FY26 Round 1 Outdoor Equity Fund Recipients
Congratulations to the first round of FY26 Outdoor Equity Fund recipients! The Outdoor Recreation Division is proud to support these programs that are improving equitable access to New Mexico’s great outdoors and connecting youth to meaningful career pathways.
Adaptive Sports Program New Mexico, Sandoval – $32,153: Offers multi-week adaptive snowboarding and skiing experiences for students with disabilities at ski hills in New Mexico.
Anton Chico Schools, Guadalupe, $40,000: Provides low-income K–8 students with year-round garden-based instruction and a 4-week summer camp with paid student intern positions.
Aztec Municipal School District, San Juan, $26,000: Develops a bike tech program to help students spend more time outdoors while learning workforce skills.
Big Brothers Big Sisters, Bernalillo, $40,000: Connects youth ages 6–18 with mentors through enriching outdoor experiences that foster personal growth and resilience.
Bootheel Youth Association, Hidalgo, $40,000: Continues its Project Venture program, offering outdoor adventure trips that build confidence and foster a love of nature, and equip local youth ages 11–15 with skills for health, connection, and growth.
City of Raton Recreation Department, Colfax, $39,700: Provides over 200 low-income youth with access to free gear rental and seasonal outdoor recreation programming like biking, kayaking, disc golf, and guided hikes.
CYCLE Kids, Bernalillo, $40,000: Introduces 300-350 underrepresented youth to biking as a gateway to outdoor exploration, confidence building, and healthy living.
Doña Ana Village Association, Doña Ana, $40,000: Expands outdoor programming for colonia youth through native planting workshops, guided hikes, bilingual walking tours rooted in Indigenous and colonia history, and community mural projects.
Earth Ways Inc, Grant, $38,880: Runs “Walkabout,” a program that gets youth and teen groups out to local wild places for relevant, hands-on education, outdoor skill development, and to learn traditional crafts and skills.
Earth’s Birthday Project (DBA Celebrate Planet Earth), Sandoval, $40,000: Their Exploradores Outdoor Classroom is a dynamic, bilingual outdoor learning initiative designed to inspire environmental curiosity and stewardship among New Mexico’s youngest learners.
El Rito Public Library, Rio Arriba, $27,000: Provides outdoor activities that foster appreciation for natural and culturally significant spaces while developing belonging and environmental stewardship.
Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum of Albuquerque, Bernalillo, $40,000: Expands access to agriculture, ecology, and environmental science-based STEAM learning for rural, low-income youth with mentorship from local farmers and scientists.
Farmington Area Single Track, San Juan, $40,000: Launches a new cycling class designed specifically for youth with disabilities and purchases adaptive gear to equip riders.
Field Institute of Taos, Taos, $40,000: Connects youth in Northern New Mexico to the natural world and builds leadership and stewardship skills through nature-based outdoor education, backpacking trips, summer camps, and biking adventures.
Friends of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, Taos, $39,589: Provides school-based outdoor education and internships for 150 rural youth through their Outdoor Academy program, preparing them for careers in recreation and conservation.
Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Doña Ana, $40,000: Connects Southern New Mexico youth to public lands and paid youth leadership opportunities through their Moving Montañas program, offering a variety of outdoor recreation and environmental education opportunities.
Future Focused Education, Rio Arriba, $40,000: Connects underrepresented youth with paid internships in outdoor recreation, conservation, grassroots agriculture, and environmental careers with mentorship and wraparound support.
Future Innovators Academy, Lea, $20,000: Introduces youth from low-income housing communities to fishing, environmental education, and camping, providing transportation and gear to break down barriers to participation.
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Rio Arriba, $40,000: Offers paid summer internships for rural high school students, combining outdoor learning, cultural stewardship, and mentorship to build skills, confidence, and connection to community and place.
Gila Resource Information Project, Grant, $20,000: Provides a week-long nature discovery summer camp, educating over 170 youth about local environment, culture, and land stewardship through hands-on outdoor experiences.
Hero’s Path Palliative Care, Bernalillo, $40,000: Delivers inclusive outdoor education and respite experiences for medically complex children, children with disabilities, and their families.
Hozho Academy, McKinley, $40,000: Provides outdoor programming for over 550 youth with weekly gardening sessions and outdoor education experiences like hiking, biking, rock climbing, fishing, camping, and archery.
Indigenous Futures 4EVER, San Juan, $40,000: Expands their weekly skateboard classes on the Navajo Nation to engage Native youth in outdoor activity, mentorship, and build community.
