift—dollar-for-dollar—if you send it before December 31. Your donation will go even further to help The Trust for Public Land protect more parks, gardens, and other natural places. That’s one good thing made that much better.

Give your EarthShare.

12 · L A N D & P E O P L E · F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

An EarthShare payroll deduction is one simple way to donate to The Trust for Public Land or more than 400 other environmental and conservation charities. Many corporate and government employers support EarthShare payroll giving. If yours doesn’t, ask them to start. If they do, simply decide on a single deduction or a recurring small one from every paycheck. Then designate us, member number 11440, as one of your conservation charities. For more information visit earthshare.org or email donor.outreach@tpl.org.

terray sylvester

800.714.5263 · donor.outreach @ tpl.org · tpl.org/match

Get to know

board spotlight

Happy Haynes allegra “happy” haynes is the

courtesy of allegr a haynes

BOA R D O F DIREC TORS

executive director of Denver Parks and Recreation and a Denver native. She served two years as deputy mayor, thirteen years on the Denver City Council, and eight years on

chair

the Denver Public Schools Board of Education.

Thomas S. Reeve

She chaired The Trust for Public Land’s

Stephen W. Baird

Colorado Advisory Board for six years and

George Bell

serves on the boards of the Denver Museum of

Luis Benitez

Nature & Science, Denver Zoological Foundation, Denver Botanic Gardens, and

Page Knudsen Cowles

City Parks Alliance. She was a founding board

Mickey Fearn

member of Mile High Youth Corps and the

Jody S. Gill

Sand Creek Regional Greenway and served for

F. Whitney Hatch

four years on the Colorado State Parks Board.

Allegra “Happy” Haynes Ben Jealous Christopher G. Lea Joseph E. Lipscomb Ignacia S. Moreno Caroline P. Niemczyk Michael Parish

I BELIE VE IN PROTEC TING L AND AND CRE ATING

THE TRUS T FOR PUBLIC L AND’S WORK IS UNIQUE

PARK S BEC AUSE … parks and open spaces play

BEC AUSE ... our singular focus on partnerships and

a critical role in the health and vitality of

community-driven projects sets us apart from other

communities by enhancing the physical and

organizations, and our expertise has set national

mental well-being of individuals and protecting

standards, such as ensuring that all people live

and enhancing ecological and environmental

within a 10-minute walk or roll of a park. These

health. Parks are an important part of every

strategies leverage far greater impact than we

community’s basic infrastructure.

could achieve on our own.

Jeffrey A. Resnick

I SUPPOR T THE TRUS T FOR PUBLIC L AND BEC AUSE …

THE KE Y CHALLENGE FACING THE TRUS T FOR PUBLIC

Laura Richards

putting people at the center of our mission and our

LAND IS … growing our brand awareness and

work recognizes that not only are people the chief

increasing our financial capacity while being true

David Poppe Diane Regas

Lex Sant

beneficiaries of our work to protect land and create

to our community-driven approach and broadening

Lucas St. Clair

quality parks and open spaces, but that their

our efforts to become more diverse and inclusive.

Sheryl Tishman

stewardship and advocacy and engagement are key

F. Jerome Tone

to our success.

I FIRS T FELL IN LOVE WITH THE NAT UR AL WORLD

Taylor Toynes

MY PROUDE S T TRUS T FOR PUBLIC L AND MOMENT S

gardening with my grandmother, climbing the

Keith E. Weaver

ARE … making a pitch at the organization’s

perfect tree, and from a mother who encouraged

Susan D. Whiting

National Leadership Conference along with a staff

outdoor activities and adventure. In a park just a

Florence Williams

colleague to lift the voice of a community partner

few blocks away a small box culvert that became

and her community’s needs, and being invited

my personal jungle playground sealed the deal!

WHEN … in my backyard growing up, through

to engage with the Black History and Culture Sites Advisory Council. Both are testaments to our commitment to partnership and equity. As a board member, I’m focused on contributing to our steady progress toward those commitments.

?

WHAT ABOU T YOU? Tell us how you connect with nature.

Join the conversation on Facebook: facebook.com/thetrustforpublicland T P L . O R G · 13

ƜƨƧƭƫƢƛƮƭƨƫƬ

Ibrahim Hirsi

Endria Richardson

Sophie Tsairis

story:

story:

Making Midway Peace Park

A Never-ending Story

story:

The Problem Solvers

30

54 42

Ibrahim Hirsi is a Minneapolis-based

Endria Richardson is a writer, climber,

Sophie Brett Tsairis is a freelance journalist

journalist and doctoral candidate in history

and lawyer living and working on Ohlone

and writer specializing in conservation

at the University of Minnesota. He’s covered

Land in Oakland, California.

and outdoor adventure. Hailing from the

immigration and communities of color

@ endriaraa

coast of Maine, she set down roots in

for various news outlets in the Twin Cities,

Montana in 2015. Sophie has a master’s

including MinnPost, Minnesota Public Radio,

degree in Environmental Science and

and Sahan Journal. Ibrahim’s writing has

Natural Resource Journalism from the

also appeared in such national publications

University of Montana and writes to help

as Politico, Truthout, and PRI’s The World.

bridge the communication gap between

@ iHirsi

scientists and the public. @ sbtsairis

Caroline Yang story:

Making Midway Peace Park 30

Caroline Yang is a documentary photographer based in St. Paul, Minnesota, who strives to create photographs that reflect the depth and complexities of the

and connection to our communities. She works with clients such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many others. @ carolineyangphoto

14 · L A N D & P E O P L E · F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

TE TR A IMAGES

human experience and bring understanding

Let’s make cities part of the climate change solution.

Thanks to a gift from RBC, we’re harnessing the power of data to pinpoint how city parks can absorb greenhouse gases, slow global warming, and protect people from rising heat and stronger storms.

The Trust for Public Land is an official charity partner of RBC’s 2021 Tech for Nature program.

ƦƚƢƥƫƨƨƦ

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CHECK US OUT! Join us on social media for outdoors LQVSLUDWLRQ IXQ IDFWV H[FLWLQJ JLYHDZD\V DQG ELJ QHZV DERXW WKH

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We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think of the stories, artwork, and photographs you’ll find in this issue of Land&People magazine. Drop us a line at mailroom @ tpl.org.

Good for the soul Our spring cover story explored how access to the outdoors has helped people navigate the pandemic—and beyond.

+ Ailments are limiting my physical enjoyments right now, but years of climbing, working for Outward Bound, kayaking, biking, etc., make me a strong supporter of parks and outdoor recreation. Our souls do not resonate with buildings, streets, traffic, and other unavoidable detritus of towns and cities. Our souls find sustenance in the wind, sunlight, flowing streams of open uncontorted land.

Keep up the good work. And thanks!

Pete Young, via tpl.org

T P L . O R G · 15

ƩƚƮƥ ƫƨƛƞƫ ƭ ưƨƥƟ ưƢƥ ƬƨƧ

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+ Community forests offer another model for public outdoor space; they complement The Trust for Public Land’s creation of new parks, schoolyards, and trails. Nice to see!

ƚ ƥƞ Ʊ ƣƚƜƤ ƬƨƧ

Ronald C. Weston on LinkedIn

Heartland love

+ I am grateful and thankful that you

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have made it happen. It’s an inspiration

reclamation of their ancestral territory

seeing others determine to preserve

in Northern California.

our precious resources for all, and generations will be able to know what

+ Great story of Tribal Nations regaining

matters most. Take care, stay well,

ancestral land and repatriation of

healthy, safe and sound.

funerary and ceremonial objects with

Jimmy Ching on tpl.org

the help of The Trust for Public Land.

I will share this article with friends,

+ Love this! Hope to see more natural

relatives, and THPOs [Tribal Historic

classrooms pop up around the country

Preservation Programs] in the Midwest.

post Covid as more people took a natural

Carole Standing Elk, via tpl.org

turn into the welcome arms of nature.

+ This article makes me so happy!

Finally, things seem to be moving in the direction of love.

Lori Bailey, via tpl.org

+ Thank you for sharing this. After centuries of abuse, the return is happening.

Robin Baldwin, via tpl.org

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Dave Lavender on LinkedIn

Before and after The creation of Cook Park is just one RI WKH ZD\V ZHōUH ZRUNLQJ WR PDNH VXUH HYHU\ $WODQWD UHVLGHQW KDV DFFHVV WR WKH EHQHƓWV RI QDWXUH + It’s such a great space! Glad we could be a part of this monumental moment for Vine City and ATL! Astra Group, LLC (@astragroup_llc) on Instagram

+ This is a fantastic way to make climate change visible and promote climateresilient community construction going forward.

Samuel Cuthell on LinkedIn

Thinking outside the classroom 2XU VWRU\ DERXW WKH EHQHƓWV RI RXWGRRU FODVVURRPV PDGH WKH JUDGH with readers.

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16 · L A N D & P E O P L E · F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

t u r n t h e pa g e f o r … ocean views birdies pe acemakers

wilderness is two things—fact and feeling. it is a fund of knowledge and a spring of influence. it is the ultimate source of health—terrestrial and human. b e n t o n m a c k ay e

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Located in the San Juan Mountains at an elevation of 9,003 feet, Lake San Cristobal is the second-largest natural lake in Colorado. In June 2021, we cut the ribbon on a project that will increase and improve public access to this spectacular jewel.

T P L . O R G · 17

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PRESERVING FARMLANDS,

ƟƢƧƧƫƢƯƞƫ ƟƚƫƦ ƚƧƝ ƜƢƝƞƫƲ ƜơƢƦƚƜƮƦ ưƚƬơƢƧƠƭƨƧ

imagine you’re enjoying a bike ride

relationships that grow up and through

on a hot sunny day on the North

the food system.” By growing an orchard

Olympic Peninsula of Washington

and sourcing regional organic fruit, and

State. You set out from Port Townsend—

fermenting and selling their artisan

enjoying breezes off Port Townsend Bay

ciders on the North Olympic Peninsula,

and catching views of the forests as you

Finnriver is providing a place for the

go—and you end at Finnriver Farm and

community to gather, protecting valuable

Cidery in Chimacum. There, you catch

farmland, creating more than 60 full-

up with neighbors over locally made

time and seasonal jobs, and fueling the

cider, then swing by the Chimacum

local economy.

