Los Lunas Open Space Awarded $37,000 for Nature Unleashed Youth Adventures

The Los Lunas Open Space Division secured a $37,000 Outdoor Equity Grant from the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division to fund the 2026 season of its Nature Unleashed Outdoor Adventure series, a move that will broaden access to outdoor recreation for Valencia County youth. The award is intended to connect about 520 local youths, ages 8-17, with outdoor activities while emphasizing environmental learning and equitable access to public lands.

Los Lunas Open Space supervisor Pat Jaramillo said the funding will directly underwrite trip costs that previously fell on families. “We’ve been doing our Outdoor Adventure program for 15-16 years,” Jaramillo said. “These are the first times that we’ve actually got money that was awarded to us. It helped fund these types of programs. Everything we did in the past, like archery, BB guns, field trips, and other things … and the parents had to pay for it. (The programs) were inexpensive. But with this equity grant, it’s allowed us to really, you know, go to the next level and really get these kids into some really adventurous type trips.”

Program organizers plan a range of activities across New Mexico public lands, including bicycle trail rides, skiing, kayaking, whitewater rafting, fishing, horseback riding, and camping, all guided by trained park staff. Jaramillo highlighted a ski outing as an example of how the grant will reduce family expenses. “So what we use this for is actually to help pay for trips,” he said. “As a matter of fact ...we’re going to take a ski trip up to Sandia (Peak). This will help pay for the lift tickets, the rentals, food, fuel and stuff as well.”

The Nature Unleashed series is designed to serve at least 40 percent participants from low-income households and to foster participant confidence, leadership, stewardship values, outdoor safety awareness, and community bonding. “The (funding) is going to cover a lot of different things,” Jaramillo said. “We’ve got some ski trips and some whitewater rafting trips planned. We have some fishing trips, horseback riding, and camping planned. Honestly, there’s quite a bit.”

This is the third time in four years Los Lunas Open Space has received an Outdoor Equity Grant. The division received $15,995 in 2022 for the Every Body Rides with Grace program to increase cycling accessibility for youth with disabilities, and $31,890 in 2023 to fund eight seasonal Outdoor Adventures. Over the last four years the division has received $98,885 from the state program. Statewide, 61 programs received funding to support outdoor education and career training for more than 22,000 youth, with recipients committing more than $1.7 million in matching funds and 40 programs offering workforce development tied to outdoor careers.

For Valencia County families, the grant means reduced out-of-pocket costs for experiential outings and expanded opportunities for children to build outdoor skills and stewardship values. As the Nature Unleashed season unfolds, Los Lunas Open Space will aim to translate the grant into measurable increases in participation from low-income neighborhoods and continued pathways into outdoor recreation and potential careers in New Mexico’s outdoors.