NatureBridge, formerly Yosemite Institute and later Yosemite National Institutes, is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1971 that provides

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

through field studies. It has programs for elementary, middle, and high school students in four national park locations:

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Olympic National Park, and

Prince William Forest Park Prince William Forest Park is protected forest in the U.S. state of Virginia within Prince William County (and very partially Stafford County), located adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico near the town of Dumfries. Established as Chopawa ...

. The organization is estimated to serve 30 000 students each year. Its lessons include hiking, laboratory-style experiments, and excursions in the backcountry.

History

The organization was founded in Yosemite National Park in 1971, under the name Yosemite Institute. Its founding was inspired by a student trip to Yosemite led by high school teacher Don Rees in the same year. He consequently became the organization's first Executive Director. Its first board chair was Jack H. Walston, who also served as vice president and director of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based company Walston and Co. Initial funding was provided by Curry Co. and Yosemite Park itself. In 1973 Yosemite Institute acquired a special use permit for a blister rust facility in Crane Flat, which it used for longer than was envisioned. This aging facility was replaced with a new building in Henness Ridge in 2002. To reflect its growth beyond Yosemite, the organization changed its name to Yosemite National Institutes in 1984. NatureBridge partnered with

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, the S.D. Betchel Jr. Foundation, and the Pisces Foundation in 2010 to form the ChangeScale initiative, intended to improve environmental education. In 2012, it merged with the Headlands and Olympic Park Institutes. In August 2020, the organization was forced to terminate 21 already-furloughed employees and shut down its Seattle office due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In an attempt to counter these losses, it subsequently established an online learning program.

Lake Crescent

The NatureBridge on the coast of Lake Crescent, near the Lake Crescent Lodge, has a variety of activities depending on the school. Some activities range from canoeing, walking in the forest, and maybe even climbing Mt. Stormking.

Awards

On ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...

'' magazine's list of best employers for 2011, NatureBridge was ranked at #30.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naturebridge Organizations based in San Francisco Educational organizations based in California 1971 establishments in California Educational organizations established in 1971 Environmental education in the United States Field research