ƜƨƮƫ ƭƞƬ Ʋ ƨƟ ƟƢƧƧƫƢƯƞƫ

connecting communities

Corner Farmstand for some blueberries

Jefferson Land Trust, with which The

to enjoy on the ride home—all while

Trust for Public Land has partnered

“Preserving farmland is a way to

supporting the local economy.

for many years, made the protection

really approach the triple bottom

Finnriver’s motto is “For the love of

of this land possible with permanent

line—environment, economy, and social

land, the art of farming, and the spirit of

agricultural conservation easements.

network of agriculture and culture,”

community.” Crystie Kisler, a self-titled

“We thought of land trusts as being

added Sarah Spaeth, Jefferson Land

“farmwife” and cofounder of the Farm

the people who saved the woods and

Trust’s director of conservation. “It’s

and Cidery, says they aim to “be a part of

wildlife, so when Sarah at Jefferson

good for the environment and critical

reconnecting communities to food

Land Trust started talking about

for a healthy community.”

sources—not just localizing what’s on the

farmland, we were like, ‘Well, that’s

Research from The Trust for Public

plate but localizing the whole network of

us,’” Crystie explained.

Land has reinforced the power of ƜƨƮƫ ƭƞƬ Ʋ ƨƟ ƟƢƧƧƫƢ Ư ƞƫ

conserved land in driving the North Olympic Peninsula economy. According to a recent economic benefit study, farmland conservation helps to keep working farms active, allowing the area to generate $29.4 million from farm products each year. David Patton, Northwest regional director for The Trust for Public Land, explains, “This new data quantifies what many of us already knew to be true: the region’s conserved and public lands are what make the North Olympic Peninsula a great place to live and work.”

ƥƞƚƫƧ Ʀƨƫƞ # TPL.ORG/OLYMPIC-REPORT 18 · L A N D & P E O P L E · F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

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100 years 2,190 miles

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Honey Meadow polenta cake

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One hundred years ago this October, planner and forester Benton MacKaye

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published an article that inspired the creation of the Appalachian Trail. A century

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later, we celebrate the impact of his vision—one that grew into a 2,190-mile trail that passes through 14 states and welcomes more than two million people each year.

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Thanks to our supporters, we have worked for nearly 50 years with communities along the “A.T.” and secured permanent public access to more than 310,000

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acres along the trail, helping to improve and ensure public access to the wild

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mountains and deep forests along the route.

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Visit our blog to check out ten amazing places on the A.T. where Trust for Public

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Land supporters have made a difference—and where opportunities abound for

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outdoor adventures of all kinds.

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ƫƞƚƝ ƭơƞ ƛƥƨƠ # TPL.ORG/APPAL ACHIAN-TRAIL F I R S T L O O K · 19

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“I hope that what I’ve done to preserve open space for the public inspires other people in my position to do the same.” as highway 1 crosses the santa ana

communities where parks are few and

“It has gotten our state and local agencies

river into the city of Newport Beach,

far between.

excited, has gotten other donors excited.

California, it passes an unexpected

It’s an important moment in the

It’s not just a dream anymore.”

open space. Buildings and roads briefly

decades-long, community-driven fight to

give way to a stretch of scrubby dunes

close the park equity gap in Southern

Looking toward the future

lined with a chain-link fence. Beyond,

California and open Banning Ranch to all.

Over the next year, we’ll work alongside Banning Ranch Conservancy to raise

sandstone outcroppings are studded with massive prickly pear cacti, and

An extraordinary gift

public funding from the State of

leafy trees sprout in shady arroyos.

“When we first started this project,

California and private donations with

Here and there, rusty oil derricks dot

we sat back and asked ourselves: how

support from the Orange County Com-

the horizon.

in the heck are we going to raise this

munity Foundation for the remaining

This is Banning Ranch. Covering

money?” says Trust for Public Land

cost of the land. Then we’ll begin to

401 acres, it is the biggest private open

California State Director Guillermo

remove hundreds of oil wells, clean

space on the whole coast of Southern

Rodriguez about the $97 million

up decades of pollution, and restore

California. Thanks to an extraordinary

purchase price. “Then Frank and

natural ecosystems.

$50 million gift from philanthropists

Joann Randall stepped forward and

Frank and Joann Randall, The Trust

committed a $50 million gift.”

After that?

“Then we can begin to dream with

for Public Land is under contract to

Bolstered by the Randall’s donation,

purchase the land and transform it

The Trust for Public Land was able to

the community,” says Rodriguez. From

into California’s newest oceanfront

secure exclusive rights to purchase and

campgrounds to trails to playgrounds,

park—an outdoor wonderland within

protect Banning Ranch.

and with intention to honor the

an hour’s drive of 8.4 million people, half of whom live in low-income

“The Randall’s generosity has opened so many more doors,” Rodriguez says.

Tongva and Acjachemen people whose ancestral territory includes Banning

ƫ ƞƮ ƛ ƞƧ ơ ƞƫ Ƴƥ Ơ ƫ ƨ Ʈ Ƨ Ɲ Ʀ ƚ Ƥ Ƣ Ƨ Ơ ƥ ƥƜ

Ranch, the future of this land is up to people like you to decide.

“I hope that what I’ve done to preserve open space for the public inspires other people in my position to do the same,” said Frank Randall on a recent visit to Banning Ranch. “I'm just amazed at how beautiful all of this is.

I hope to be able to come here and enjoy watching the public enjoy this park. That's what I hope.”

Camping on the property will be possible when we've turned this former oilfield into a park.

20 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

ưƚƭƜơ ƭơƞ ƟƢƥƦ Ż ƥƞƚƫƧ Ʀƨƫƞ # TPL.ORG/BANNING-R ANCH

ƠƨƨƝ ƧƞưƬ

Let it not happen again

That’s the idea Clarence Moriwaki hopes visitors take away from the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial.

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Nidoto nai yoni

“‘Let it not happen again’ is our message of aspiration and inspiration,” said Moriwaki, president of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community. “We want the memorial to stand as proof that in times of fear, citizens can choose to come together and look out for one another, instead of turning against each other.”

The memorial, which stands on land The Trust for Public Land helped transfer to public ownership in 2005, commemorates the racist and unconstitutional internment of the island’s Japanese and Japanese American residents during World War II. Alongside the heartbreaking history, Moriwaki said the site also celebrates the strength of the tight-knit community that has long called this island home, and the support this community showed for its Japanese members throughout their ordeal.

“Our community did not succumb to the tide of fear, and our community built this memorial to serve as a reminder—both of the fearful actions that so many Americans took and to suggest that there could be a different

ƣƨƞ Ʀƚƛƞƥ ƜƜ ƛƲ Ƭƚ Ƃ ſ

destiny,” Moriwaki said.

It’s for the birdies Douglass 18 • Chicago, Illinois

A Cooper’s hawk hovers over a mouse, a squirrel, and other prey.

Nearby, a Baltimore oriole looks longingly at the berries that fuel its migration. And a red-winged blackbird sits beneath cattails in a marshy area that constitutes its preferred habitat.

This wasn’t a fruitful day of birding. Rather, it was three of the 18 obstacles in a new miniature golf course in Douglass Park in Chicago, designed by a group of teenagers with help from professional artists. While designing the course, the teens also worked with the Lincoln Park Zoo, learning about all aspects of local birds, from their migrations to habitats.

Thanks to the support of L.L.Bean and matching funding from the city, The Trust for Public Land was able to fund the newly revived mini-golf course, which reopened in August. The course is a positive development for families in North Lawndale, a once-thriving Chicago neighborhood that has faced its share of challenges in recent decades.

“This is a community where structural racism has taken its toll,” said Caroline O’Boyle, The Trust for Public Land’s Chicago program director. “Douglass 18 adds a vibrancy to the park that will continue to unfold exponentially as people visit the park more often and spend more time there. We were proud to be part of that.”

ƥƞƚƫƧ Ʀƨƫƞ # TPL.ORG/BAINBRIDGE

ƥƞƚƫƧ Ʀƨƫƞ # TPL.ORG/DOUGL ASS18 F I R S T L O O K · 21

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Ʀƞƞƭ ƨƮƫ ƬƭƚƟƟ

ŏ7KLV QHZ ZD\ RI ORRNLQJ DW WKH GDWD LV KHOSLQJ XV PHDVXUH SDUN GLVSDULWLHV QDWLRQZLGHŋDQG WKH UHVXOWV DUH DODUPLQJ Ő LINDA HWANG

THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC L AND’S DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ON HOW DATA IS HELPING TO CLOSE THE PARK EQUIT Y DIVIDE.

What does our research and innovation team do?

person in America having a great park

Altogether, these data sets allow us to

close to home—but we had no way of

accurately compare how well our

We are a team of spatial analysts, data

measuring who did and didn’t have

largest cities are meeting their residents’

scientists, planners, and conservation

access to a park, or what makes a park

needs for parks and open spaces.

economists that provide a backbone of

or park system great. So our researchers

data to guide almost everything the

began reaching out to city park staff

organization does. Data informs what

and leaders across the country, asking

land we protect, where parks are

them things like how many parks their

Until this year, the ParkScore index rated

needed most, why we reinvest in a

city had, and where they were.

and compared cities on four categories:

How does the ParkScore index rank cities?

park acreage, park access, park invest-

local trails project, how we make the and who we prioritize projects to

Where does the parks data come from?

serve. Without this information, I think

That initial research has since evolved

it would take us a lot longer to get

into a detailed annual survey that we

where we’re going, which is driving

send to park officials in each of the

toward healthier, more equitable,

100 largest U.S. cities, asking for all

Our researchers compared the amount

more resilient communities.

kinds of qualitative and quantitative

of park space per person and the overall

case for conservation funding to voters,

ment, and park amenities. In 2021, we added a fifth category: park equity.

