NatureTrack and Wilderness Youth Project Receive Nearly $400,000 in State Grants 

In the digital age, fewer and fewer kids are going outside and smelling the roses. In fact, it’s so bad that “touch grass” has become a popular response to young internet users who pretty clearly need to step away from the screen and get some fresh air. 

Luckily, kids in Santa Barbara County have no shortage of opportunities to experience the great outdoors in their own backyard. 

Two local projects that support those opportunities — NatureTrack and Wilderness Youth Project — recently received nearly $400,000 in state grants to make the natural world more accessible to underserved youth. It will support their efforts to instill a sense of wonder and respect for Santa Barbara’s creeks, mountains, beaches, and open spaces in local students. 

The money comes from the California Natural Resources Agency’s Youth Community Access Program, part of California’s $1 billion Outdoors for All Strategy championed by Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

In total, they’ve recently allocated almost $18 million to 71 projects statewide to get Californians outside. The main idea is to provide children with equitable opportunities to explore, sail, construct trails, and restore outdoor spaces. 

It’s all geared toward building stewards who care for nature, said Katherine Toy, the agency’s deputy secretary for access. “In turn, nature cares for us,” she added. 

Touching grass, as it turns out, is incredibly important for young, developing minds. Steve Windhager, executive director for the Botanic Garden — which last year opened Backcountry, an unstructured, all-natural playground — touched on this in a past interview with the Indy. 

“I grew up playing in a drainage ditch around the corner from my house,” he recounted. “And it was the wild backcountry as far as I was concerned, but it was that space where I could catch frogs and tadpoles. It developed a lifelong connection to the natural world for me.”

The consequence of not touching grass is called nature deficit disorder — resulting in higher risks of conditions such as obesity, attention disorders, and emotional and physical illness  — and it’s a real thing, Windhager said. 

“Kids are suffering from not being able to play outside,” he continued. “And it’s not the same as when you’re outside playing soccer. You really need that creative opportunity to just sit and be bored outside and make up your own games and discover the world and try something new.”

Using the funding from the state, NatureTrack and Wilderness Youth Project (WYP) are extending those opportunities to “a greater number of students of all abilities” in Santa Barbara County “who may otherwise have limited or no access to learning in and from the natural world,” said NatureTrack founder Sue Eisaguirre.

NatureTrack, based in the Santa Ynez Valley, received $97,400 to fund outdoor field trips to Santa Barbara County’s trails and beaches for low-income K-12 students in the North County, as well as recruit students from local colleges to work as trip docents. Since NatureTrack was founded in 2011, more than 35,000 students have participated in the field trips.

In South County, WYP — which serves 1,200 local children annually — received $288,500 to support their subsidized Bridge to Nature programs, which funds outdoor access and mentoring programs for underserved, low-income youth ages 7-17. 

Field trips to Santa Barbara’s abundant front country are provided to students from 11 elementary schools and two preschools in Santa Barbara and Carpinteria. Through the grants, WYP will also be getting a clean vehicle for “adventure transportation.”  

“Giving thanks is as natural to us as the rocky sandstone of the Santa Ynez Mountains and the sandy shores of Butterfly Beach,” said Michelle Howard, grants management director for WYP. “We are incredibly grateful for the grant from Youth Community Access, and we hope that it inspires deepening support for local nature connection and access.”