Leave No Trace believes that the outdoors should be accessible to everyone—regardless of age, interests, or whether you live in a bustling city or right next to a National Forest. Since 2021, we have partnered with the Eastern Region of the USDA Forest Service on their Urban Connections Program. This initiative focuses on engaging diverse and underserved communities, especially in urban areas, by offering meaningful nature-based education that connects city dwellers to nearby green spaces and our National Forests.
The Urban Connections program is made possible through partnerships and collaboration with local partners, community organizations, and leaders. Our collaborators have include the Menomonee Valley Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee, the Missouri Botanic Garden in Belle Isle Nature Center in Detroit and the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy in Boston just to name a few. The Urban Connections program focuses on six metro areas across the Eastern Region of the USDA Forest Service including Chicago, Minneapolis/St Paul, Detroit, Milwaukee, Boston, and St. Lois.
The Leave No Trace programming offered ranges from formal workshops and trainings for youth and youth educators to educational outreach at local parks and festivals. Through our Urban Connections partnership, Leave No Trace has been able to offer educational programs to more than 3,067 people including 1,871 youth through 23 programs across 2023 and 2024.
Our goal, in partnership with the Forest Service, is to connect young people with the natural world, inspiring them to become lifelong advocates for protecting green spaces—from their backyards and local parks to remote wilderness areas. The work does not end here. The program will continue to grow and evolve in 2025, with the addition of a new metro area, Newark, New Jersey.
We look forward to continuing this work!
#FSUrbanConnections