How did you formulate a measure of park equity?

information—everything from how

percentage of people within a 10-minute

How does this data get put to use?

many acres of parkland they manage to

walk of a park in neighborhoods where

the level of investment and about things

residents identify predominantly as

One of our bigger data-informed efforts

like basketball hoops and playgrounds.

people of color versus majority white

is the ParkScore® index, which is the

On that base of information, we also

neighborhoods. We also compared park

gold-standard comparison of park

overlay publicly available demographic,

acreage and park access in low-income

systems across the largest U.S. cities.

health, and environmental data, along

and high-income neighborhoods. Cities

The Trust for Public Land launched

with our own data showing where the

with fewer disparities between racial

this analysis ten years ago, back when

urban heat island effect creates higher

groups and income levels scored higher

we had identified the goal of every

risk of heat within a given city.

in the equity metric.

22 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

If not, how might that affect your

also helping us measure park disparities

experience—and during the pandemic

nationwide—and the results are

specifically, what might that mean for

alarming. Across the 100 largest

your health?

U.S. cities, neighborhoods that are

Even in cities that have always ranked

predominately home to people of color

highly in the ParkScore index, our

have access to 44 percent less park

colleagues work every day with commu-

acreage per person than majority

nities whose park systems aren’t

white neighborhoods. The problem is

meeting their needs. So as technology

most pronounced for predominantly

and data management have evolved

Hispanic and Latinx communities, who

to where this kind of analysis is even

have access to 54 percent less park

possible, our own colleagues have been

acreage than white communities.

telling us, “The ParkScore index is great

ƣƮƥ Ƣƞ ƭƚ Ư ƞƫƠƢƧƢ

This new way of looking at the data is

for so many things—but it doesn’t

What spurred your team to include an equity lens in the ParkScore analysis?

capture the ways resources are distrib-

there tell us they’re using that informa-

uted within cities.”

tion to galvanize more support and

The organization was founded almost 50 years ago on the conviction that

Why round up and publish all this data in the first place?

but we also have data to back it up.

all people need access to nature close

Because having good data is crucial to

Since we began tracking this statistic,

to home. And since then we’ve been

making good decisions. We hear how

we’ve seen a 15 percent increase in the

continually working to improve our

the ParkScore data is being put to use

number of people who live within a

understanding of and commitment to

from park managers all the time. In

10-minute walk of a park in just the

equity. The COVID-19 pandemic

Houston, Texas, the parks department

100 largest U.S. cities. That’s six million

accelerated our thinking about not just

is using it to pinpoint which neighbor-

more people who now have access to

the importance of having a park close

hoods will benefit most from new

the outdoors. That’s great progress, and

to home, but also once you get to the

parks. Charlotte, North Carolina, has

I don’t think it would have happened if

park, what’s your experience like? Do

historically ranked fairly low on the

decision-makers and citizens didn’t

you have enough space to spread out?

ParkScore list—but park managers

have access to the data pointing the way.

resources for parks citywide.

Ɲƚ ƫƜ Ʋ ƤƢƞƟƞƥ

So we have lots of anecdotal evidence—

FIRST LOOK · 23

ƛƮƳƳưƨƫƭơƲ

“The students love it. They went running out in a giant wave the first time we opened it.”

— Andrew Lukov, principal of the Southwark School in South Philadelphia When Andrew Lukov took the helm of the Southwark School nine years ago, he promised the ƭ ƨ Ʃ ƭ Ʃ ƥ Ƭ ƭƚ Ɵ Ɵ ƛ ƨ ƭ ƭ ƨ Ʀ ƣ ƞ Ƨ Ƨ ƚ Ƭ ƭƚ Ʀ Ʀ

students, teachers, and staff he would give them a proper schoolyard, one with trees and flowers, play equipment and recreation courts, and bright colors and artwork. Thanks to your support, last year we helped make that promise a reality.

ƫƞƚƝ Ʀƨƫƞ ƚƭ # TPL.ORG/SOUTHWARK-SCHOOLYARD

From asphalt to extraordinary A LE X JAC K SON

We know that access to the outdoors is essential for healthy, happy people and communities. But today, 100 million people in America—including 28 million kids—don’t have a park close to home.

Our Community Schoolyards™ projects are helping close this gap, one schoolyard at a time. We’ve worked alongside communities across the country to transform nearly 300 public schoolyards into great public parks—full of trees, shade, and places to exercise, play, and enjoy the outdoors—that stay open to neighbors after school and on weekends.

If every public schoolyard in America functioned as a shared outdoor space, 20 million more people would have access to a close to home park.

24 · L A N D & P E O P L E · F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

tpl.org/community-schoolyards

insight

A “new age” of wildfires Professor Tony Cheng talks wildfires and climate change BOOTLEG. CALDOR. DIXIE. THIS SUMMER, RECORD-BREAKING WILDFIRES RAVAGED FORESTS AND COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE WEST. We checked in with a wildfire expert at Colorado State University to find out why fires have grown so fierce, what communities can do about them, and what the future holds.

Tony Cheng, a professor in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship at Colorado State University, directs the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. The institute is one of three that were established by an act of Congress in 2004 in response to the massive wildfires that had devastated western states in the early 2000s. Cheng, who is also the principal for the Southern Rockies Fire Science Network, works with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, as well local governments, private landowners, and others to help them anticipate and prepare for the worsening fires that have arisen with climate change.

T P L. O R G · 25

ƜƨƮƫƭƞƬƲ ƨƟ ƭƨƧƲ ƜơƞƧƠ

޵ The question isn’t ‘yes fire, no fire.’

The question is what kind of fire do you want, where, and under what conditions.

How important is that history of fire suppression to the situation we find ourselves in?

These policies are in place not only at the federal level, but at the state and local levels. There has been a buildup of fire-suppression institutions and machinery to be able to put out fires wherever and whenever they occur. That policy has actually loosened up. But because fires are now igniting

Tell us about the wildfires that prompted Congress to

and spreading into areas with human habitation and built

create the three institutes, including your own.

infrastructure, there is still a strong policy to make sure to

The fires of 2000 and 2002 were very uncharacteristic and

suppress those fires and keep them small.

surprising in terms of their size, how fast they grew, and how severe the impacts were. Large fires were burning all across

There has been a lot of discussion about the importance

the West. In Colorado, the Hayman fire burned southwest of

of prescribed burns to make wildlands less prone to

Denver in 2002. It was 138,000 acres. Back in those days, a big

severe fires. What do you think of those approaches?

fire, especially in Colorado, was 10,000 acres. Today, a 10,000-

For us, the way we try to communicate with a variety of audi-

acre fire wouldn’t even make headlines. That was, in many

ences is that fire is inevitable. We need fire. Fire is such an

ways, the beginning of a new age of very large wildfires. And

essential force of regenerating nature. The question isn’t “yes

a lot of the management and planning practices were not

fire, no fire.” The question is what kind of fire do you want,

accounting for fires this large or this severe.

where, and under what conditions. And that becomes a different conversation from, you know—all these fires are horrible.

Why are fires growing so large and powerful, and what is

For many of these fires, if you go back even to some of these

the role of climate change?

20-year-old fires, there are areas where the fires did a lot of

We have seen multiple years of severe or exceptional drought

good, ecologically and, therefore, socially and economically.

and high temperatures. But we have also had wet periods, which gets the vegetation growing. One of the predictions of

What are some impediments to prescribed burns?

climate change is that when you get wet weather, you get a

It takes many days for firefighting resources to be deployed to

lot of it. But then you get periods of 100 degree-plus weather

a lot of these areas. Even if the conditions were really good to

in Seattle, which back in the 1990s was virtually unheard of.

let a fire maybe do its thing and have a resource benefit, local

These cycles really drive the unpredictability of when, where,

officials have to take a risk-averse position because they never

how large, and how long a fire is going to last. And then the

know when the next heat wave or windstorm will come and

policy since the turn of the last century has been to fight fires

the fire will jump their jurisdiction and blow into the next

wherever they break out.

county and take out a bunch of homes.

26 · L A ND& PEOPL E · FA L L / WIN T ER 2021

What about the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, in

have opportunities to manage it in a different way. On the

which people are moving from suburbs into rural areas?

WUI side of things, the basic message is don’t start fires. We

Does that trend impact fires?

need consistent education and burn bans that get enforced.

That’s a huge driver of the continuation of this active fire-

There is also work to be done in terms of land-use planning

suppression policy. The majority of fires that ignite are

and development. In the United States, counties and munici-

human-caused. So that is a wildland-urban interface problem.

palities get to set the rules for where land can be developed,

WUI isn’t just a confined geographic area. It is transportation

how homes are built, and a lot of times those decisions are

networks. It is power lines that can start fires. The power lines

made independent of fire risk.

wouldn’t be there if the people weren’t there. You have this massive amount of infrastructure to transport people and elec-

Finally, as far as wildfire is concerned, is it important to

trons and natural gas and water, and then there are obviously

avoid a checkerboard pattern of protected lands, with various

the people themselves who are going out and doing whatever

government agencies and nonprofits holding title?

they do that ignites fires. Fire forensics people say that when

It would certainly make management planning and imple-

people attach an RV to a vehicle, there is a chain that drags on

mentation more efficient if you had one jurisdiction that was

the road and sets off sparks. Cigarette butts still cause an enor-

able to say, “This is what we are going to do,” rather than

mous number of fires. Recreational shooting, gender-reveal

having 15 different owners with different missions, capacities,

parties. It’s across the board.

resources, and values. If it’s just you deciding what to eat for dinner versus a family of 12 deciding what to eat for dinner,

What are some solutions to the wildfire crisis?

that’s the analogy. More and more philanthropies are look-

At this point, we are really just managing the situation. We are

ing at prescribed fire in particular. They can bring a variety of

trying to identify areas where there are options for thinning

those nonprofits together and say, “Hey, give us a plan; give us

and prescribed burns. Then when a natural fire ignites, you

a strategy and let’s see what we can do together.”

T P L. O R G · 27

ƫ ƚ ƧƤ Ƭ ƭ ƮƝƢƨƬ

An investment in schoolyards is an investment in the future.

Supporting The Trust for Public Land’s work to transform America’s underserved schoolyards into exceptional parks designed by the communities they serve is part of our commitment to healthier families.

— Tad Hutcheson, Managing Director of Community Engagement, Delta Air Lines

We are proud to partner with Delta Air Lines to create and transform schoolyards as part of the Atlanta Community Schoolyards™ project. Thanks to their support, we are bringing the benefits of the outdoors to school children and the communities who need them most.

