A toolkit addressing Black, Indigenous, and Latinx inclusion in parks and natural areas. Taylor Bowden
OUR PARKS HAVE AN EQUITY ISSUE.
The outdoors doesn’t discriminate.
“Why do we need to bring race into it?”
“The outdoors has been a sanctuary for white violence in American history. And the fact that we still lack access for Black folks in a way to feel comfortable out there speaks volumes to how that has not been addressed enough.”
- J, Black, 26
“Parks are spaces for everyone.”
“I think for a lot of BIPOC who are aware of the [unrepresented] histories... It’s just like... A feeling of ridicule and contempt only seeing colonial representation of the land.”
-A, Native American, 54
National Park Visitor Diversity
“BIPOC people don’t like outdoor recreation.”
“My friends don’t have the means to get the gear they need to even begin backpacking, and If you’re seeing only white rich people do this, you’re not going to feel like it’s a possibility for you.“
-E, Latina, 29
Eugene Demographics
HBRA/Mt. Pisgah Visitors (Total count: 919)
TIMELINE: INEQUITY IS BY DESIGN
* Oregon History * National History
“What gets shared is a function of who’s in the room doing the remembering.”
-Betty Reid Soskin, Oldest National Park Service Ranger
Data and history shows that there is inequity in park access from national to regional scales, but you could always just ask BIPOC. Much of my project research is set in Lane County, OR within its most popular natural area park.
Pisgah
Kalapuya Lands Research Site: Howard Buford Recreation Area and Mt. Pisgah
Phase 1:
Research and Conversation
Readings
Meetings
Observations
Site Surveys
Phase 2: The Guide and Toolkit
Phase 3: Rivers to Ridges Implementation
THE ETHICAL GUIDE AND FRAMEWORK
I designed a guiding framework for myself that established this project’s ethical codes and strategies.
Before beginning this sensitive work as a researcher and outsider among the Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities, my work began internally to become aware of my identity and role in colonial and racist systems.
Education
Self-Reflect
What are your biases, privileges, and roles within colonialist institutions?
Know Your Community Who is missing from the spaces you value?
Listen & Learn
Are you consuming and supporting content from diverse creators?
Conversation Allyship
Outreach
Talk to People
Are you building consensual and mutually beneficial relationships?
What can you offer marginalized communities to build reciprocal partnerships?
Make Space
Are you stepping aside and empowering marginalized communities?
Adapt Space What can you do to make your spaces more inclusive and equitable?
“Caminante,
no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar.” (Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.)
-Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Borderlands/ La Frontera
Each project phase built upon what was learned and produced in the previous phase. The project sees through research, planning, and implementation. I designed a guiding framework for myself that established this project’s ethical codes and strategies.
“...We don’t talk about how like these lands were stolen, we don’t talk about the history of violence in these [park] spaces... When it hasn’t been brought up, it creates a lot of weird stereotypes, i.e. black folks don’t like being in the forest.”
-J, Black, 26
“I was tending a mugwort patch for medicine. Two older white women who were jogging stopped me and needed to know if I had a city permit.. I’ve had park rangers try to call the cops on me for gathering from cedar trees. I’ve had people get really, really aggressive.” -J, Indigenous, 21
“I wouldn’t say that there are less BIPOC people that are interested in being Park Rangers. There are blockages and barriers as to why they’re not here.”
-R, Latino, 45
“I will never send my kids alone anywhere here. Ever. And I just I need to be in a place where I don’t have to worry that my sons are going to get killed.” - R, Black, 44
“There’s been people that have been deported in our family, So that itself is the feeling of being separated from family whenever- you don’t know when- has been a huge stressor... Police break families apart.”
-T, Latino, 26
Exclusion
Colonial Histories Erasure Elitism
Accomodations
Limited
A result of a long history of BIPOC exclusion in the outdoors where our landscapes have been dominated by the narratives of the white majority.
There is a lack of programming and dedicated space for BIPOC in the outdoors because parks and open spaces were not designed with minorities in mind. This can make it hard for BIPOC to make a connection with these spaces.
Staff
Representation
BIPOC are underrepresented in parks and open space staff, so they are missing vital decision making power over these spaces. Agencies must first create an inclusive and equitable work environment before we can expect to see a change in these demographics.
Racism
Violence White Fragility ‘Karens’ Microaggressions
Racism in the outdoors remains a very real threat for BIPOC. It can be experienced in subtle migroaggressions or it can be as overt as harassment and violence.
