We Believe Everyone Should Have Access to the Outdoors
We create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.
Quality parks and green spaces are fundamental for sustaining equitable, resilient communities. Access to nature and the outdoors—close to home, in the cities and communities where people live—is a matter of health, equity, and justice. That’s why we work alongside communities across the country to create, protect, and steward the nature-rich places that are vital to human well-being.
We’re driven by four commitments: equity, health, climate, and community.
Research shows that systemic racial and economic disparity is at the heart of our nation’s park equity gap.
We’re working to make sure that everyone has access to safe, quality outdoor spaces to connect with nature and each other. And we’re turning data into action and producing research that helps communities create real change.
Green spaces have the power to alleviate stress and anxiety, reduce obesity, strengthen social ties, and improve overall physical and mental well-being. Here’s how we’re using outdoor spaces to promote better health in communities across the U.S.
From community forests to local parks, quality outdoor spaces and places are a fundamental requirement for sustaining healthy, equitable communities that are resilient and prepared for change. They provide social, educational, and cultural gathering opportunities that strengthen community ties and foster community leadership.
Green spaces can make communities more resilient against flooding, drought, and other environmental dangers by reducing heat islands, absorbing stormwater, and more.
From reconnecting tribes and Indigenous communities to their ancestral lands to preserving the cultural sites tied to Black American history, we’re dedicated to building a more equitable and inclusive future—starting with the outdoors.
Our advocacy work mobilizes support for critical bills and policies to secure funding and leverage for the creation and protection of parks and outdoor spaces. In 2023 alone, we generated $1.4 billion in funding.
We’re partnering with mayors nationwide to bring quality parks to everyone, everywhere, with our 10-Minute Walk® program. And mayors across the country are pledging to bring everyone in their community a park within a 10-minute walk of home by 2050.
Read About Our Projects and the Communities They Serve
Since 1972, we have made a deep and lasting impact on communities nationwide.
Learn more about our completed projects and what we’re working on next.
We’re committed to creating and protecting more places that bring us outside—parks, trails, community forests, playgrounds, and public lands—and making them available and welcoming to all. Explore each initiative below to see how.
Stand With Us for Parks
Our leadership and expertise makes us one of the country’s top-rated nonprofit organizations.
Give to support our work nationally or in a specific state.
