Through this tumultuous year, I’ve been making a practice to count my blessings. And the parks and trails here in the San Francisco Bay Area are near the top of my list. Since the start of the pandemic, spending time outdoors has become an even more important part of how we all stay healthy, resilient, and connected with friends. That’s why open spaces across the country are fielding twice and even three times their normal demand. The Washington Post reported a spike in Google searches for terms like “trails near me.”

It’s the results of those searches that should concern all of us. When you’re looking to get outside, maybe your browser comes up with a list of options: a peaceful woodland, a convenient bike trail, or a neighborhood playground. But for the 100 million people in America who don’t have a park close to home, finding a place to experience the outdoors has always been a challenge, and never more so than during COVID-19. We won’t rest until everyone in America has an equal opportunity to feel at home in the outdoors.

Photo Credit: John Bilderback

Together, we’re making great progress. On Election Day, voters of all political persuasions approved all 26 of the conservation ballot measures we helped create and campaign for, generating nearly $3 billion in new public funding for parks, trails, wildlife, farmland, clean water, and open spaces. This summer a broad coalition of organizations and thousands of volunteers achieved full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the longstanding federal program that funds parks and open spaces across the country. These policy wins show how parks unite us and how our common commitment to conservation can help bridge the divides in our nation.

We are also working with communities across the country to ensure that investments in parks go where they’re needed most. Almost 300 mayors have signed onto the 100% Promise to achieve 100 percent park access by 2050.  I am incredibly excited about the possibilities to truly move the needle on our goal of close-to-home outdoor access for everyone in America.

Photo Credit: Kesha Lambert

It’s been a year of tough challenges and deep conflict about where our country is headed. But the millions of voters supporting conservation have rallied around America’s great outdoors. The power of parks to make our communities healthier, more equitable, and more resilient has motivated Trust for Public Land supporters for nearly half a century. So today, The Trust for Public Land is in the exact right place to help solve some of the most urgent issues facing our communities.

Thank you for being a part of the transformational change underway. As a Trust for Public Land member, you are an essential contributor to the parks, trails, schoolyards, and open spaces that are strengthening neighborhoods and helping people thrive.

If you’d like to celebrate the season with a gift to The Trust for Public Land, a generous donor has offered to triple match all contributions, up to $250,000. So until Giving Tuesday, December 1, your gift will have three times the impact. Thank you.