Coalition of 200+ Organizations Request Park Access Funding in Biden-Harris Infrastructure Package

Today, The Trust for Public Land released a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris urging that the administration include $500 million for park access in an infrastructure package. The letter has been signed by over 200 national, community and business organizations from across the country. 

Alex Schaefer, Senior Legislative Representative at The Trust for Public Land, said: 

“As the coronavirus pandemic has made clear: quality parks are integral to healthy, equitable, resilient communities. But not everyone has access to the outdoors. In fact, 1 in 3 Americans do not have close-to-home access to a park. Even where parks exist, they do not serve communities equitably: parks serving primarily people of color are half the size of parks that serve majority white populations and serve five times as many people per acre. That’s why we’re calling on President Biden and Vice President Harris to include a $500 million investment in local parks as part of the American Jobs Plan. Creating thousands of jobs, generating economic activity, and expanding park access where it’s needed most. I’m pleased to see diverse advocates coming together to ensure everyone has access to a quality, close-to-home park.”   

In December 2020, the coalition sent a letter to then President-elect and Vice-President-elect on this topic. Since then, the bipartisan Parks, Jobs, and Equity Act was introduced in the House of Representatives in March 2021.  

Text of the letter is below: 

Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris: 

On behalf of the 200+ undersigned organizations, companies and neighborhood groups representing millions of Americans, we urge you to include robust funding for local parks in your Fiscal Year 2022 presidential budget request and work with us, and Congress, to include $500 million for parks in an infrastructure package to build back better. 

Just as America’s great outdoors have never been more in demand than they are during the pandemic, the consequences of park inequities—for our health, resilience, and prosperity—have never been more acute. COVID-19 is a wake-up call: the time to address the long-standing gaps in outdoor access and quality has come. 

Today, over 100 million people in the U.S., including 28 million children, do not have a quality park or green space close to home. A recent analysis finds parks serving primarily nonwhite populations are half the size of parks that serve majority white populations and serve five times more people per acre. A $500 million investment would meaningfully reduce these longstanding park inequities and be put to immediate use supporting jobs at 1,000 targeted, locally prioritized park sites across the country. The Trust for Public Land estimates we can preserve or create thousands of jobs in frontline communities while generating $1.37 billion in economic activity. 

This investment will also allow critical upgrades to our green space infrastructure and help mitigate climate change. Parks improve community health and climate resilience by reducing flooding, absorbing air pollution, and filtering storm water to keep rivers and lakes cleaner.4 Green, shady parks also protect people from rising temperatures, and can reduce the deadly “urban heat island effect” by as much as seven degrees.5 Further, investing in local parks has lasting benefits for public health. Scientific research finds that parks, green space, and outdoor activity reduce anxiety, stress, and depression, and improve physical health. 

This policy has rightly earned bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, best demonstrated in March with the introduction of H.R. 1678, the Parks, Jobs, and Equity Act, and we anticipate Senate introduction in the coming weeks. 

We believe access to the outdoors is a right that belongs to all. As you prepare your FY22 budget and work with Congress on an infrastructure package, please include a $500 million investment to help the economy, create jobs, invest in critical infrastructure, and address historic inequities. 

Sincerely, 

  

National Groups 

Access Fund 

American Heart Association 

American Hiking Society 

American Society of Civil Engineers 

American Society of Landscape Architects 

Appalachian Trail Conservancy 

Avid4 Adventure 

Bell Helmets 

Blackburn 

Camelbak 

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood 

Center for Climate Change and Health 

Children & Nature Network 

City Parks Alliance 

Clean Water Action 

Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association 

Giro Sport Design 

Great Old Broads for Wilderness 

Green Map System 

GreenLatinos 

Higher Ground 

Hispanic Access Foundation 

International Mountain Bicycling Association 

KABOOM! 

Latino Outdoors 

League of Conservation Voters 

L.L. Bean 

National League of Cities 

National Recreation and Park Association 

National Wildlife Federation 

Natural Resources Defense Council 

NEMO Equipment, Inc. 

Outdoor Advocacy Project 

Outdoor Afro 

Outdoor Industry Association 

Outward Bound Adventures, Inc. 

