Sep 14, 2023
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition commends USDA Secretary Vilsack’s announcement of this significant commitment to addressing nature deprivation and its consequences. Today’s announcement will yield improvements in equitable access to nature, mitigate urban heat island effects, improve air quality, and improve health in our communities. The U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program is a critical part of investing in and protecting against the many threats facing communities as a result of climate change and nature loss.
We are grateful for the work of the awardees around the country for stewarding these critical nature-based solution investments and listening to local voices on how to best meet community needs. As advocates for applying a Justice40 metric to the America the Beautiful Initiative, we are thrilled to see this demonstrated leadership by the Administration in prioritizing local climate resilience and making access to nature more equitable for communities of color and frontline communities.
Below are statements from co-chairs of the America the Beautiful for All Coalition and members of the Coalition’s Urban Parks & Greenspace workgroup,
Mark Magaña, Co-chair, America the Beautiful for All Coalition; Founding President & CEO, GreenLatinos:
“Tree Planting and Urban forestry is the most direct and impactful way to ameliorate the life-threatening impacts of urban heat and nature deprivation which frontline communities have suffered for generations. Increased urban forestry, planned and managed by communities, serves public health and heals the natural world. Urban forestry sequesters carbon, provides habitat, and mitigates dangerous urban heat island effects caused by the climate crisis.
Today, the Biden Administration proved we can have our trees and climb in them too by giving frontline communities the opportunity to increase tree canopy in their cities with these historic and unprecedented investments. We thank the Biden Administration for their track record in listening to America, trusting community leadership, and making significant progress towards Justice40. GreenLatinos is proud to be among the recipients of these funds, and we say ‘Mil felicidades’ to the numerous other Coalition members who have been awarded grants to support this important work.”
Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Co-chair, America the Beautiful for All Coalition; Executive Director, Children’s Environmental Health Network:
“Access to green space is critical to children’s physical and mental health and development as well as to the health and resilience of their communities in our changing climate. For too long, this access has not been equitable throughout the US. We commend the Biden-Harris Administration on this historic investment to expand access to trees and green spaces in communities across the country, especially in our under-resourced neighborhoods and communities of color.”
About Us:
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition consists of nearly 200 organizations working collectively to thwart the rapidly advancing impacts of climate change; stem the loss of biodiversity; increase more equitable access to nature’s benefits; and ensure at least 40% of conservation spending occurs in communities of color and frontline communities that have historically seen little to no conservation investments. Member organizations range in focus from urban parks and green space, Indigenous rights, public lands protection, public health, wildlife, outdoor recreation and freshwater and ocean conservation — all representative of identities and issue areas that have traditionally been underrepresented in conservation decision-making in the United States.