LEADER. Become a Conservation Champion and help The Trust for Public Land connect even more people to nature. With your annual leadership-level contribution of $2,000 or more, you will receive invitations to special events and insider updates on our park and conservation strategies.

Learn more about the impact you will have as a Conservation Champion. Contact Emily Falk at 415-800-5193 or champions@tpl.org.

co n s e r vat i o n ch am p i o n s tpl.org/champions | champions@ tpl.org

CHRIS BENNET T

Be a

30 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

Making Making Midway Midway Peace Park Even America’s best city park systems come up short on equity. At St. Paul’s new Midway Peace Park, neighbors came together to change that.

By Ibrahim Hirsi Photos by Caroline Yang IF THERE’S ONE THING THAT 13-YEAR-OLD YAKUB YUSSUF DOES ON A DAILY BASIS, IT’S HANG OUT WITH HIS SIBLINGS AND FRIENDS AT THE NEWEST PARK IN ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. The teens get to do anything they’re in the mood for at Midway Peace Park—things like playing basketball, riding bikes, or just roaming around.

The best part about the daily ritual for Yakub? He doesn’t have to travel long distances or cross busy roads to reach the park. The five-acre facility sits right at the foot of Skyline Tower in the Midway neighborhood, where he’s shared an apartment with his family since emigrating from Kenya in 2018.

But before Midway Peace Park opened to the public in November 2020, access to nearby green space had been out of reach for Yakub and other predominantly East African dwellers—most of whom are immigrants and refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia—of the low-income high-rise.

On a recent summer afternoon, Yakub told me about the challenges he and his peers faced before Midway Peace Park came into being. His go-to outdoor space at the time was Skyline’s on-site playground, which has two sets of spiral slides, a few swings, and metal benches—a perfect spot for little kids. But for older ones, the playground lacked the things they needed most: a basketball court, an open field for soccer or football, or enough space to run around.

While St. Paul and Minneapolis park systems have consistently ranked among the best in the nation, residents of neighborhoods with a majority of people of color, like Skyline, struggle with access to green space. Midway Peace Park is helping close that gap.

T P L. O R G · 31

whether parks have such amenities as playground equipment, basketball hoops, splashpads, and recreation centers. The ParkScore index also rates cities on their per capita park spending, their park acreage and median sizes, the number of residents living within a 10-minute walk of a park, and, starting in 2021, new measures of equity.

Since The Trust for Public Land began to publish its annual report ten years ago, the Twin Cities have scored pretty high in most of the categories. According to the 2021 ParkScore rankings, 99 percent of St. Paul residents and 98 percent of Minneapolis dwellers live within a 10-minute walk of a park.

But those rosy numbers obscure the fact that—here in the Twin Cities and in communities across the country—many people of color live in neighborhoods that lack access to adequate green space. Indeed, residents of neighborhoods in St. Paul with a majority of people of color have access to 30 percent less park space than residents of majority-white neighborhoods. In Minneapolis, that number is 58 percent.

That leaves tens of thousands of people, and especially people of color, shut out of the proven health benefits that parks provide. As Kathleen L. Wolf, a University of Washington professor and nature expert, notes, parks and open spaces can improve one’s physical and mental health. “Nearly 40 years of research evidence confirms that nearby nature, including parks, gardens, the urban forest and green spaces, support[s] human health and wellness,” Wolf writes. “The research about active living and opportunities to avoid chronic diseases ... is particularly relevant to large parks where people can enjoy walking and bike paths, and playing fields.”

the narrow hallways of Skyline. Here, they played soccer and rode their bikes. Sometimes, the young-

sters would accidentally smash the balls or bikes on the walls.

“They used to crack open walls, and then just leave it there,” Yakub said. “People used to get angry at the kids.”

The dearth of open space in the area wasn’t only a problem for teenagers in Skyline. Adults, too, often opted to stay in their apartments since they couldn’t easily walk to a nearby green space. This is partly because Skyline Tower is sandwiched between the Interstate 94 freeway and the Green Line light rail, cutting off area residents from accessing parks and green spaces.

Even as the Skyline community struggled to access green space, St. Paul and Minneapolis park systems have consistently ranked among the best in the nation. The Trust for Public Land’s 2021 ParkScore® index places the St. Paul park system

Mindful of these benefits, high school students, neighbors,

޵

A

s an alternative, some of the young teens turned to

and advocates in St. Paul embarked on a journey to bring a

park to Midway a decade ago. To realize their ambitious vision, these advocates got in touch with The Trust for Public Land.

The result was Midway Peace Park.

Research evidence confirms that nearby nature, including parks, gardens, the urban forest and green spaces, support[s] human health and wellness.

second, behind Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis third. Onee criterion on which the annual report bases its rankings is 32 · L A ND& PEOPL E · FA L L / WIN T ER 2021

— Kathleen L. Wolf

High school students, neighbors, and advocates in St. Paul embarked on a journey with The Trust for Public Land a decade ago to realize their ambitious vision for a Midway park.

T P L. O R G · 33

I

n 2011, a group of students from Gordon Parks High School,

figuring out how to transform all that underused space right

which sits half a block north of the new park, contacted

out the backdoor into a public park?

The Trust for Public Land about the five acres of vacant,

Around the same time that students at Gordon Parks were

fenced-off lots that students passed by every day on their way

in conversation with The Trust for Public Land, Skyline

to and from campus. These were three lots that belonged to

residents were asking the City of St. Paul about creating a

car dealers and auto repair shops with businesses on Univer-

park on the same underused lots. “It’s pretty fascinating

sity Avenue. They used the lots as storage for old vehicles and

and pretty inspiring that the dream of some sort of park or

abandoned equipment surrounded by chain-link and barbed-

outdoor space came from two different neighbors,” said Susan

wire fencing.

Schmidt, Minnesota director of The Trust for Public Land.

Students at Gordon Parks High—which is named for the

Midway Peace Park is one of three parks that the organization

prominent St. Paul civil rights leader, filmmaker, and pho-

has helped cocreate and bring to life in St. Paul. The other two

tographer—follow a curriculum that encourages real-world,

are Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, 27 acres that became open

community-based projects and activism. They knew their cam-

to the public in 2005, and Frogtown Park and Farm, a 13-acre

pus, and the whole neighborhood surrounding it, was short

park, also home to a community-run urban organic farm, that

on green space. What better project, students figured, than

opened in 2015.

34 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

Soon after, what started as quiet phone conversations about the idea to create green space became a rallying cry that united residents, students, advocates, and neighborhood associations for one common goal: park equity in Midway. These groups included Gordon Parks students and teachers, Skyline residents, and representatives from Union Park District Council, Hamline-Midway Coalition, and Lexington-Hamline Community Council.

In the spirit of their school’s namesake, Gordon Parks students produced advocacy videos and wrote to local newspapers about the need to bring green space to the area. In 2015, two students reminded Pioneer Press readers of the potential green space behind the school and accentuated their unrelenting support for the project. “Our school,” they wrote, “has championed this green space through grants, films, presentations and websites.”

In the same year, Skyline residents wrote more than 400 postcards to then mayor Chris Coleman. In these messages, they persuaded the mayor that the neighborhood was in dire need of green space and that the underused lots could serve as a space for thousands of people living in the high-rise to get in touch with nature.

T P L. O R G · 35

޵ This park is an example of what can happen when people come together.

— Melvin Carter, St. Paul mayor

Meanwhile, The Trust for Public Land was working with

“This park is an example of what can happen when people

residents, neighbors, community advocates, and the city of

come together,” Carter told the crowd. “We have to depend

St. Paul through a planning process to ensure that the end

on resident leaders in our community who know how to just

product would represent what communities wanted in the

push, and push, and push, and push, and push, and never give

park. For this information-gathering process, The Trust for

up on a big dream.

Public Land hired community members to talk to their neigh-

“The Trust for Public Land,” Carter continued, “is an organi-

bors about the park idea, on the streets, at community centers,

zation that we rely on and will continue to work with as they

and in their homes. The organization also worked with neigh-

just keep on coming through.”

borhood district councils to host listening sessions that drew neighbors to the vacant lots for input.

Through these outreach efforts, The Trust for Public Land learned that the community wanted a walking path, a playground, a basketball court, an open field, an amphitheater,

M

idway Peace Park now serves more than 3,500 residents living within a half mile. The park is particularly loved by the hundreds of immigrants and

refugees who live in Skyline Tower, which is surrounded by

and trees—all of which today make up the core of Midway

physical barriers—a highway on one side and light-rail on the

Peace Park.

other—that prevent residents from easily visiting the parks

In the meantime, The Trust for Public Land raised money

and open spaces in other parts of the city.

and negotiated with the owners of the three lots. By 2016, the

This was a gap that Skyline residents and Gordon Parks

organization had acquired the five-acre space and transferred

students were trying to fill, noted Eric Weiss, The Trust for

it to the City of St. Paul, which later constructed the park with

Public Land program director in St. Paul. “You don’t want to

funds raised by The Trust for Public Land and investments

cross busy streets or the highway to go to a park,” Weiss said.

by the city and then incorporated it into its park system. A

“So people wanted something close to home: a place they felt

grand opening celebration, postponed due to the COVID-19

like it was theirs, that they belong, that they didn’t have to

pandemic, took place in June 2021. The party drew 500 people,

rush across the streets trying not to get hit by a car on their

including Melvin Carter, mayor of St. Paul.

way to the park.”

36 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

Midway Peace Park now serves more than 3,500 residents living within a half mile.

T P L. O R G · 37

޵ We come here just to have fun and get connected with the community…. I come here here e every very day.

— Yakub Yussuf

38 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

O

n a recent afternoon, Megan Frank watched her

their apartments. “No one wanted to go outside,” he told me.

four-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter as

“There was no motivation.”

they dangled from monkey bars at the park. Before

Midway Peace Park has changed that, Yussuf added. Now, not

Frank and the kids arrived at Midway Peace Park, they had

only does he come out to the park for fresh air, but his mother

looked up an outdoor space around their neighborhood where

and younger siblings do so every day. “We come here just to

they could get some fresh air and run around outside. Google

have fun and get connected with the community,” he said.

gave them a list of options that included Midway Peace Park,

For Yakub, the creation of Midway Peace Park is a solution

one of a few parks in the area the Frank family hadn’t visited.

to the longstanding problem he witnessed among his peers

“These guys, everywhere we drive, they point out parks,”

who brought their balls and bikes to the hallways of Skyline.

