The National Park Service (NPS) has embarked on a major push to make our beautiful national parks more welcoming to diverse groups of people. According to the NPS’s statistics, in 2019, over 327 million people visited the national parks. Statistics also establish that the majority of visitors are not “people of color” and NPS seeks ways to improve this.
In conjunction with the National Park Foundation (NPF), a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress that generates private support, the NPS has established a number of programs as an outreach to our communities. These include:
The National Park Service Mellon Humanity Fellowships
Junior Ranger Angler program to encourage children to learn about all the recreational activities involving fishing
American Latino Heritage Fund to preserve and protect the history and culture of Latino Americans
NPF’s Kids program introducing children to our parks through a variety of activities online
The National Park as Classroom education program which provides teachers with free curriculum, field trip ideas, and workshops for students
The Strong Parks, Strong Communities initiative supporting local programs all over the country
In a thought provoking online article titled Here’s How We Make The National Parks More Diverse, author Ted Alvarez gathered a number of recommendations from a variety of knowledgeable people as to what more the NPS can do. Some of the recommendations included the NPS partnering with local city parks and having NPS rangers be more visible around communities; teaching about the history and contributions of African Americans with our national parks; and having children and families come out and experience the parks, if just for a day’s outing.
I have traveled and visited many parks over the years with my family and can say that we absolutely loved the beauty and adventures that our parks have. Especially during the pandemic, I recommend that all families, no matter what race or national origin, make plans to visit some of them.
To read the entire online article and obtain more information on this topic, please visit:
https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/national-parks-diversity
https://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/programs/programs-connect
https://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/programs/all-programs