Amado Castillo felt privileged every time his parents drove him from their Southeast Los Angeles home to visit natural wonders in Yosemite and Sequoia national parks.
Castillo’s parents, like many first-generation immigrants, didn’t grow up camping or visiting national parks. But they wanted their son to experience the parks and made the long drive from Los Angeles so he could see the Sierra Nevada.
“They saw the opportunity to learn but also the type of fulfillment you get from going,” Castillo, 22, said. “That’s something that you definitely want to impart on family members and the people you care about.”
Castillo is trying to give those outdoor experiences to more young California Latinos. He landed a role as a community assistance fellow after graduating from UCLA in 2021. As a fellow, he participates in a partnership between the National Park Service and Hispanic Access Foundation aimed at giving young people of color an entryway into outdoor careers that are traditionally and overwhelmingly white.
That Latinos are underrepresented in outdoor spaces and professions is well known.
The National Parks Service’s most recent survey found just 13% visitors in 2018 were Latino. And a 2020 analysis by Conservation Science Partners discovered that 67% percent of Latinos live in a nature-deprived area, meaning a neighborhood with little access to parks.
The under-representation of Latinos among park visitors worries state and federal agencies on several levels, from ensuring they attract a growing segment of the American population to sharing the health benefits of the outdoors.
“It’s clear that investing in the outdoors makes sense,” said Ramon Cruz, president of the Sierra Club.
He’s the first Latino to lead to the organization. “It makes it easier for people to participate in the economy and for the next generation to develop that relationship with the outdoors.”
The new efforts strive to make Latinos more comfortable outdoors. While some groups are redefining the traditional view of an outdoor activity to go beyond just backpacking and camping, others are beginning new annual traditions. But diversity in the workforce remains an important first step, advocates say.
“Proper representation allows our communities to feel like we’re a part of the bedrock of this nation because we are,” said Olivia Juarez, a public land program director for GreenLatinos. “There’s no doubt that our National Park Service doesn’t reflect that.”
As of 2020, whites account for 79% of the full-time employees. Latinos make up only 5.6% of the workforce, according to the National Park Service.
California’s state parks employees are slightly more diverse. Individuals who identify as Latinos or Hispanic represent 14.6% of the workforce, according to June 2022 CalHR Workforce Planning Statistics. This includes the state parks director Armando Quintero and four Latinas serving as deputy directors. White employees make up 62% of the workforce.
Reflect the faces of visitors
Park employees are a critical entry point for park visitors, advocates say, because people feel more welcomed if greeted by staff who speak their same language and provide understandable information on what the park has to offer.
California State Parks Director Quintero considers part of his mission to be attracting diverse Californians to their taxpayer-supported public spaces.
Gov. Gavin Newsom put Quintero in charge of state parks in August 2020. He oversees operations at 280 park units and has aspirations of improving diversity in hiring and retention — in part because of his own career struggles.
In 1977, when Quintero first joined the National Parks Service, he faced constant reminders of being a Latino in an overwhelmingly white profession. At one point, Quintero even saw a personnel file in which his boss labeled him a “diversity hire.”
Those experiences eventually led Quintero to become a personnel staffing specialist and gain insight on why there’s been a slow rate of change. Now he’s using that knowledge in hopes of creating a more diverse workforce. Quintero said there’s traditionally been a slow rate of change because of factors such as preferential hiring, insider secrets and unintended bias.
The department’s workforce planning and recruitment office embraces efforts to reach out to Latino communities. These include recruitment events such as Celebrando Nuestra Salud and visiting universities with sizeable Latino student populations.
“That’s something that I’m trying to change in terms of how we’re structured at state parks… it is important for people to have role models so that they can imagine themselves there one day,” Quintero said.
La Abeja, a newsletter written for and by California Latinos
Sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter centered around Latino issues in California.
Redefining the outdoors
The barriers for access to outdoors, as Latino Outdoors founder José González puts it, have been known for decades. Whether it be lack of transportation, Spanish-language translation services or high costs, the obstacles are no secret.
So, when González began the Latino-led organization in 2013, he started with dissecting the misguided assumptions of “what it means to be outdoors.”
Often, outdoor activities are thought of solely as hiking, camping and backpacking. González said recognizing the full spectrum of outdoor engagement is vital and that for many Latinos connecting with nature is not a new experience.
“We’ve had a connection to the land so it isn’t a question of being disconnected from the land, but rather being able to say that you might start with a carne asada at the park and being able to recognize that experience as a starting point,” González said.
From there, the next step is to invest in providing a first and welcoming experience to larger outdoor spaces.
González said investment comes in many forms: bus services, gear, in-person support or free entrance. With that initial investment and adequate framing, people will be encouraged to continue going. People will find ways to spend money on the experiences they value — that’s how Latino families come together to make quinceaneras happen, he explained.
“We want to show how these experiences can provide value for them, rather than being seen as frivolous, not for us or not worth taking the risk to try them out,” González said.
How to get outdoors?
The Hispanic Access Foundation this week hosting its eighth annual Latino Conservation Week with hundreds of organizations and people across the nation are holding events.
The events are diverse, from community gatherings to experiencing a wildlife refuge to viewing a new environmental film with a discussion on the importance of resources. In the Sacramento area, Latino Outdoors joins the American River parkway Foundation Saturday for some work – a cleanup – followed by some fun – a picnic.
The goals are to provide outdoor recreation opportunities and demonstrate the Latino’s community commitment to conservation.
Any person can submit an event idea and if accepted the foundation helps provide resources to create and host an event. In its first year, there were nine events. This year the foundation expects more than 300.
The initiative stems from the Hispanic Access Foundation’s partnership with the National Parks Service. Many of the fellows and interns from the partnership end up leading events.
Last year, Castillo co-hosted an event at Los Angeles State Historic Park in response to the March 2021 eviction of unhoused residents. He hoped the event would spark conversations about reimagining park safety to ensure everyone in the community, regardless of race, class and citizenship status, could connect with nature.
For youth at the event, Castillo created an activity sheet and brought markers so that they could show what programs and amenities their ideal park would have.
To his surprise, the children demonstrated a high level of engagement and refreshing perspectives on how green spaces should be used. Castillo said the experience reminded him of the “real reason we do this type of work. ”
“To empower youth and provide opportunities and resources to the community… those types of things make all the difference,” Castillo said.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 5:00 AM.