Frank said of her children. “They like to visit lots of parks.”

Now that there’s a great big park next door, Yakub said, the

A few steps away from where Frank sat watching the

youngsters he watched practice their biking or soccer skills

kids, some half a dozen Skyline residents sat relaxing on the

in the hallways have much more room to spread out. “It has a

benches while others took a walk around the park.

nice area,” Yakub said of Midway Peace Park. “It has a climb-

Yakub Yussuf’s older brother, Ridwan, scanned the park

ing thing, it has a slide, and it also has a [hilly] area where you

from a bench, admiring the open green space that caught

can ride a bike or just sit around. I come here every day. Play-

his eyes. He thought of the nearly two years of the COVID-19

ing basketball is my favorite thing to do here.”

pandemic that locked down many of his Skyline neighbors in

T P L. O R G · 39

For 10-year-old Hayu Haji, the new park serves as a social hub that connects him to friends and classmates. Before Midway Peace Park was opened to the public this June, Hayu often used to ask his father, Hussein, to take him to Como Park, which is about three miles away from his house. But Hayu struggled to make friends there. “He felt lonely,” his father said.

At Midway Peace Park, things have been different. Hayu has at least ten friends living in Skyline Tower. When he comes to the park, he meets most of them for soccer, football, and basketball games. “It has a big yard,” Hayu said.

Hussein said he’s happy to have a new park close by and see his son socialize with friends he likes. “There are a lot of Somalis, Oromo, and Ethiopians who live here,” Hussein said, pointing to Skyline. “Nice children play at this park. My child learns from them. I’m so happy to be here.”

Like Hayu, 12-year-old Stephanie Rodriguez makes new friends and meets old ones at Midway Peace Park. Stephanie, born and raised in Skyline Tower, said she comes to the park a few times a week to hang out with friends and family. “I feel happy, and I feel like it’s a good park because a lot of people can come here and have fun,” Stephanie said. “Thank you for building the park because it not just brings joy to Skyline; it brings joy to the community.”

޵ It brings joy to the community.

— Stephanie Rodriguez

40 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

“EVERY GREEN, NATURAL PLACE WE SAVE SAVES A FRAGMENT OF OUR SANITY AND GIVES US A LITTLE MORE HOPE THAT WE HAVE A FUTURE.” — WALLACE STEGNER

THE PLACES YOU LOVE Ensure healthy land and livable communities for all by naming The Trust for Public Land as a beneficiary of your will, living trust, retirement account, or donor advised fund.

For more information visit our website at tpl.planmygift.org Or contact our Office of Planned Giving at 202.856.3748 or plannedgiving@ tpl.org

EN D RI A R I C HA R DSO N Author and Recreational Climber 42 · L A ND&PEOPL E · FA L L / WIN T ER 2021

The Problem Solvers Outdoor sports like rock climbing have long been the domain of the privileged few.

Meet five climbers of color who are forging connections, lowering barriers, and finding ways to make their sport—and the public lands we all share—accessible to everyone.

By Endria Richardson I SPENT THIS SUMMER RUNNING THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE’S YARDS. I was visiting my mom in Worcester, Massachusetts, where I grew up. Almost every day, I went for a run along the trails that stretch luxuriously across the city. This network, sections of which are linked together by skinny easements through private property, is one reason why I was a runner as a kid, not a rock climber. Running on public trails, I felt like the most allowed, joyful, and welcomed version of myself.

Which is not to say I never climbed. I spent sweaty, slow, dense summer days climbing the doorway to the kitchen, the doorway to the living room, the doorway to my bedroom. I climbed the tree that bent over the landlord’s garage in our backyard. I climbed the side of the house. When my older brother was home, he would take my sister and me to the wooded lot that began at the dirt end of our street, a quarter acre of jumbled trees, layers of leaf litter, and the rocky foundations of a house that had slid in some prehistoric past partway down the hill; we climbed all over that.

The act of climbing is a joyful contortion that many different types of bodies can do. It is public, as much or more so than running, if public means open to a lot of people. But climbing can feel private if private means closed to most people. The entry point is often a gym that you have to pay to

ƥ ƫ ƞ Ƨ ƞ ƞ ƛ ƥƨ Ʈ Ƨ ƭ

use, wearing climbing-specific gear. I didn’t come to climbingas-a-sport until I was in law school and could pay the price of private admission when I enrolled in an introductory climbing class. I loved it, but I didn’t necessarily feel like the most allowed, joyful, or welcomed version of myself.

T P L. O R G · 43

Climbing culture is fun, exclusive, and elite. Currently, 85

playing hide and seek, running through the rows, chewing

percent of climbers are white; only 1 percent identify as Black,

and sucking on stalks they’d break off from some farmer’s

1 percent as Indigenous, 3 percent as Latinx, and 6 percent as

crop. At night, they would explore the canals by their house,

Asian or Pacific Islander. Further, 61 percent of climbers report

looking for snakes, alligators, and toads. “This is how we play,

an income of higher than $50,000 per year.

how we engage in the world,” Summer tells me.

With this in mind, I talked to four climbers, all people of

Brittany Leavitt is the cofounder of Brown Girls Climb, a

color, who are trying to make climbing more welcoming. Each

network that connects women of color climbers around the

found joyful ways to contort their bodies as children, on pub-

world and offers mentorship, skill shares, and regional meet-

lic lands, though none started climbing-as-a-sport until their

ups. She told me she spent her childhood in parks in Washing-

twenties or thirties. We talked about how, for many people in

ton, D.C., farms in upstate New York, and hanging out in tide

the U.S., and specifically for people of color, public spaces are

pools outside Boston. She loved spending time in nature but

where our earliest relationships with our bodies, our commu-

often felt alienated. As a transracial adoptee—Brittany is Black,

nities, and our senses of safety, joy, and play are shaped.

her parents are white—Brittany was used to being the only

The land we play on has been shaped by industrialization,

Black person outside. “I was so used to being surrounded by

environmental degradation, and pollution. In 2018, the Envi-

white,” she reflects. “My family is white. [I thought] being in

ronmental Protection Agency reported that Black Americans

nature was a thing that only white people did, and I got to be

and people of color are disproportionately more likely than

a part of it. Until I got older and understood much more of my

white people to live near landfills and industrial plants that

culture and history—not only our connection to the outdoors

lead to water and air pollution, to live near hazardous waste

but the trauma that has come from the outdoors.”

sites, and to die from the effects of air and water pollution.

My conversations with these climbers spanned whether

When Brittany started climbing, she realized that if she was going to advance in the sport, she would need a community

climbing can become more playful and more public, what

beyond “the boys’ club” of climbers she met in her college

it will take for the sport to be truly welcoming to different

gym. None of them seemed particularly interested in taking

bodies, and whether being public might be another word for

the time to teach her. She reluctantly put climbing to the

being connected.

side; she hadn’t yet met the community that made her feel welcome. Eventually, she would decide to create it herself.

M

ore than four thousand miles of canals cut through

With a boulder in Denver’s Montbello Open Space Park as

coastal Louisiana, dredged to make way for boats,

the catalyst, Yesica Chavez and her friends created Chi-

rigs, and equipment to float through the marshy

cas Que Escalan to create a community that might make

land. The canals let saltwater seep inland; the salt throttles

climbing feel more joyful and welcoming to everyone in the

the native plants that keep the wetlands from eroding away.

Denver area.

Slightly inland, in Labadieville, Louisiana, sharp green slivers of sugarcane blow in the salty breeze. At one point, over

For Fred Campbell, a professional rock and ice climber, being outside mostly meant at the parks and the playgrounds

300,000 acres here were planted with sugarcane, making it

around his childhood home in Oakland, California. “We loved

the primary plantation crop in southern Louisiana; enslaved

playing in the park, playgrounds, and playing out in the rain.

Black Americans worked the fields.

Summer Winston, who grew up in Labadieville, didn’t

I liked running around, the freedom and the exploration, and seeing new things,” he says.

climb as a kid. Louisiana was too flat for outside climbing, and

The people he knew played football, both in Oakland and

Summer’s family didn’t have money for “any extracurricular

later in New York, where his family moved when he was 12.

anything,” as they put it. “There were no gyms. No climbing

“It was much easier to be a part of that, than climbing. [Climb-

resources. No fairground walls. That didn’t even happen,”

ing] wasn’t visible,” he said. Fred played football competitively,

Summer says.

becoming a middle linebacker at Stanford until a serious

As a kid, Summer would take out their bike, collect their friends, and spend the day exploring the sugarcane fields:

4 4 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

accident sidelined him.

Your impact: climbing access around the country The Trust for Public Land was founded in 1972 on the conviction that all people need access to the outdoors. Along the way we’ve worked with local climbers and communities to ensure public access to much-loved rock-climbing areas like these: PESHASTIN PINNACLES – WASHINGTON STATE These striking sandstone formations have drawn generations of climbers throughout the Pacific Northwest—but most of the best climbs were on private land, and in the 1980s, the landowner closed the property to the public over liability concerns. The Trust for Public Land led the effort to purchase the land and create Peshastin Pinnacles State Park, which opened in 1991.

OWL’S HEAD CLIFF – NEW HAMPSHIRE This 600-foot granite escarpment draws rock climbers from across New England. In 2007, climbers, locals, and The Trust for Public Land banded together to transfer the spot to the White Mountains National Forest, ensuring permanent public access to this much-loved outdoor adventure destination.

THE GUNKS – NEW YORK Shawangunk Ridge—or “the Gunks,” to generations of Northeastern climbers—is a landscape of waterfalls, lakes, forests, and rocky outcrops in upstate New York. In 2006, DONNER SUMMIT – CALIFORNIA Our supporters have helped ensure public access to tens of thousands of acres in the Northern Sierra Nevada,

Trust for Public Land supporters helped add 2,500 acres to Minnewaska State Park Preserve, preventing a planned luxury development.

making it easier for climbers to reach places like the Saddle Boulders, a cluster of giant granite features laced with dozens of short, challenging climbing routes that dot the ridge above Donner Lake.

