How Every Kid Outdoors is Increasing Access to Parks — Episode 079

We have waxed poetic over the past several months about how
critical it has been to get outdoors throughout the COVID-19
pandemic, and parks have proven to be the destination of choice
for many people to get their necessary physical activity,
recharge their mental health batteries and find a sense of
community. And, with school systems adapting to the pandemic and
distance learning being more prevalent, there’s an increasing
need for our youth to have opportunities to engage with nature —
and one program that has been assisting in providing outdoor
access to our youth is Every Kid Outdoors.


Every Kid Outdoors allows fourth graders in the U.S. and their
family members free access to over 2,000 federal lands and
waters, which creates important connections and inspires a future
generation of stewards for national parks and other public lands.


We’re thrilled to be joined on today’s episode by a previous
colleague of ours, Jayni Rasmussen, to talk about the future of
this program and how it’s been impacted by COVID-19. Jayni is the
senior campaign representative for the Outdoors Alliance for Kids
and Youth, or OAK, which is a national strategic partnership of
organizations from diverse sectors with a common interest in
connecting children, youth and families with the outdoors.


Tune in below to learn more about Jayni’s work with OAK and the
benefits of the Every Kid Outdoors program, as well as:


How this program increases equitable access to the outdoors.

How this program has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

How OAK’s Every Kid Outdoors in State Parks campaign aims to
extend the pass program to all state and regional park systems
with entrance fees and expand access to close-to-home parks.

How local park and recreation professionals can partner with
federal agencies on Every Kid Outdoors and take advantage of
resources.

Why the U.S. Department of the Interior extended the
2019-2020 Every Kid Outdoors pass program through the 2020-2021
school year to help families that couldn’t use their passes due
to COVID-19.

How OAK’s work on Every Kid Outdoors has been pivoting during
the pandemic to support park budgets, and more!