PeopleForBikes 

REI Co-op 

Rugged Range 

Seed Your Future 

SHARE Mountain Bike Club 

Sierra Club 

Special Service for Groups – API Forward Movement 

The HOPE Program 

The Trust for Public Land 

The Venture Out Project 

The Wilderness Society 

Trails and Open Space Coalition 

Vet Voice Foundation 

Vista Outdoor 

Winter Wildlands Alliance 

 

Local and Regional Groups 

ActiveSGV 

Akron Parks Collaborative 

Anchorage Park Foundation 

Angler’s Covey 

American YouthWorks 

Amigos Bravos 

Austin Outside 

Austin Parks Foundation 

Austin Youth River Watch 

Blunn Creek Partnership 

Branch Brook Park Alliance 

Bronx River Alliance 

Brookfield Civic Association 

Brooklyn Parks and Open Spaces Coalition 

Brown Girl Surf 

Buffalo Bayou Partnership 

Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy 

Building Bridges Across the River 

California Geographic Alliance 

California League of Conservation Voters 

California Outdoor Recreation Partnership 

California Park & Recreation Society 

Camp Ocean Pines 

Central Park Conservancy 

Charles River Watershed Association 

Charleston Parks Conservancy 

Chispa Arizona 

Circuit Trail Conservancy 

City of Gilroy Parks and Recreation Commission 

City Parks Foundation 

COFEM Council of Mexican Federations 

Community Nature Connection 

Concrete Friends 

Conference House Association 

Conservation Minnesota 

Conservation Voters for Idaho 

Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania 

Conservation Voters of South Carolina 

Court Square Civic Association 

David Brower Center 

Day One 

Destination Crenshaw 

Drew Gardens 

East New York 4 Gardens 

Edgemere Coalition Community Garden 

Emerald Necklace Conservancy 

Environmental League of Massachusetts 

Environmental Volunteers 

Fairmount Park Conservancy 

Forest Hills Green Team 

Friends of 4Parks Alliance, Inc. 

Friends of Alley Pond Park 

Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park 

Friends of Carroll Park 

Friends of Corlears Hook Park 

Friends of Dallas Parks 

Friends of Five Wounds Trail 

Friends of GR Parks 

Friends of Inwood Hill Park 

Friends of MacDonald Park 

Friends of Mill Ridge Park 

Friends of Pelham Bay Park 

Friends of the East River Esplanade 

Friends of the High Line 

Friends of the Los Angeles River 

Friends of the Parks 

Friends of the Public Garden 

Friends of the Rail Park 

Friends of The Underline 

Friends of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge 

Friends of Waterfront Seattle 

Gathering Place 

Georgia Bikes 

Georgia Outdoor Recreation Coalition 

Georgia Trails Alliance 

Get Outdoors Nevada 

GirlVentures 

Great Springs Project 

Groundwork Richmond 

Guadalupe River Park Conservancy 

Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation 

Historic House Trust of New York City 

Hoosier Environmental Council 

Houston Parks Board 

Hunters Point Parks Conservancy 

Inclusion Outdoors 

Innovate Memphis 

Jacob H. Schiff Playground Neighborhood Association 

Kelly Street Garden 

Klyde Warren Park 

Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust 

Los Angeles Parks Foundation 

Louisville Parks Foundation 

Loving The Bronx, Inc 

Maine Conservation Voters 

Marcus Garvey Park Alliance 

Maryland League of Conservation Voters 

Memphis River Parks Partnership 

Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District of St. Louis d/b/a Great Rivers Greenway 

Michigan League of Conservation Voters 

Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board 

Minneapolis Parks Foundation 

Montana Conservation Voters 

National Association for Olmsted Parks  

Nature for All 

New York City Audubon 

New York League of Conservation Voters 

Newport Bay Conservancy 

Newtown Creek Alliance 

NJ Audubon 

Nuestra Tierra 

NYC Audubon 

New York Restoration Project (NYRP) 

Park Maintenance Institute 

Park Pride 

Pease Park Conservancy 

Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society 

Portland Parks Conservancy 

Randall’s Island Park Alliance 

Red Hook Conservancy 

Red Line Parkway Initiative 

River Heritage Conservancy, Inc. 

Rock Creek Conservancy 

Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity (RISE) 

Rocktown Adventures 

Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) 

Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy 

San Diego Mountain Biking Association 

San Francisco Parks Alliance 

San Jose Conservation Corps & Charter School 

San Jose Parks Foundation 

Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority 

South Yuba River Citizens League 

Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association 

SPUR 

St. Andrew’s Playground 

Student Conservation Association 

Tahoe Mountain Sports 

Texas Children in Nature 

THE POINT Community Development Corporation 

The Watershed Project 

Town Branch Park, Inc. 

Trinity Park Conservancy 

UC Irvine Outdoor Adventures 

Van Cortlandt Park Alliance 

Virginia League of Conservation Voters 

Volunteers for Springfield Park 

Washington Conservation Voters 

Washington Recreation and Parks Association 

Washington Trails Association 

Waterfront Alliance 

Waterloo Greenway Conservancy 

West 80s Neighborhood Association 

WildCare of Western New York 

Women of Woodlawn Inc 

YES Nature to Neighborhoods 

Youth Transportation Organization (Yoots) 

ABOUT THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND  

The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Millions of people live within a ten-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land garden, park or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year. Visit The Trust for Public Land at www.tpl.org.   

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