Feature Story

January 2019

Leaders Recognized for Advancing Outdoor Recreation

By Chandler Garland

Every year, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK) bestows “Oak Awards” on bipartisan decision-makers and OAK members for significant contributions in advancing opportunities for children, youth and families to learn, get active and serve in the outdoors. This year OAK added the Acorn Award, which recognizes exemplary youth leadership. This award is meant to deepen the connection between young people with parks and public lands.

OAK is a national strategic partnership of 100 diverse businesses and organizations that come together to address the growing divide between families and the outdoors. Members of OAK share the belief that the wellness of current and future generations, the health of our planet and communities, and the economy of the future depend on a lifelong relationship with nature.

“In the past year we have thwarted attempts to hike fees in our national parks; we have protected and extended a program that offers every fourth-grader the chance to visit those parks; and we have continued to make progress toward a world that recognizes the value of universal access to nature for our kids. Thank you to our award winners for all their hard work to make that world a reality,” said Jackie Ostfeld, director of Sierra Club Outdoors and co-founder of OAK.

For 2018, the Decision Marker Awards were offered to a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers, including Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who was the Republican lead on the Every Kid Outdoors Act and is a consistent champion for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) was also offered an award for her consistent leadership and advocacy for connecting youth to the outdoors, especially during hearings related to National Park Service youth programs and her co-sponsorship of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) was the lead Republican and original co-sponsor of H.R. 2943, the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Grant Program Act, and a co-sponsor of several other pieces of legislation promoting National Parks and services for youth. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) a champion of public lands and environmental stewardship, was offered an award for his leadership on several pieces of legislation, such H.R. 502, which permanently reauthorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Two OAK member organizations received awards, including Blue Star Families, which played an instrumental role in 2018 to help to raise the visibility of the Every Kid in a Park program with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, and Detroit Outdoors, which is working to make camping within the city limits of Detroit a reality for local youth through the collaborative work of organizations and individuals within the city of Detroit to provide more parks and campgrounds.

Youth activists Robbie Bond, the founder of Kids Speak for the Parks, and Joseph Goldstein, the founder of Kids for the Boundary Waters, were the winners of the Acorn Awards for their exceptional leadership and advocacy.