Safety
Inexperience Policing Emergency Support
Both real and perceived safety are important to address for BIPOC communities that experience the compounding risks of racism and limited resources.
A GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE BARRIERS TO INCLUSION
The Barrier Each barrier has its own entry.
BARRIERS - EXCLUSION 56
ERASURE
EXPERIENCE
‘Experience’
Offers context to understand the barrier at the human-scale using excerpts from participants.
‘Summary’
Defines each barrier, explains why it is important to address, and how it can cause harm.
Landscapes hold memory and are sites of cultural significance for so many different groups of people. There is a tendency to shy away from sharing the shameful and troubling histories of a place, but the victims of these histories are not as likely to forget. One Black participant expressed these sentiments and the results of hiding these stories from the public, “...we don’t talk about how like these lands were stolen, we don’t talk about the history of violence in these [park] spaces... When it hasn’t been brought up, it creates a lot of weird stereotypes, i.e. black folks don’t like being in the forest.”
SUMMARY
The act of erasure is the removal of all traces of someone or something in recorded material or discussion, which effectively buries the past and present narratives of marginalized peoples. Erasure creates misinformation and results in poor cultural competency. For example, erasure-language is a problem for Native American communities where Tribes are often referred to in the past tense. To speak of a group as if they no longer exist is to deny them any power over present circumstances. To not acknowledge a piece of the past excludes these histories and paints a false understanding of the present.
“Where they go to hike are just as much a burial ground and a sacred site as the cemetery that their grandmother is buried in. More people need to realize that when they’re out recreating, they need to keep the same reverence that they would visiting their own grandparent, or aunt, or cousin, or sibling’s grave. I’m not saying that they can’t have fun, but also ask ‘How are you treating the land? How are you including the land? How are you extracting from the land in that place?’ Even if you’re gonna to run up a hill- what is your offering to that hill? Was it just you stomping all over its face? Did you go and actually greet the land as something that is its own living entity? That is the main difference between people who work in parks today under colonization... I think the biggest disconnect for me is seeing the land as something you have to have domain over, other than seeing the land as something you have to control other than seeing the land as your counterpart that you need to invite to the table.”
Narrative
Insightful quotes and stories from participants that pertain to the barrier being discussed.
Barriers to natural areas were identified through interviews with 13 BIPOC participants. I teased out 18 barriers from our conversations about their relationship to the outdoors and developed a guide to understanding them.
THE ACTION NETWORK
BARRIERS ACTIONS
Exclusion
Colonial Histories Erasure Elitism
Accomodations
Limited Programming No BIPOC Spaces
Lacking Translations
Cultural Exclusion
Staff
Representation
Poor Diversity Inequity
No Allyship Accountability Tokenism
Racism
Violence
White Fragility ‘Karens’ Microaggressions
Safety Inexperience
Policing
Emergency Support
Design
• Interperative & Educational Signs
• Site Land Acknowledgements
• Cultural Structures
• Outdoors Gathering Spaces
• Art Installations
• Child-Scale Natural Areas
• Universal Access Trails
• Community Design
• Translated Materials
• Spec. Cultural Plants & Materials
Programs
• Indigenous Teachers
• BIPOC Events
• BIPOC Networking Programs
• BIPOC Stewardship
• Complaint Systems
• Foraging Rites
• BIPOC Outdoor Education
• K-12 Nature Immersion
• Gear Programs
Policy
• Accountability Standards
• Partnership Building
• Allyship Training and Onboarding
• BIPOC Mentorship & Career Dev.
• Codes of Ethics
• Police Alternatives
• DEIJ Grant Seeking
• Dedicated DEIJ Budget
• Discrimination Reports
• Diverse Staff
• Decolonize Placenames
• Casual Uniforms
• Decolonize Management Structure
• Volunteer Stipends
• Conflict Management Training
Participants were able to take part in generating solutions to the barriers we identified through focus groups. Participants generated 30+ actions that address the barriers in a multitude of ways. I organized this into a design, planning, and policy toolkit.
THE ACTION TOOLKIT
This toolkit contains over 30 actions and is designed for park managers and other community organizations to make their natural area parks more welcoming to BIPOC communities. Actions were largely generated by the participants during the virtual focus groups.
TOOL TYPES
Design: Space-based solutions involving structure, amenities, and materials.
Programs: Planned land use, activities, and services such as education, recreation, and cultural opportunities. Passive or Active.
