Forest Service faulted for lack of outreach programs

By Sonya Geis
Pasadena Star News
December 05, 2004

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- The Angeles National Forest offers fresh air, play and escape from the city. But not everyone in the region takes advantage of the opportunity.

While the 2000 Census found that fewer than half of Los Angeles County residents are non- Hispanic whites, whites made up 79 percent of visitors to the Angeles National Forest that same year, according to Forest Service data.

Robert Garcia at The City Project wants that number to change.

"The Angeles National Forest is the most urban forest in the country, and close to the most ethnically diverse city in the country,' he said. "The Forest Service is not doing enough.'

As the Forest Service works on drafting a 15-year plan for the Angeles National Forest, Garcia and others at The City Project are pushing the federal agency to keep inclusiveness high on its list of priorities.

They argue that benefits of spending time outdoors, such as learning respect for nature, having a chance to play, breathing fresh air and calming one's mental health, should be available to everyone.

They want to see programs re- established that once taught urban children about the natural environment, and have had their funding cut. They want management plans to provide for cheap, accessible recreation opportunities, such as picnicking. And they want the Forest Service to make sure its work force represents the ethnic diversity of the state.

None of these concerns comes as a surprise to Forest Service officials.

The agency identified 20 years ago that the demographics of the region were changing and they were not serving everyone they could, said Deborah Chavez, who studies ethnicity and recreation for the Forest Service in Riverside.

The research unit she works for was created in 1987 for that reason, she said. Based on the research, the Forest Service has designed programs to reach out to African Americans and Latinos.

Barriers to using the forest are both economic and racial. Early research showed that low-income people of all races used the forest less because they had less time, less money and less access to a car for recreation.

But non-white people had extra barriers. Many did not know about the forest. Those who had not grown up with outdoor play or camping trips didn't think of taking their children to forests.

In response, the Forest Service created programs such as Forest Information Vans and Greenlink. Forest Information Vans would drive to areas where blacks or Latinos were gathered and hand out information. Greenlink, developed after the Los Angeles riots in 1992, paid an employee to network with community organizations and do bilingual environmental education. Buses would take people into natural areas.

"They get to see there are good things to do in the forest,' Chavez said. "It's a really strong success story about innovative things that could be done.'

Because of funding cuts, however, the vans are no longer maintained. The Greenlink program was cut several years ago.

Garcia, at the law center, wants those programs funded again.

"We think community involvement programs like that are critical to get diverse populations involved with the forest,' he said.

Garcia also wants to see a focus on low-impact recreation activities that research shows are most common for Latinos and African Americans.

Forest Service social scientists have found significant differences in how ethnic groups use the outdoor space.

Blacks and Latinos are more likely to recreate in large groups than whites. Latinos often spend an entire day at a site and cook a meal, while whites tend to picnic and then leave. Also, Latinos often prefer to congregate in shady areas to swim, while whites may spend more time in the sun.

Tracking these kinds of differences and then adapting to them can make the forest more welcoming to people of all ethnicities, said James Gramann, a professor at Texas A&M University who studies racial-ethnic patterns of recreation.

Managers at national parks and forests have seen an increase in Latino use and have taken steps to adapt, he said.

"Putting in larger picnic tables, not chaining them down, putting in grills for barbecuing, putting in playgrounds because you know you're going to have children there' makes a site more attractive to Latinos, he said.

Another problem that is less easily solved is discrimination or the feeling of discrimination, he said.

"Sometimes when they go to the forest, there's a perception that there's no one like them there,' Chavez said of blacks, Latinos and Asians. "So people who have limited time to do leisure, they're going to go where they feel comfortable.'

Gramann agreed. "If you don't feel welcome, you won't go there,' he said.

It doesn't help that California's national forests are under a consent decree because of a class-action race discrimination lawsuit by Latino employees.

Angie Lavell, who is both a plaintiff in the lawsuit and civil rights officer for the Forest Service, said the agency has made great strides but still has more work to do.

"I think the agency does have an interest in diversifying the work force,' she said. "They don't always know how. But I think at least on the Angeles (National Forest) they're making progress, and that's a good thing.'

Sonya Geis can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4496, or by e-mail at sonya.geis@sgvn.com.