Our annual trends report shares innovative ideas in youth outdoor engagement to inspire legislators, advocates, communities, and youth to replicate, rethink, and collaborate to build equitable youth outdoor opportunities.
Outdoor policy continued to gain traction in 2025, with 47 states and territories introducing 303 bills on outdoor recreation, education, access, and equity. Emerging outdoor policy trends in 2025 included: outdoor disability accessibility, outdoor education for all, trails access for all, and new or expanded outdoor funding.
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Outdoor policy continued to grow in 2024 with 47 states and territories introducing over 350 bills on outdoor recreation, education, access, and equity. This year, states prioritized their communities' health and well-being through outdoor-focused policy, and explored legislation to address common barriers to access the outdoors.
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Outdoor policy saw unprecedented growth in 2023, with over 200 bills on outdoor recreation, education, access, and equity introduced across 40 U.S. states and at least 57 policies already enacted. The 2023 trends report shares innovative ideas in youth outdoor engagement to inspire legislators, advocates, communities, and youth to replicate, rethink, and collaborate to build equitable youth outdoor opportunities.
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The 2022 State Legislative Sessions saw continued progress and momentum around youth outdoor education and engagement. Even year sessions, such as 2022, are considered “short sessions” where many states meet for a limited duration and some, like Nevada and Texas, don’t meet at all. Despite these limitations, states invested in outdoor learning opportunities, created new outdoor school programs, and set policy goals around equitable outdoor access. New federal bills have also been introduced that build on state successes or provide funding to support ongoing efforts.
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2021 was a big year for youth outdoor policies. Momentum around youth outdoor engagement has been growing over the past several years. This trend has accelerated with an increased urgency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which emphasized the value of time outside and also highlighted the inequities facing many kids and communities.
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View current policies that we're tracking related to outdoor equity & justice, environmental education & outdoor learning, outdoor health & wellbeing, and outdoor play.
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