State parks seek to diversify its visitors

Officials in charge of state parks around the country are trying to attract more diverse visitors. About 75% of visitors to the state and national parks in the U.S. are White, according to park officials, while only about 60% of the overall U.S. population is White. Some parks are seeking to improve this ratio by drawing more Black and Hispanic visitors, since studies show that these groups are often excluded from the benefits of nature trips due to lack of access. For some parks, the effort has included diversifying staff through hiring efforts. “We all want our user base to be as diverse as possible. It hasn’t been,” Rodney Franklin, director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Parks Division, told The Washington Post.

Read more at The Washington Post.