MOUNT YONAH – GEORGIA The climbing website Mountain Project calls this granite dome 90 minutes north of Atlanta “the state’s climbing school,” for the number of first-time climbers who’ve learned the ropes on its slopes. The summit was once completely surrounded by private land, until Trust for Public Land supporters stepped up to help

FREE CLIMBING WALLS IN CITY PARKS

transfer a key property to the U.S. Forest Service in 2003.

The Trust for Public Land is teaming up with The North Face to build free climbing walls in parks around the country—starting in neighborhoods where kids face the highest barriers to the outdoors. So far we've cut the ribbon on custom boulders in Denver, Chicago, Atlanta, and Tacoma.

T P L. O R G · 45

SU M M ER W I N STO N Cofounder of The Brown Ascenders

46 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

ƥ ƫ ƞ Ƨ ƞ ƞ ƛ ƥƨ Ʈ Ƨ ƭ

S

ummer discovered rock climbing on a camping trip in

look at me but not say anything. There were no Brown or

Texas in their thirties. Scrambling nervously down a

Black people. A bunch of white dudes with their shirts off,

steep slope after wandering off-trail, Summer looked

grunting. A really uncomfortable place,” Summer says. Famil-

up and saw people swinging, on ropes and gear, from the

iar with making what had been built and shaped by others

steep canyon walls overhead—the same rocks Summer and

into their own—those dubious Louisiana canals and sugarcane

their partner were trying so desperately not to tumble from.

fields—Summer decided to make the private landscape of

Summer thought it looked amazing—not to mention a lot

climbing feel like it could belong to anyone.

safer than the off-trail predicament they found themself in.

In 2017, after attending Color the Crag, a climbing festival

Eventually, they got down safely and immediately searched

for people of color in Alabama, Summer and their friend Dar-

online for coupons for “rock climbing” in the area when they

rick Brody founded The Brown Ascenders, a group for people

got home. They found a gym and bought a 30-day pass.

of color to climb together. In gyms and at outdoor meetups,

Climbing itself brought familiar feelings from childhood.

But the community and belongingness were missing. “The

climbers can get to know the land through climbing while surrounded by community.

ƭơƞƨ ƬƭƫƨƨƦƞƫ

first gym I started climbing in, I’d walk in and people would

A rock-climbing field trip for neighborhood youth was part of the participatory park design process The Trust for Public Land led with The North Face to design the boulder that will soon be installed in Colorado Springs‘ Panorama Park.

T P L. O R G · 47

shining green spatterdock, and slim gold-and-green

ascend short, hard routes without ropes—doesn’t require as

stalks of wild rice. Pebbling the river itself, imported

much gear as climbing taller walls. Just shoes, chalk, and a

mussels siphon gallons of water through their gill cham-

crash pad (a soft pad placed beneath the boulder that can be

bers, doing their part to undo centuries of pollution. The

shared among many climbers).

Anacostia’s watershed drains an increasingly urbanized land.

Climbing can be prohibitively expensive. Day passes at

It includes Washington, D.C., Prince George’s County, and

climbing gyms can cost $30 and renting gear can run you

Montgomery County: regions that are home to some of the

another $15, while buying your own (climbing shoes, harness,

financially poorest communities in the country. These resi-

crash pad, rope, quick draws, belay devices, helmets, and

dents have long borne the brunt of the toxins, heavy metals,

more) can cost $1,000. Then there’s the cost of transporta-

and raw sewage that have polluted the river through the early

tion to and from climbing destinations, taking time off from

twenty-first century.

work, or any of the little luxuries that can make you feel like

And yet, the area is beautiful and fecund, home to 43 spe-

you really belong. Groups like The Brown Ascenders negoti-

cies of fish and 200 species of birds. Scattered along the banks

ate with local gyms to waive the cost of admission during

of the river’s Northwest Branch, just outside Silver Spring,

their meetups and offer subsidized monthly membership

Maryland, are hundreds of garage-size boulders that draw

rates, while building a gear library to help decrease the cost of

climbers from around the region.

outdoor trips.

This is where Brittany Leavitt and her friend Bethany

The Brown Ascenders and Brown Girls Climb attempt to

Lebewitz held the first meetup for Brown Girls Climb. Open

make newcomers feel welcome enough that they can experi-

to all, sun-drenched, and scrappy, the Northwest Branch Boul-

ence climbing, without being distracted by anything else. “That

ders could hardly be more different from the exclusive gym

first initial thing is comfort,” Summer says. “Just make it feel

where Brittany first tried to climb. She and Bethany chose this

really natural, like a natural thing to go in and try. Because

spot because it is a short drive from major metro areas and

the act of climbing is such a natural human thing to do.”

The costs associated with climbing often make it an exclusive sport. Groups like The Brown Ascenders and Brown Girls Climb work to make climbing more inclusive, accessible, and welcoming to all.

48 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

ƚƥƞƱƢƬ ƤƫƚƮƬƬ

because bouldering—a type of climbing in which climbers

ƭơƞƨ ƬƭƫƨƨƦƞƫ

T

he Anacostia River tumbles past pale brown cattails,

B RITTAN Y L EAVITT Cofounder of Brown Girls Climb

T P L. O R G · 49

YE S ICA CHAV EZ Founder of Chicas Que Escalan (Girls Who Climb) 50 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

ƝƢƞƠƨ ƦƞƝƫƚƧƨ

Y

esica Chavez tried climbing for the first time three or

The new Montbello Open Space Park sits just a mile from

four years ago at her college’s wellness center. Yesica

the refuge’s border, in the heart of one of Denver’s most

recalls her first impressions: “It was intimidating.

densely populated neighborhoods. Today the park’s five acres

No one looked like me. [It was] all these bulky white men

of prairie are studded with native plants and threaded with

going up this wall like it was nothing.” She didn’t try climb-

walking trails. The Trust for Public Land has worked closely

ing again for another couple of years until she attended a

with Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK), a community-

meetup hosted by Brown Girls Climb in Denver. After that,

based education nonprofit, to transform the land into a city

she was hooked.

park, which opened to the public this summer.

Yesica says Brown Girls Climb also taught her that she

Montbello Open Space Park was envisioned, among other

didn’t have to be a super-tough athlete who climbs for a living.

things, as “a gateway” into the wildlife refuge. It is also a gate-

She could climb as a hobby. “Climbing, in general, is intimi-

way to climbing for young people, thanks to the convincingly

dating,” she says. “If you’re scared of heights, that’s something

craggy artificial boulder that juts up in the center of the park.

you’ll have to push through.” She says the community she’s

The 11-foot structure is one of a half-dozen climbing boulders

met through climbing has helped her overcome that sense of

that The Trust for Public Land has installed in city parks across

intimidation. “You may not know the person climbing, but

the country, in partnership with The North Face.

someone is going to cheer you on.”

“[The boulder] may not be a 20-foot wall or a big old gym, but it gives people the idea that this sport is accessible to

O

ne of the largest public green spaces in Denver,

them, climbing on walls, gripping on them, is doable,” Yesica

Colorado, is the 15,000-acre Rocky Mountain Arsenal

says. A few years ago, ELK began taking students to climb

National Wildlife Refuge. Throughout the 20th cen-

at a local gym to get them excited for the boulder; often,

tury, this land was used to manufacture and dispose of chemi-

Brown Girls Climb leaders Montserrat Alvarez Matehuala,

cal weapons, petroleum, and pesticides. By 1984, it was listed

Sasha McGhee, Chela Garcia Irlando, Noelia Aponte-Silva,

as one of the most contaminated areas in the United States

and Ariana Antonio would come to share skills and provide

and then it was transformed into a wildlife refuge. In 1986, a

encouragement and support. In 2018, Yesica launched Chicas

roost of bald eagles was discovered at the Arsenal; between

Que Escalan (Girls Who Climb), a group for teenage girls who

2004 and 2010, thousands of acres of the refuge were cleaned

attend ELK programming.

ƥƨ ƫ ƞ Ƨ Ƴ ƨ Ɲ ƚ ư Ƥ Ƣ Ƨ Ƭ

of contaminants and opened to the public.

Giving kids the opportunity to climb builds excitement for the sport. This hands-on experience is part of The Trust for Public Land’s participatory design process.

T P L. O R G · 51

to Mt. Kilimanjaro with his dad. When Fred moved

safe public spaces where we learn how to love ourselves.

to Houston afterward, he looked into rock-climbing

But mostly I think about young people like Yesica, grow-

gyms. When I asked Fred what made climbing stick, he said,

ing up in Denver today who will play on a boulder built on a

“I walked into a group of climbers who were pretty welcoming.

reclaimed lot now lush with native grasses and plants, down

It would have been so much harder without people who were

the street from a wilderness area. I think of Summer collect-

patient, who could help teach me things. There’s so much

ing their friends to steal stalks of sugarcane, crawling through

to learn that I couldn’t imagine doing it without a group of

treacherous canals to look for creatures that are contorting

people who were excited to reach out to new people.”

their bodies in spaces that are as much theirs as anyone else’s.

Now, Fred leads mountaineering clinics for people of color.

I think of Fred finding his people on a football field, on top

As a member of The North Face’s team of elite climbers, he’s

of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and in a climbing gym in Houston, Texas.

also teamed up with The Trust for Public Land to help kids in

I think of Brittany and Bethany and other women of color

cities from Atlanta to Dallas to Tacoma connect with climbing

launching their bodies at boulders as mollusks suck up nasti-

at local gyms and free boulders at city parks.

ness from the Anacostia River.

Ultimately, public spaces allow us access to each other. After

I feel grateful for the narrow spaces that link us together

talking with Summer, Brittany, Yesica, and Fred, I think about

across the U.S., allowing us to play gleefully where we do belong.

Fred Campbell, a member of The North Face’s team of elite climbers, leads mountaineering clinics for people of color.

