August 25, 2021 By Congresswoman Katie Porter and Jayni Rasmussen This blog was originally posted on SierraClub.org. Featured photo: Big Bend at Zion National Park, courtesy Cadence C. Cook, National Park Service. Representative Katie Porter, one of the authors of this blog, knows firsthand the joy of the outdoors. Growing up, her family took vacations at national parks…
This afternoon, OAK Steering Committee member REI Co-op posted on their Instagram account our collaborative story series featuring a Q&A with two of OAK’s amazing youth advocates, Robbie Bond of Kids Speak for Parks and Junior Ranger Tigran Nahabedian! In the stories, Robbie and Tigran both make an incredible case for full funding for the Every Kid Outdoors…
guest blog by Katherine Garcia and Jackie Ostfeld, originally posted on the Sierra Club blog If you look for directions from Washington, D.C. to Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park on Google Maps, it will chart a route for your car down to the minute. If you try to find that same route via public transit, you…
Today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced $150 million in funding for the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s newly-released America the Beautiful initiative. Since 2014, ORLP (a program of the Land and Water Conservation Fund) funding has enabled urban communities to create new outdoor recreation spaces, reinvigorate existing parks,…
We love this great video from Congresswoman Katie Porter, who shares with her rising fourth grader, Betsy, that they’re going on a vacation to a surprise destination: Zion National Park! Thanks to the Every Kid Outdoors (EKO) program, all fourth graders – including Betsy – and their families get FREE entry to any national park…
Since, 2015, the Every Kid Outdoors (EKO) program has provided fourth graders with a pass so they and their families can gain free entry to federal public land and water sites. Now, this program needs funding to ensure it can reach kids that need outdoor access more than ever. EKO gives children an opportunity to…
In Case You Missed It: Watch the Recording of Fatima’s Great Outdoors Storytime Live Event By: Jackie Ostfeld, OAK Co-Chair and Founder and Jayni Rasmussen, OAK Senior Campaign Representative Note: Book cover courtesy of Penguin Kids and screenshot from livestream with author Ambreen Tariq. Photo originally posted on Sierra Magazine‘s blog on 4/8/21. Last week, Penguin…
A perspective on exploring national parks with the Every Kid Outdoors (EKO) pass as a military family. By Andrew and Hannah Pike As long-time Northern Virginia (NoVA) residents, our family is fortunate to be located near a myriad of landmarks and sources of natural beauty. A 30-minute weekend drive gets us to the National Mall…
This blog was originally published on the Rethink Outside website, and produced in partnership with the Rethink Outside campaign. Learn more. Recently appointed Vice President for Education and Chief Equity Officer for the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Autumn Saxton-Ross, Ph.D., didn’t experience America’s national parks until she was an adult. She went to…
by Jayni Rasmussen, Senior Campaign Representative for the Outdoors Alliance for Kids & Youth at Sierra Club. (Originally published on the American Heart Association’s Healthy for Good Blog; cross-posted with permission) With the coronavirus disrupting daily life and increasing isolation, many people are turning to the outdoors for recreation. The increased interest in outdoor recreation…