Photo Courtesy Holly Bender
For nearly two decades, I’ve had the honor of working for the Sierra Club. I am now the organization’s Chief Program Officer, where I help shape our national campaigns and support our incredible team of analysts, lawyers, lobbyists, and organizers to win outcomes like protecting public lands, ending pollution from power plants, and ensuring everyone has access to the outdoors.
It’s an incredible job. But let’s be real, my number one most important job title will always be “mom.”
This year, my daughter Hazel entered fourth grade in Madison, Wisconsin. Many people don’t know this, but being a fourth grader in the U.S. comes with an extraordinary benefit: Access to free entry to national parks for the entire school year through the Every Kid Outdoors federal program.
In Wisconsin, fourth graders learn state history through geography and geology lessons. For Hazel’s class, this included a field trip to the Ice Age Trail, a national scenic trail in southern Wisconsin. The field trip proved the perfect backdrop for me to tag along and talk to her classmates about the Every Kid Outdoors program.
You remember field trips, right? They are the BEST days at school. As we gathered at the trailhead to meet our guide, Chris, from the Ice Age Trail Alliance, the students buzzed with energy. They had been planning for this hike. Water bottle: Check. Sturdy shoes: Check. Lunch packed for later: Check.
As we hiked, Chris explained the formation of the lake (a kettle lake) and talked about the native grasses that had recently been burned (on purpose to ensure a healthy ecosystem). We took breaks to drink water, listen for animals, read poems on interpretive signage, and navigate trail maps. Chris told the class she was about to complete her seventh full Ice Age Trail hike, which meant she had walked more than 7,000 miles on the trail.
The forest was magical on this crisp fall morning. Yellow leaves fell from the trees and the sun peaked through clouds to warm our cheeks. As we got to the highest part of the hike and started our descent, I overheard two kids say “I wasn’t sure I would like this, but it’s really nice out here” and “hiking up was hard, but going down is fun.” It was a core memory in the making.
When we got back to the trailhead, those tired legs magically vanished as the students felt a burst of energy associated with a sense of accomplishment — and the reality that it was time for lunch. The students ran to the picnic tables and jostled for spots near their friends. I got to eat with them, too, and I am happy to report that the age-old system of bartering and trading your lunch items is alive and well!
As we finished lunch, it was time to hand out the Every Kid Outdoors passes. I stood with Hazel by my side at the front of the group and asked, “How many of you have been to a national park?” Hands shot up everywhere and the kids shouted “Grand Canyon! Acadia! Joshua Tree!”
As the students quieted down, I explained that today, they would receive a pass that would get them and their families into every national park in the country for free for their entire fourth grade year. We talked about today’s hike, and how good it felt to move our bodies and learn about local history.
That afternoon, after we returned to school and the bell signaled the end of the day, I watched as fourth graders poured out of the building proudly wearing their passes, ready to tell their families about what they learned and all the places they could go.
Wisconsin bill would extend national park pass to state parks
Joining my daughter Hazel on field trips like these leaves me with a renewed clarity about the vision of the Sierra Club’s Outdoors For All campaign: to ensure that every child in the U.S. has access to nature.
Right now in Wisconsin, we have a critical opportunity to achieve this vision. The Wisconsin legislature has proposed a bill (AB 18) that would waive admission fees at state parks for all fourth graders and their families who hold a valid Every Kid Outdoors pass.
The bill just cleared its first hurdle and passed out of committee. If you live in Wisconsin and you believe, like I do, that every child deserves access to nature, please contact your legislators and tell them to help pass AB 18!