52 · L A N D & P E O P L E · F A L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

ƚƮƬƭƢƧ ƬƜơƦƢƭƳ

what it means for so many people of color to have access to

Ɲ ƞ Ʊ ƭ ƞ ƫ Ɲ ƚ Ư Ƣ Ƭ ƭ ơ ƞ Ƨ ƨ ƫ ƭ ơ Ɵƚ Ɯ ƞ

A

fter his football injury, Fred went on an expedition

FRE D CA MP B EL L Professional Rock and Ice Climber

T P L. O R G · 53

54 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

A NeverEnding Story As mountain towns grapple with growth, voters in this Montana community are putting local tax dollars to work for a future that everyone can agree on.

By Sophie Tsairis Photos by Adrian Sanchez Gonzalez MADDY POPE SKIMS HER FINGERS ALONG THE CUTOUT LETTERS ON A SIGN OVERLOOKING A SMALL FISHING HOLE AT THE CONFLUENCE OF BOZEMAN CREEK AND THE EAST GALLATIN RIVER IN BOZEMAN, MONTANA. Once forced through culverts and ditches, inhospitable to both fish and humans, the streams are now healthy, flowing rivers shaded by aspen and cottonwood trees; it’s a quiet spot to meditate, fish, or—as many Montanans prefer—both, simultaneously. The sign reads “Be Kind.”

“Here. I can’t choose just one—it’s like asking which of my children I like best—but this is a significant spot in the park to me,” Pope says. The sign is in memory of Alex Diekmann, a conservationist who preserved more than 100,000 acres in the Northern Rockies during his time with The Trust for Public Land, before passing away in 2016.

For Pope, who was a Trust for Public Land project manager until her 2019 retirement, this is just one of countless special places within the 60-acre Story Mill Community Park. The park opened in 2019 following a seven-year community effort supported by The Trust for Public Land. Today, as residents of this once-small cowboy town grapple with the challenges and opportunities of being one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, this sign—and the park it sits in—is a constant

The 60-acre Story Mill Community Park opened in 2019 following a seven-year community effort supported by The Trust for Public Land.

T P L. O R G · 55

reminder to the growing county to listen to one another, and

“The portion of the federal budget allotted to parks and con-

to be kind. “The longer I worked on this park, the more I

servation has been in decline for at least a generation,” says

realized that this was really about Bozeman coming together

Bill Lee, senior vice president of policy, advocacy, and govern-

collectively to think about what our ‘best self’ is, and with

ment relations at The Trust for Public Land. “In that time, our

that in mind, creating a place that we all share,” Pope says.

success at helping communities plan and pass local and state

But creating a 60-acre multiuse park also costs money. So

funding measures has been a very important force for creating

during the 2012 election, Pope and her colleagues at The Trust

and upgrading parks and trails, giving more and more people

for Public Land helped Bozeman residents put a measure on the

access to a quality park.”

ballot that would raise funding for the park and other projects

Lee supervises a team of campaign strategists with deep

through local taxes. The bond measure, which was the first of

expertise in the process of designing and passing ballot mea-

its kind for Bozeman, passed with 73 percent support and

sures. Their experience runs the gamut from targeted local

generated over $4 million in public funding to create the park.

campaigns to fund specific parks like Story Mill to statewide initiatives like Proposition 68, a $4 billion multiyear bond

T

he 2012 vote that helped fund Story Mill Community

that California voters approved in 2018. Whatever the scale of

Park was a product of The Trust for Public Land’s long-

the campaign, months of research, polling, coalition building,

standing expertise in conservation finance. Now in its

and voter outreach culminate on Election Day, when voters

25th year, the organization’s conservation finance program is

decide if they’re willing, in many cases, to raise their taxes

responsible for over 600 such voter- and legislator-approved

to improve their close-to-home parks, trails, and open spaces.

measures across the country, which have cumulatively gener-

Since 1996, that decision has been an overwhelming “yes”:

ated over $80 billion in funding for parks, trails, open spaces,

over 80 percent of the measures supported by The Trust for

farmland, clean water, and wildlife.

Public Land have passed.

޵

This was really about Bozeman coming together collectively to think about what our ‘best self’ is.

— Maddy Pope

56 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

25 years of conservation finance success Thanks to support from people like you, The Trust for Public Land has helped pass more than 600 conservation ballot measures since 1996. Read about some of our biggest wins yet.

SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS ACT OF 1996 Miami-Dade County, Florida

PROPOSITION C: CLEAN WATER, SAFE PARKS,

$200 million bond for neighborhood and regional parks

AND COMMUNITY TRAILS INITIATIVE OF 2000

One of The Trust for Public Land’s first two ballot campaigns

AND PROPOSITION P: THE SAFE AND ACCESSIBLE

generated stable funding that local communities have since

ARCH AND PUBLIC PARKS INITIATIVE OF 2013

invested in parks across the city, from the Spring Garden Point

St. Louis metro area

Park serving Miami’s urban core to historic Lummus Park.

Over $1 billion for the creation of parks and trails Voters on both sides of the Mississippi River approved Proposition C, a sales tax increase that created the Great

COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT OF 2000 Massachusetts

Rivers Greenway Regional Park District in 2000. City of St. Louis and St. Louis County voters approved an additional sales

$2.5 billion to date for open space, parks, affordable

tax in 2013 to continue to fund the greenways, improve the

housing, and historic preservation

Arch grounds, and connect the Arch to downtown St. Louis.

This legislation passed in 2000 allows voters in municipalities across the state to opt in via popular vote to

Great Rivers Greenway now provides over 110 miles across its 1,200-square-mile district.

a local tax surcharge that draws matching state funding. To date, 187 communities have adopted CPA for local priorities.

THE CLEAN WATER, LAND AND LEGACY AMENDMENT OF 2008 RURAL AND CRITICAL LANDS PROGRAM OF 2000, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2018 Beaufort County, South Carolina $160 million for water quality protection, wildlife habitat, and scenic vistas We know voters in the “Lowcountry” of coastal South Carolina love their natural areas and wildlife habitat because

Minnesota $6.9 billion for land and water conservation and the arts When voters approved it in 2008, this 3/8th cent sales tax increase was the nation’s largest state land conservation measure ever created, and it’s since become a main source of public funding used by The Trust for Public Land to improve access to the great outdoors all across the North Star State.

they’ve voted to fund them five times in a row, protecting 112 special places and over 23,900 acres since 2000.

PROPOSITION 68 OF 2018 California

MEASURE 2A OF 2020 Denver $40 million annually for climate resiliency Denver voters realized they can’t wait for the federal government to act on climate. So they passed the nation’s first municipal sales tax to fight the sources of climate

$4.1 billion for state and local parks, environmental protection, water infrastructure, and flood protection The largest investment in natural resources in California state history, this voter-approved measure is already funding a community-focused effort to create healthy parks where they’re needed most.

change and protect residents from rising heat and stronger storms. Half the funds are earmarked for projects in communities of color, low-income communities, and those most vulnerable to climate change.

T P L. O R G · 57

޵ There is a clear through-line for [conservation] funding, from the people straight to the places they love.

— David Weinstein

“Despite the increasing divisions and heated rhetoric around

their ideal playgrounds that a “yes” vote could help bring to

politics in America over the last decade, we continue to see that

reality. “Here in Montana, the outdoors fuels our economy by

voters agree on the importance of funding parks, trails, and nat-

way of tourism and recreation. And access to parks and public

ural areas,” says David Weinstein, Western conservation finance

lands is linked with better mental and physical health out-

director in The Trust for Public Land’s Bozeman office. The 2012

comes across the state,” says Weinstein. “Voters in Bozeman

measure was a first for the City of Bozeman, Weinstein notes,

understand these benefits really well, and know that investing

but residents have been voting in support of conservation

their tax dollars in a project like Story Mill Community Park

for a long time. Gallatin County voters approved county-wide

will pay off in so many ways in the future.”

funding for conservation in 2000, 2004, and 2018. And Bozeman residents approved a district-wide parks measure in the 2020 election. “There is a clear through-line for [conservation] funding, from the people straight to the places they love. It’s an incredibly meaningful and powerful way for voters to make a statement about what’s important for their communities.”

T

oday, Bozeman is among the fastest-growing municipalities in the nation. But it hasn’t always been that way.

With its fertile soil and abundance of water, the Gallatin

Valley has sustained Indigenous peoples, including the Blackfeet, Sioux, and Crow, for thousands of years. It wasn’t until the

In addition to a successful 2012 ballot campaign, the effort

early 1860s, when nonnative travelers in the region discovered

to create Story Mill Community Park relied on generous dona-

gold, that permanent settlements sprang up. Many longtime

tions from people around Montana and across the country.

residents remember living in a remote, tight-knit community,

Community engagement for the park included everything

surrounded by farmland as far as the eye could see.

from workshops and public meetings to community tours of

The latest population boom began in earnest about 20 years

the future park site. Schoolchildren even shared visions of

ago, as the local economy began to diversify from its farming

58 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

and ranching roots. Since then, Bozeman has emerged as a

form Story Mill into a park—and from the beginning, the

hub for tech companies, manufacturing, and tourism, and it

group pushed to include affordable housing in the plan.

has been the fastest-growing “micropolitan” area in the nation

“Every resident of Bozeman deserves a place to call home, and

for four consecutive years. The city’s 4.25 percent growth

every resident of Bozeman deserves access to all the benefits

rate has intensified during the pandemic as remote workers

of parks and the outdoors,” says Weinstein. “The 2012 vote to

around the country jump on the opportunity to live and recre-

fund Story Mill was our community’s chance to do both.”

ate in the picturesque valley.

Meanwhile, the community is wrestling with the challenges

Today, eight acres at the edge of the park are set aside for affordable housing in response to the intensifying housing

of fast-paced development: where there was once competi-

crunch that continues to squeeze families out of the valley.

tion for jobs, local businesses are now struggling to keep

Crews broke ground on a 62-unit mixed-income development

employees who can’t afford housing in town. Trails that once

in April—a promising step toward closing the growing gap in

provided solitude are crowded every day of the week, and

Bozeman’s affordable housing supply.

the time it takes to drive across town has tripled due to the increase in traffic.

