FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Bren Spector Director of Communications and Advocacy, Justice Outside bren@justiceoutside.org
New report from Justice Outside and the Center for American Progress maps how race, income, pollution, and climate risk converge across every U.S. census tract
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 24, 2026 — A new national analysis finds that communities of color are three times more likely than white communities to live in areas that have lost their forests, wetlands, and green spaces — and nearly three-quarters of residents in those nature-deprived areas have low household incomes.
The report, The Nature Gap: Communities of Color and Those With Low Incomes Are Bearing the Brunt of America’s Nature Loss, was co-authored by Justice Outside, the Center for American Progress, and Conservation Science Partners. It updates the landmark 2020 Nature Gap analysis with new data and a more advanced methodology covering every census tract in the contiguous United States — and for the first time, connects nature deprivation directly to pollution exposure and climate risk at a national scale.
Among the findings:
• 74 percent of people living in nature-deprived areas are communities of color.
• 83 percent of nature-deprived areas are renter-majority communities.
• Communities closest to pollution sources are nearly twice as likely to also be nature-deprived, meaning the most burdened communities face compounding health risks with the fewest natural buffers.
“This data confirms what frontline communities have long known — that nature loss is not random. It is the result of centuries of policy choices rooted in discrimination,” said Kim Bailey, President and CEO of Justice Outside and a co-author of the report. “The communities bearing the greatest burden are also the ones building the most powerful solutions. This report is an invitation to policymakers and funders to follow their lead.”
The disparities cut across every region. In Chicago, 85 percent of communities are classified as nature-deprived. In Rhode Island, 94 percent of nature-deprived communities are communities of color. The report includes a downloadable, state-by-state dataset allowing communities, policymakers, and journalists to examine the data for their own regions.
Alongside the data, the report profiles eleven community organizations — all Justice Outside grantee partners — that are working to close the nature gap on the ground. The organizations are supported through Justice Outside’s trust-based grantmaking model and led by the communities the data describes.
In rural North Carolina, 7 Directions of Service is advancing Indigenous land stewardship on Occaneechi-Saponi homelands through youth river journeys and the Rights of Nature movement. “In a time of climate crisis, cultural erasure, and rising youth mental health disparities, reconnecting our young people to land and identity is both a form of healing and a blueprint for survival,” said founder Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck.
On the Sea Islands of South Carolina, where rising seas threaten ancestral homelands, the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has spent nearly three decades protecting the land rights and cultural heritage of the Gullah/Geechee people. “The land is our family, and the waterway is our bloodline,” said Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation.
Other profiled organizations include Chicago Adventure Therapy, which uses outdoor adventure sports to create healing spaces for youth on Chicago’s South and West sides; the Duwamish River Community Coalition in Seattle, leading community-driven air quality monitoring in one of the city’s most pollution-burdened corridors; and the Center for Social Sustainable Systems in Albuquerque, protecting centuries-old acequia water traditions in the South Valley.
Research shows that every $1 invested in parks saves nearly $3 in health care costs — yet the communities that would benefit most remain the most cut off from nature. The full report, including the state-by-state dataset, community profiles, and policy recommendations, is available at justiceoutside.org/impact.
About Justice Outside
Justice Outside is a national environmental justice organization advancing equity in outdoor and environmental movements. Through its power-building framework of trust-based grantmaking, advocacy, and field leadership, Justice Outside centers Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led organizations to drive lasting environmental justice. Learn more at justiceoutside.org.
About the Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas and action. Learn more at americanprogress.org.