Institute for Applied Ecology, Santa Fe, $28,500: Connects Pueblo youth with the natural world through hands-on lessons in ecology, conservation, restoration, and land stewardship using Indigenous language, traditional knowledge alongside Western science.
International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), San Juan, $25,000: Delivers the Diné Devo mountain biking program to Native youth to build confidence, improve social, emotional, and cognitive health, and connect youth to mentors.
Jemez Community Development Corporation, Sandoval, $40,000: Offers Jemez Pueblo youth ages 8–15 a 7-week summer camp with free gear rentals, traditional skills training, and an immersive four-night camping trip.
Kiksuyapi Collective, Valencia, $35,000: Engages 500 Indigenous youth and community members community gardening, revitalizing traditional farming, language, and stewardship practices while promoting food sovereignty and cultural healing.
La Casa, Inc., Doña Ana, $12,073: Operates Camp Tierra Viva, a trauma-informed summer day camp for youth residing at the La Casa emergency domestic violence shelter promoting healing, resilience, and empowerment through outdoor experiences.
Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project, Rio Arriba, $40,000: Engages youth in paid summer internships at one of New Mexico’s largest petroglyph with hands-on archaeological fieldwork, STEM learning, and mentorship to build skills, strengthen cultural identity, and expand equitable access to New Mexico’s significant cultural landscapes.
Monte Del Sol Charter School, Santa Fe, $40,000: Offers students from low-income families skiing, guided camping trips, and experiential adventures that build resilience, teamwork, environmental awareness, and personal growth.
Mountain Kids NM, Inc. Santa Fe, $40,000: Connects 300 underserved youth and families to nature-based learning through after school and summer programs that engage children in outdoor activities and environmental education.
NACA Inspired Schools Network (NISN), Sandoval, $40,000: Helps Indigenous schools integrate Land-based Healing and Learning into student capstones, providing outdoor resources, gear, and guidance to give 650 students hands-on experiences in regenerative farming, Indigenous storytelling, and nature-based learning.
National Audubon Society, Santa Fe, $39,821: Offers the Outdoor Field Science program, engaging 1,000 students and teachers annually with hands-on, standards-aligned experiences connecting them to local wildlife, conservation, and the natural environment around Santa Fe.
Nature Friends, Doña Ana, $7,342: Launches the Rockhounding Adventure Program to engage youth in outdoor exploration and discovery that promotes scientific literacy and environmental curiosity.
Nature Niños, Bernalillo, $40,000: Provides bilingual, trauma-informed outdoor education programs for 1,200 youth and families who have faced barriers to experiencing nature.
Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, Doña Ana, $40,000: Connects historically excluded communities with empowering outdoor experiences, policy engagement, and environmental education.
Partners in Education Foundation for the Santa Fe Public Schools, Santa Fe, $35,000: Provides 50–75 outdoor field trips annually for students, giving thousands of children hands-on experiences in nature, wildlife, and cultural sites while ensuring equitable access regardless of economic circumstance.
Picuris Pueblo Diabetes Program, Taos, $24,726: Engages engages Pueblo youth in guided hikes across culturally and ecologically significant sites in New Mexico, teaching environmental observation, climate awareness, cultural traditions, and stewardship.
Pueblo of Jemez, Sandoval, $40,000: Operates the Youth Outdoor Education and Bicycle Safety Program in partnership with multiple Tribal and health agencies providing 150 middle school students with bicycles, hands-on safety training, and outdoor experiences that promote wellness, environmental awareness, cultural connection, and lifelong active habits.
Revitalize San Pedro Partnership, Bernalillo, $40,000: Leads Mural Eco-Stewards, an outdoor engagement initiative combining youth design, stewardship, and environmental learning.
River Source (Partners in Education Foundation), San Miguel, $30,000: Engages over 1,800 New Mexico youth annually in hands-on watershed science, outdoor stewardship, and restoration activities while providing internships, career training, and pathways to outdoor jobs that build skills, confidence, and connection to local rivers and public lands.
Robert F. Kennedy Charter School, Bernalillo, $30,000: Connects over 200 middle and high school youth to hands-on gardening, beekeeping, and stewardship at Shadyside Farm, fostering wellness, cultural connection, and leadership in environmental action and community food justice.
Santa Fe Children’s Museum, Santa Fe, $40,000: Provides nature education lessons with enrichment opportunities as part of free field trips for over 1,400 students from Title I schools.