Policy: Protocols that inform organizational managment/codes and site regulations.
Template:
The Action’s Title
LIST OF BARRIERS BEING ADDRESSED
ACTION-
Broad-form description of the action.
APPLY- Site-specific examples of how you may implement this action.
TOOLKIT APPLICATIONS
Many action items in this toolkit are modular, so they can be combined to be more effective and creative.
By combining the following actions, participants came up with the concept for a public camas festival which shares Indigenous foraging and stewardship practices with the greater community:
Tools to build a Camas Festival:
Cultural Structures
Outdoor Gathering Spaces
Spec Cultural Plants & Materials
BIPOC Events
Foraging Rites
Indigenous Teachers
BIPOC Outdoor Education
Partnership Building
Toolkit Action Examples:
Interpretive & Educational Signage
EXCLUSION, ACCOMODATIONS
ACTION-
TOOL TYPE
Use educational signage to share site histories and represent existing vulnerable communities which once used the site.
APPLY- Building small exhibits at the entrance of the park which use photos, audio/visual recordings, written and/or spoken stories to share the history of Kalapuyan peoples in Lane County and acknowledge historic and existing power structures.
BIPOC Recreation Networks
ACCOMODATIONS, RACISM, SAFETY
ACTION-
APPLY-
TOOL TYPE
Facilitate BIPOC relationships through local outdoor meet-ups or a buddy-system program to ensure safety in numbers.
Meetups events for BIPOC set in neighborhood parks facilitate friendships centered around being outdoors. Alternatively a buddy-system can be created online that connects people to hiking partners or outdoor mentors.
BIPOC Mentorship & Career Development
STAFF REP., RACISM, SAFETY
ACTION-
Facilitate paid career opportunities dedicated for BIPOC who are interested in parks and land-management work.
APPLY- Build mentorship programs with local BIPOC community groups that are flexible enough meet the needs of those with disadvantages.
Action tools can be combined to create novel programs and solutions. Participants were excited in the focus groups and came up with some wonderful ideas combining several ideas into a ‘Camas Festival’ event rendered here.
UPATING A 20-YEAR REGIONAL PARKS VISION PLAN
Equity Mapping
I created equity maps locating vulnerable populations in Lane County from demographic and public health data. Key vulnerable neighborhoods were identified as places to target equity and justice initiatives for future parks and open space plans.
Community Inventory
I organized an inventory of local community organizations who have stake in parks & open space including a list of 61 marginalized community groups. R2R partners are now prioritizing these underserved communities first in the vision update outreach.
Outreach Plan
The outreach plan establishes R2R’s outreach strategies for the vision refresh, including: key messages, engagement incentives, and short & long-term diversity/equity/inclusion/justice monitoring-- largely informed by the project’s guide and toolkit.
Park Surveys
I designed a survey asking how parks and open spaces are serving vulnerable communities, and how we may improve their access and enjoyment of our regional parks. The survey is open through summer 2022 and includes Spanish translation.
Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council
Friend of Buford Park and Mt. Pisgah Institute for Applied Ecology
Long Tom Watershed Council
McKenzie River Trust
McKenzie Watershed Council
Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
The Nature Conservancy
Willamete River Keeper
Willamette Resources and Educational Network
Bureau of Land Management: Eugene District
City of Eugene: Parks and Open Space
Lane County Parks
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon State Parks
Army Corps of Engineers: Willamette Valley
Willamalane Park and Recreation District
Non Profit | Government Agency
After completing the toolkit, an opportunity arose to implement this project with the Rivers to Ridges (R2R) Partnership. I became an equity consultant and helped recruit diverse voices for their 20-Year Vision Plan update for parks and Open Space.
Presenting my equity maps at a R2R Partnership meeting before discussing outreach strategies.
EQUITY MAPS
Combined Community Vulnerability
HBRA/ Mt. Pisgah N
Parks & Open Spaces Springfield Eugene
Key Vulnerable Neighborhoods identified for outreach:
Eugene
• West 11th
• Trainsong
• Bethel/Danebo
• Downtown
• Whitaker
• River Road
• Bethel
• North University
Springfield
• North Springfield
• Central Springfield
• Gateway
• Glennwood
R2R’s previous 20-year vision did not address equity, and the partnership doesn’t represent the diversity of the greater community. I first helped R2R identify and map underserved areas with vulnerable communities.
COMMUNITY INVENTORY
Internal Agencies
Park Agencies
Lane County Parks
Willamalane
Organizations that engage directly with parks & land management.
