Enhancing Diversity in Outdoor Activities: 5 Strategies Proposed by Biden

Enhancing Diversity in Outdoor Activities: 5 Strategies Proposed by Biden

In an effort to make public lands and urban parks more inclusive, the Biden administration is considering a multifaceted approach that prioritizes community engagement, investment in underserved areas, and equity-focused environmental protections.

The new chief of the U.S. Park Police, Pamela Smith, has already implemented a policy requiring officers to wear body cameras, a step towards increased accountability and transparency. However, it's important to remember that body cameras are not a complete solution to police brutality, but they are a start.

Last year, the Park Police used chemical gas against peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., underscoring the need for law enforcement agencies to evolve past training and center community relationships with officers.

To make public lands more accessible to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, the administration is considering several approaches. These include increasing funding and support for community-driven access programs, prioritizing the development and maintenance of parks and green spaces in historically underserved urban neighborhoods, and supporting affordable housing near urban parks and transit.

Moreover, the administration plans to engage BIPOC communities in land management decisions and environmental justice initiatives, and to implement environmental justice policies that acknowledge and reduce disparities in pollution exposure and access to natural resources affecting BIPOC communities.

Education is also a key part of this process. The Department of Interior could review how the federal government teaches about public lands, with a focus on decolonizing national parks and acknowledging the history of dispossession and abuse towards Indigenous people.

The opportunity exists to take action on renaming some of our mountains or trails, as well as establishing new parks and monuments that celebrate forgotten history, especially those relevant to Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and queer communities.

It's crucial to remember that these changes can't happen overnight. However, the Biden administration can start by encouraging federal agencies and states to rename places by their rightful first names rather than their colonized ones.

The U.S. Park Police, serving national parks since 1791, has its first Black woman chief in Pamela Smith. Yet, the history of national parks involves a long-standing tradition of relegating Black people to certain areas where they couldn't mingle with white visitors.

In 2017, two officers outside D.C. killed an unarmed man, Bijan Ghaiser. His mother testified last year before the Senate on the need to hold Interior officers accountable.

Under President Donald Trump, park rangers moonlighted as border agents, and agents with the Interior Department responded violently to Indigenous peoples protesting the border wall. These incidents highlight the need for law enforcement on public lands to undergo reform, including better accountability, recognition of positive experiences between the public and officers, and modernization of uniforms to feel more welcoming.

In summary, the Biden administration's approach to making public lands and urban parks more accessible to BIPOC communities involves a combination of community engagement, investment in underserved areas, housing affordability near parks, and equity-focused environmental protections and education. This multidimensional approach addresses systemic access barriers and empowers these communities to enjoy public lands and urban parks fully.

1. The administration's newsletter could feature articles about the progress of environmental justice in public lands and urban parks, including community engagement initiatives and equity-focused environmental protections.
2. To make environmental-science more inclusive, magazines could dedicate special issues to highlighting the contributions of diverse researchers in the field, particularly those focusing on climate change and its impact on BIPOC communities.
3. Businesses could prioritize diversity-and-inclusion in their lifestyle choices, such as partnering with artists from BIPOC communities for public art installations in urban parks.
4. Finance institutions could invest in programs that promote affordable housing near urban parks and transit, thereby increasing accessibility for BIPOC communities.
5. Politics could address the need for policymakers to prioritize environmental justice and diversity-and-inclusion in their agenda, including proper funding for cleaner energy and affordable public transportation.
6. General-news outlets could cover the importance of recognizing and addressing environmental injustices and disparities in pollution exposure, especially in BIPOC communities.
7. The administration could establish a magazine centered on community relationships, land management decisions, and environmental justice initiatives, serving as both a resource and a platform for BIPOC voices in the realm of environmental-science and general public lands management.

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