Santa Fe Conservation Trust, Santa Fe, $18,000: Offers Passport to Trails, providing over 30 annual field trips that connect students to hands-on outdoor learning, trail navigation, and environmental education while boosting confidence, social connection, and lifelong engagement with nature.
Siembra Leadership High School, Bernalillo, $40,000: Provides 250 economically disadvantaged and historically marginalized students with outdoor field trips and paid internships in Indigenous farming and land-based learning, building cultural connection, environmental stewardship, climate knowledge, and pathways to outdoor and environmental careers.
Southern New Mexico Mountain Biking (SNMTB), Doña Ana, $40,000: Hosts afterschool biking clubs, community cycling events, and skill-building clinics for elementary through high school students, teaching mountain biking skills, environmental stewardship, and healthy activity.
Stem is Childs Play Foundation, Bernalillo, $30,000: Engages 100 BIPOC and underserved youth in over five weeks of hands-on fishing, environmental science, and conservation education at Tingley Beach, promoting climate literacy, water stewardship, gender equity, and the skills and confidence to share knowledge.
Sugar Hill Pathways, Inc., Otero, $40,000: Provides bike mechanics training, culturally grounded cycling education, and community clinics that equip Indigenous youth with skills that expand access to cycling, strengthen health and cultural connections, and create pathways toward sustainable, Indigenous-led outdoor recreation economies.
Talking Talons Youth Leadership, Bernalillo, $40,000: Through their Climate Leadership Project, they equips underrepresented fifth-12th grade youth with long-term mentorship, hands-on outdoor climate education, conservation work, and leadership opportunities, providing thousands of hours of training and paid experiences that build confidence, stewardship, and pathways into climate action.
Taos Land Trust, Taos, $40,000: Engages Taos youth in restoring nine acres of historic farmland through hands-on animal husbandry, workforce training, and internships that expand Rio Fernando Park’s agriculture program connecting hundreds of children and families to the land.
Taos Pueblo Working on Wellness, Taos, $25,000: Connects Indigenous youth from Taos Pueblo to skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, and organized sports while creating pathways into outdoor industry careers through apprenticeships, internships, and certifications.
Tewa Women United, Rio Arriba, $40,000: Offers Native youth culturally rooted outdoor programs, including camps, retreats, day trips, and gardening projects, that blend traditional Tewa ecological knowledge, STEM, leadership, and wellness to strengthen cultural identity, connection to land, and youth empowerment.
The Club, Sierra, $40,000: Engages youth in conservation and environmental stewardship through outdoor expeditions, wilderness skills, and recreational activities that build leadership, teamwork, and civic engagement.
The Global Warming Express, Bernalillo, $40,000: Provides hands-on climate science and outdoor learning for youth ages 9-12 years old with emphasis on civic engagement and advocacy.
The Semilla Project, Bernalillo, $40,000: Offers BIPOC youth free outdoor programs that combine climbing, hiking, and land-based learning with leadership development, climate education, and opportunities for professional certifications and community advocacy.
Tribal Adaptive Organization, San Juan, $40,000: Provides Native youth with physical disabilities access to adaptive gear and weekly adaptive outdoor programming, mentorship, and environmental education, culminating in a regional summit to advance inclusive recreation, and policy alignment.
Trout Unlimited, Inc., Rio Arriba, $37,245: Reconnects Hispanic and Indigenous youth from Northern New Mexico to their ancestral landscapes, language, and traditional ecological knowledge through fly fishing, mentorship, and professional guide training, fostering leadership, environmental stewardship, and early career pathways in outdoor recreation.
Village of Los Lunas Open Space, Valencia, $37,000: Engages 520 underserved youth in year-round experiential outdoor activities, ranging from biking and fishing to skiing, rafting, and horseback riding, building environmental awareness and lifelong connections to public lands.
Village of Pecos, San Miguel, $40,000: Pecos Naturemaniacs provides no-cost outdoor recreation and education for approximately 600 underrepresented youth, including fishing derbies, wildlife demonstrations, river clean-ups, and environmental education, designed to promote stewardship, healthy lifestyles, and build community.
Youth Mural Program (Gila Community Foundation), Grant, $40,000: Offers youth ages 12–18 in Southwestern New Mexico opportunities to develop artistic skills, leadership, and civic pride through outdoor, collaborative mural projects that celebrate cultural heritage, environmental themes, and community identity.
Zuni Youth Enrichment Project, McKinley, $40,000: Engages 120 Zuni youth in culturally rooted outdoor activities led by paid peer mentors, promoting physical activity, land stewardship, and community building.