By 2012, “Our community was reaching the realization that Bozeman was at a tipping point,” Pope says. Was the city on a one-way path to inequality and opportunistic development, at risk of losing the very values that are attracting new residents in the first place? Or could the community grow in a way that creates economic opportunities for longtime residents while welcoming new people who share a very Bozeman-like desire to connect with the outdoors?

A 60-acre site on the outskirts of town known to longtime locals as Story Mill presented a great opportunity for Bozeman residents to ensure access to parks and the outdoors as the region continues to develop. Originally a wetland, the area has historically been a corridor for wildlife to move between the Bridger and Gallatin mountains. In 1882 Nelson Story, an early pioneer and one of the first nonnative settlers of Bozeman, built a water-powered mill here, along with the largest grain elevator in the state, draining and filling in much of the wetlands to make way for barns. Operators abandoned the mill in the 1950s and it sat in disrepair for several decades.

Meanwhile, a mobile home community arose on the site, providing affordable housing for over 100 families.

But in 2006, a developer bought the Story Mill property with plans to build 1,200 houses and 140,000 square feet of commercial space. The families living in mobile homes on the property were evicted. The 2008 recession scuttled the project, and the bank foreclosed on the property, leaving the future uncertain for the land and its former residents.

“After the developers went bankrupt, the land was just sitting there,” recalls Deb Love, Northern Rockies director of The Trust for Public Land at the time. “You would drive past and see all these vacant, abandoned trailers blowing around in the wind. It was a painful reminder of what this community had lost.”

Love was among the early advocates of the plan to transT P L. O R G · 59

B

rian Best sits in a bird blind in Story Mill Community Park’s 40-acre nature preserve. He lowers his binoculars that have been focused on a chickadee popping

in and out of a birdhouse in an aspen tree. “I used to live just

over there,” he says, pointing toward an open field. Best has been a Bozeman resident for 16 years and has witnessed this land change drastically. He knows this area like the back of his hand. “I’ve been coming out here to watch the birds just about every day for as long as I can remember,” says Best.

Along with the 40-acre nature sanctuary with almost a mile of restored river, Story Mill visitors can stroll through wetlands, past multiple playgrounds, a climbing boulder, community garden, fishing access, and a dog park. Each part of the park reflects the desires and priorities of the community, says Mitchell Overton, director of parks and recreation for the City of Bozeman. “After the bond passed, we spent a solid twelve months designing, visioning, collecting public input, and holding public meetings and workshops before breaking ground on the project.”

Deb Love remembers how Maddy Pope hosted a group of kids out on the land to envision what they wanted in the park. “The land was littered and in need of restoration, but all the kids could see were the cattails and sandhill cranes—they were all focused on the possibility,” she says.

Brian Best, a longtime Bozeman resident, helps maintain the bird blind in the park's 40-acre nature preserve.

60 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

Visitors can stroll through wetlands and enjoy multiple playgrounds, the community garden, fishing access, and even a dog park.

A

group of elementary-aged children walks in between

“I’m just happy the land ended up being conserved in some

raised beds filled with a variety of vegetable plants

way,” says Brian Best, back at the bird blind. “It’s very peace-

from kale to cucumber to summer squash. It’s early

June and the lettuce and kale are sprouting. One of the kids

ful, and wildlife is still able to use it as a corridor.” Right on cue, a black bear saunters into the aspen grove, looking back

leans over, examining how an insect has chewed through a

toward Brian before scrambling up a tree. A man passing by

kale plant. Another takes a bite of a chive. It’s a hot day and

on his bicycle stops on the trail and watches from afar. “Wow,

the kids soon retreat to the back of the community garden,

we are so blessed to get to witness this,” he says.

where the flower beds turn to mulched ground and young fruit trees, shrubs, and bushes provide more shade.

Jill Holder is director of the Gallatin Valley Food Bank,

That’s part of what sets this park apart from others. Just as it is the confluence of two rivers, it’s a place where Montana’s wild spaces meet with a growing population in a shared space.

which helps feed an average of 1,160 households each week

It doesn’t always work perfectly, but it’s an important step

throughout Southwest Montana. The organization also man-

to keep Bozeman connected to its natural surroundings and

ages the garden at Story Mill, and since the park opened in

bring a growing community together.

2019, Holder’s group has used the space as one of several

“Public parks like this are amazing because no matter where

locations for distributing free lunches to children and teens

you’re from or what your background is, you get this beautiful

18 and under. “The park provides a safe place where kids can

public space to enjoy,” says Overton, Bozeman’s parks director.

stay active,” says Holder. “And for those who may not have

“In such a short time the park has become an integral part of

access to it at home, they get a free and healthy meal.”

our community. It’s hard to believe it hasn’t been here forever.”

T P L. O R G · 61

Member Center When you become a member of The Trust for Public Land, you join a community of outdoor advocates who care deeply about protecting the places that make our country special—from small neighborhood parks to vast wilderness escapes. As a member, you’ll receive benefits including: • Insider updates on our work in your community and beyond • A subscription to Land&People, the awardwinning magazine for people who love the land Join or renew your membership today!

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contact us For questions about our work or to change your Land&People subscription address, call 415.495.4014, or email donor.outreach@tpl.org.

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Donate $2,000 or more annually and

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receive the recognition due a champion.

ing $5 worth of land for every $1 donated.

Visit tpl.org/champions, or contact Emily

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See more giving options at tpl.org/ways-to-give.

62 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

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T P L . O R G · 63

ƭƫ ƚƢƥōƬ ƞƧƝ

EXCERPT: MY LIFE AS A FIRE LOOKOUT A storm was brewing to the southwest of my tower, but my expectations for wildfires were low. The intensity of lightning in late August was minute in comparison with the violent storms of June and July. But this storm had conviction. The cloud

The winds churned and I heard the violent whirring of

Away they flew. My heart sank.

the anemometer. The cupola began to rattle back and forth

“It was a smoke,” I said to nobody.

atop the tower. The storm was going to come right overhead, I realized. The trees flattened and my laundry, hung on a clothesline below, went flying in every direction.

The sky began to hurl hail, the white ice ricocheting off

Suddenly, a column of white popped back up. I grabbed the radio to inform dispatch and listened to my westerly neighbour call in a

the windows like gunfire. I jumped on the radio to report the

cross-shot on the smoke. I scribbled

weather shift.

down his bearing, then went to the cross-shot map to pull the

Minutes later, the storm had pushed off to the east and the rain relaxed to a drizzle.

A colony of ghosts proliferated in the distance, spooky grey columns of moisture rising from the forest. No smokes.

sewing thread from his tower to mine, fixing their intersection with a tack. Aha! A precise location of the smoke.

“Confirmed wildfire,” said the crew leader. “What’s the next fire number, please?”

Suddenly, I spied a stab of white light—dry lightning! The cloud

It was a small fire, only 0.2 hectares, and burning a path

opened up and the rain formed a solid curtain of blue. I looked

towards a meandering creek. It wouldn’t take the crew long

away then glanced back, and there it was: a column of white

to get it under control. I watched the smouldering drama

smoke, pushed low to the treetops with the surging winds.

through my binoculars and felt an odd sense of ownership.

Why did it always feel like a small miracle—seeing smoke?

I radioed in the smoke location, though the smoke quickly disappeared, doused by rain.

“No smoke in sight,” said a crew leader. “But we’re seeing a

I’d kept watch, patiently, willing the wildfire to the surface with my eyes.

What was it about being the first to observe nature in action? Witnessing what the forest had done for millennia?

lot of spooks out here.”

It made me feel small and insignificant, and yet also like a

“It was definitely not a spook,” I replied, although not over

quiet hero. I was proud to be a small part of the collective

the radio. “XMA567, this is Yankee Whisky Bravo on 202.”

effort to spot the beginnings of wildfire, joining the legacy of

I reached for my mic. “Go for 567.”

the women and men who watched before me. It was lonely

“Good afternoon, we’re just coming up on your detection,”

and thankless work, and in the moment of reporting a

said the crew leader. “We’re not seeing anything. What

smoke there was no one with whom I could share the glory—

was your bearing on the smoke? We’ll fly the bearing from

no one but myself. The smoke would fade into nothingness,

your tower.”

the wildfire into a black scar on the landscape that few would

I passed along my bearing and detection and watched them

ever fly over. Yet I’d never forget this moment.

through my binoculars. I was confident I’d seen a wildfire and figured it must be hidden, barely burning somewhere below the treeline.

“We’ve had a good look around, but nothing found,” said the crew leader to the dispatcher.

64 · L AND&PEOPL E · FALL / WIN T ER 2021

EXCERPTED FROM LOOKOUT: LOVE, SOLITUDE, AND SEARCHING FOR WILDFIRE IN THE BOREAL FOREST BY TRINA MOYLES. COPYRIGHT 2021 TRINA MOYLES. PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE CANADA, A DIVISION OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

ƜƨƮƫ ƭƞƬ Ʋ ƨƟ ƭƫƢƧ ƚ ƦƨƲ ƥƞƬ

doubled and kept rolling towards me, so I closed up the cupola windows.

w e h o p e yo u en j oy ed t h i s i s s u e o f l a n d & peo pl e.

thank you. t h a n k yo u f o r a l l yo u d o t o c r e at e pa r k s a n d p r o t e c t l a n d f o r p e o p l e .

As a Trust for Public Land member, you’re a leader in the movement to create healthier, more resilient, and more equitable communities for all.

For almost 50 years, supporters like you have helped protect 3.7 million acres of land, create nearly 500 parks, and transform 280 schoolyards into healthy, green havens for play and learning. Together, we’ve generated more than $83 billion in public funding for parks and conservation and fought for the policies that will ensure America’s magnificent public lands stay whole, healthy, and thriving for generations to come.

Because a just and vibrant society is built on

l and for people.

Ʋ ƨ Ʈ Ʀ ƚ Ƥ ƞ ƭ ơ ƞ Ƭ ƞ Ƭ ƭ ƨ ƫ Ƣ ƞ Ƭ ƩƨƬƬƢƛƥƞ ƭƨ ƬƮƩƩƨƫƭ ƨ Ʈ ƫ ư ƨ ƫ Ƥ Ư Ƣ Ƭ Ƣ ƭ

ƚƧƝƲ ƫƢƜơƭƞƫ

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