Equity in the outdoors
At Blue Mountain Land Trust, part of our mission is connecting communities to nature. When we say communities, we mean all of our neighbors. We aren’t the experts, but we connect people to outdoor places and the resources they need to get there.
As part of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) work, BMLT is opening access to the outdoors by removing barriers to outdoor recreation. This past February, BMLT and BMLT Blues Crew partnered with Lincoln High School and InterMountain Alpine Club (IMAC) to host a field trip to Horseshoe Prairie for Lincoln High School students. By providing transportation, weather-appropriate clothing, gear, and instruction, 18 local students had an opportunity to learn to cross-country ski and snowshoe — many of them for the first time.
Building relationships
BMLT has been dedicated to building relationships with local Latino communities over the past 18 months. We know representation of BIPOC in the outdoors creates belonging and accessibility for communities.
We have had the opportunity to support two events held by Vital Wines and Providence Foundation. Promotora Maria Remington, who connects vineyard workers with the resources and services they need, offers monthly Spanish-language events on different topics such as healthy eating and legal aid.
In 2023-24, Whitman College Fellow Jeimy Lainez Valencia is working with local schools to host outdoor recreation activities for Latino students and to speak with students to learn more about their relationship with the outdoors.
Thank you to the Land Trust Alliance Advancing Equity Fund and Sherwood Trust for supporting this important work.
“I have a huge love for nature and the outdoors. My goal is to help support the Latino community to feel more comfortable accessing outdoor recreation.”
- JEIMY LAINEZ VALENCIA
BMLT & Whitman College Fellow
Oregon Land Justice Project
We honor and acknowledge the important role Indigenous peoples fill today and have for millennia as caretakers of the land. In our partnerships with local tribes, tribal leaders and natural resources teams are the experts on how best to carry out restoration projects.
The Oregon Land Justice Project includes a cohort of land trusts, including BMLT, working to change our land conservation practices to recognize the important role Indigenous people play today in healing the earth. This August, Executive Director Amanda Martino and Board President Robin Fitch visited the Warm Springs Tribe with the cohort.
Anna-Liza Victory, Oregon Land Justice Project Coordinator, said about the tour, “Over two and a half days, we toured the reservation with tribal leaders and community members, youth and elders. We learned about efforts across the Warm Springs community to steward their collective natural resources and abundance — from fish habitat restoration to wildfire response to economic development to food sovereignty, and overcoming difficulties stemming from an ongoing water crisis.”
“This site visit gave our land trust delegation a glimpse into some of the complexities of living and working on the Warm Springs reservation. Even though there are disparities, Warm Springs is a place of abundance and prosperity, created by the hard work and dedication of many individuals and groups.”
Oregon Land Justice Project participating organizations. Photo courtesy Coalition of Oregon Land Trusst (COLT)