Sierra Club Applauds Introduction of Revitalizing America's Schoolyards Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) has introduced legislation that would improve youth connections to nature at schools across the country.

The Revitalizing America’s Schoolyards Act aims to provide funding and support for the creation of green and living schoolyards. The bill would strengthen local ecological systems, provide a range of hands-on learning resources, and foster nature play and social opportunities while enhancing the health and well-being of children and adults.

Improvements to schoolyards would come through the creation of a Revitalizing America’s Schoolyards grant program. Funds would be awarded to create park-like outdoor environments at elementary and secondary schools by planting trees and plants, cultivating gardens, and building outdoor meeting and gathering spaces.

The Sierra Club applauds this introduction and supports the Green Schoolyards Action Agenda, an initiative aimed at increasing equitable access to nature’s benefits in schoolyards across the U.S. by transforming school playgrounds from concrete to nature-filled, community-designed green spaces.

In response, Robert Scott, deputy director of federal policy at the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:

“Science has shown that kids are happier and healthier when they spend time in nature, whether it’s a national park or a schoolyard. Those benefits are blunted, however, when those schoolyards are blacktop patches instead of green fields. The Revitalizing America’s Schoolyards Act will help ensure kids have a direct connection to trees and green spaces at their school and strengthen ties between our youth and the ecosystems that surround them.”