Grand Canyon Vision – The Joy Trip Project

Grand Canyon Vision – The Joy Trip Project

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Through much of the summer of 2016 The Joy Trip Project has been on the road collecting stories to celebrate the 100th anniversary of our National Parks. In the hopes of raising awareness for the importance of protecting our public lands for future generations the Project is presenting a series of short videos and podcasts that aim to illustrate the thoughts of real people working to preserve the enduring legacy of environmental conservation.
In this edition JTP producer James Edward Mills spoke to environmental educator Steve Noud after a 15-day journey down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Incredibly fortunate to join this expedition as part of a private group Noud and Mills discussed the critical task of making outdoor recreation in all its forms more accessible to those in our society least likely to spend time outside. In a socio-economic environment where disparities of wealth and privilege still fall squarely along racial lines people of color continue to be woefully under represented among those who can take full advantage of the many natural resources that are available to all Americans. As a professional dedicated to exposing young people in particular to the outdoors Noud encourages the enactment of policies and practices that can make the use and management of public lands more diverse and inclusive.

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Environmental Educator Steve Noud


“If I was talking to the President I would say we need to make this a priority,” Noud said. “We do not need a generation that’s going to miss out on these opportunities…I just want to make sure that they’re the educated public that values these areas as much as I do.”
In partnership with the non-profit Choose Outdoors and the Next 100 Coalition, an environmental advocacy group dedicated to diversity and inclusion, the Joy Trip Project wants to encourage President Barack Obama to adopt several policy recommendations that will help to make the outdoors more accessible to all Americans. Through expanded interpretation, landscape scale conservation efforts and a more diverse workforce we hope that we can bring more people into nature and the movement to protect our public lands for all time.

Grand Canyon Vision from The Joy Trip Project on Vimeo.
This video from the Joy Trip Project is part of the New Century Vision Project and is made possible with the support of our partner Choose Outdoors. Find out how you can get connected to our public lands through outdoor recreation at ChooseOutdoors.org.
ChooseOutdoorslogoFollow the hashtag #InclusiveVision4Next100 on FacebookInstagram or Twitter. Please share your thoughts, stories and images. Write to info@joytripproject.com  And don’t forget to sign the petition!