That was the challenge behind the Youth Urban Forestry Accelerator, supported by a USDA Urban Forestry grant: introducing young people in Detroit and Milwaukee to forestry, conservation, and outdoor professionals, while making those careers feel like real choices.
The important part was who did the introducing. In Milwaukee, Escuela Verde teachers Kim and Sean already knew their students. In Detroit, Detroit Outdoors brought together schools and youth-serving organizations with leaders their young people already trusted. Our job was to give those leaders more places, people, and tools to work with.
So we helped turn forestry into something students could actually experience. Escuela Verde, based out of Council Grounds near Wausau, spent time identifying trees, worked alongside a Wisconsin DNR forester, saw active forestry at Rib Mountain, and visited Wausau’s Urban Forestry team. Detroit students headed into places like Pigeon River State Forest for their own multi-day immersions, and even spanned Michigan’s Upper Peninsula learning from tribal forestry experts.
We handled the scaffolding around those experiences: transportation, camping gear, food, reservations, partner stipends, grant administration, and connections with forestry professionals. Then we could get out of the way and let community leaders do what they do best.
Sometimes the partnership got wonderfully practical, too. During some downtime, Escuela Verde students helped us zip-tie bungee storage underneath every bus seat. By the end of the program, Kim and our team were already talking about getting students back together to help paint the bus.
That’s the model in miniature. A federal grant supplied resources. Get Outside Bus made those resources mobile. And community leaders turned them into experiences that made sense for their students.