City of Eugene/ Springfield
Friends of Buford Park
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
Eugene Recreation Division
Oregon State Parks
US Forest Service
BLM
USFWS
NPS
External Agencies
Parks & Rec Adjacent Orgs.
Oregon Department of Transportation
Army Core of Engineers
Travel Lane County
Audubon Society
Obsidians Hiking Group
Whole Earth Nature School
Scouts of America, Oregon Trail Council
McKenzie Willamette Medical Center
Peace Health Hospital
Cultural Partners
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw
Environment Non-Profits
Watershed Councils
McKenzie River Trust Institute for Applied Ecology
The Nature Conservancy
Willamete River Keeper
Trust for Public Land
Nearby Nature
WREN
Community groups who can be venues for parks equity outreach.
NAACP Lane County
Huerto De La Familia
Centro Latino
BIPOC Student Groups
Diversify Outdoors
Coalition Against Environmental Racism
Downtown Languages CORE Street Feed (Food for Lane County)
Eugene Mission
Lane Independent Living Alliance
Hope and Safety Alliance Transponder Community Organizations
Lane County Human Services Commission
Neighborhood Organizations
Lane County Schools
Community Alliance of Lane County
ACLU Lane County
Sunrise Movement, Eugene
Boys and Girls Clubs of Emerald Valley
Rural Organizing Project
Landscape for Humanity
Looking Glass
Local Social Media Groups
STAKEHOLDER DIAGRAM
PLAN ROADMAP
OUTREACH GOALS
- Engage community groups representing populations traditionally underserved by the park and open space system, identified by the 2021 equity mapping effort) to get input and vision for future park and open space priorities, to gauge potential interest in becoming an R2R Partnership organization in the future, and develop long-lasting reciprocal relationships.
- Find opportunities to expand the R2R partnership makeup to become more diverse and better represent the interests of all Lane County communities.
- Increase general awareness of the Rivers to Ridges vision, partnership, and accomplishments over the past twenty years.
I created an inventory of traditionally underserved community groups and an outreach plan for R2R. The vision update will be
in
and this roadmap ensures that thoughtful steps will be taken to build relationships and trust with communities.
PROJECT INFLUENCE
Photo of me conducting observations and surveys at HBRA/Mt. Pisgah:
“The work Taylor did as part of her thesis was timely and relevant and is an important tool for regional park and open space management and beyond. The product of her work, “Narratives in Nature,” provides an easy-to-understand and applicable toolkit to make natural areas more welcoming and inclusive to traditionally marginalized members of our community such as black, indigenous, and people of color. I’m very excited to use her work to make a difference in our community.”
- Shelly Miller, Supervisor/ Ecological Services and GIS teams, Eugene Parks and Open Space
"Taylor Bowden's research was a turning point in understanding barriers to our park, the second largest regional park in Oregon. In so doing, we've begun a consolidation with a partner organization with barriers and serving the underserved as central to our reason for coming together. The toolkit offers an important start for meaningful engagement, as opposed to uninformed, episodic efforts for box-checking metrics."
- Janelle McCoy, Executive Director, Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah
“WHY IS ACCESSING THE OUTDOORS IMPORTANT TO YOU?”
“It’s nice to get away and clear your head. I think it’s really easy to go hiking, and just worry about nature, rather than worrying about my bills, or getting to work on time the next day-- daily worries that you have day-to-day as a human. I think it’s so wonderful that I can go into nature and just think, ‘I don’t have to think about any of those stressors right now, because all I have to worry about my next step.’”
-E, Latina, 29
“Nothing is sacred unless you start having a relationship with it. ...The Western way of managing the land... They don’t they don’t talk to the land, you know? ...When you break the ground for anything I was taught by an elder it’s always important ...that you start with a prayer for the Earth, right there, and ask permission.”
-A, Indigenous, 54
“I do have a very intense spiritual relationship with the outdoors. It brings me peace. It makes me feel more balanced. I’m not very religious at this point in my life, but I derive a lot of spirituality from being outside, and I will meditate outside like my grandpa. If I do make prayers that’s where I make them. It’s just very deep in my heart. Being outdoors just feels very special.”
- S, Latinx , 23
BIPOC wildflower walk I hosted to thank my project participants at HBRA/Mt. Pisgah:
This project would not be possible with the wonderful individuals who shared their narratives with me. It is their words that bring power to this project, and I am glad I have been able to share their voices with leaders in parks and open space.
