Governor Jared Polis chose the private Lincoln Hills Flyfishing Club as the location to sign into law the Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Program on June 21, 2021. The bill, now law, funds engaging and meaningful outdoor experiences to underserved youth and their families. Members of more than 60 outdoor advocacy and conservation organizations, supporters of the initiative, were in attendance.

The program is funded through the Colorado Lottery, with $750,000 in its first year to groups providing outdoor education and experiences for underserved youth and families. Over the following four years, funding is expected at $3,000,000 annually. Another new law that transfers funds from the general fund to support outdoor recreation will provide another $1 million to the Program in its first year.

According to the State’s press release, the Grant Program will center its funding on low-income youth, youth with disabilities, LGBTQ+ populations, and racially and ethnically diverse Coloradans. The Outdoor Equity Fund Coalition, consisting of outdoor advocacy and conservation organizations that support the program, expects to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to “recruit and seat a board that is representative of the community, organizations, and youth that this initiative was created to serve.”

Brian Kurzel, Rocky Mountain Regional Executive Director, National Wildlife Federation, believes that “access to nature, and to its amazing health benefits, is a human right.”

The bill’s cosponsors, Representatives Leslie Herod and David Ortiz, Senate President Leroy Garcia, and Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis, joined Governor Polis at Lincoln Hills for this event.

The Keep Colorado Wild Pass bill was also signed, providing affordable access to Colorado parks in the future.