(06/17/24) BATON ROUGE, La. — Over the next two years, young people in northeastern Louisiana will be introduced to swimming, bird-watching, fishing and other activities through a series of LSU AgCenter events and clinics designed to improve access to the outdoors.

The programs will include birding and fishing clinics and water activity days at lakes in the region that will introduce children and teens to activities and help them learn the best places to take part in outdoor recreation in northeastern Louisiana.

These activities are funded by a two-year, $114,072 grant from the REI Cooperative Action Fund, a community-supported public charity to help organizations that “work to create a more equitable outdoors for everyone.”

“These are beautiful parishes, and they have incredible resources,” said Jessica Stroope, the AgCenter physical activity specialist who led the grant application team. “We know that being outside is good for all of us. It’s good for our mental health, and it’s good for social connection. So, we want to promote the resources that our state has.”

One component of the program — swimming lessons for children in East Carroll and Tensas parishes — began in June. With no public pools available for lessons in the two parishes, the grant will allow AgCenter 4-H and other extension agents to bus participants to swimming lessons at Grambling State University and the Natchez-Adams County Pool in Natchez, Mississippi.

Access to swimming instruction is one of the least equitable aspects of outdoor recreation, Stroope said.

Nationwide, Louisiana has the highest rate of drowning deaths for young people up to age 19, with 2.3 per 100,000 people, according to a study published in 2021 in Pediatrics, the journal from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Also, African American children between the ages of 5 and 14 are 2.6 times more likely to drown than white children, an analysis in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education found.

Three more swim sessions for East Carroll and Tensas parish children are scheduled for July. The swimming lesson component will expand next summer, Stroope said, and the children who began lessons this summer will have an opportunity to learn more.

Beyond teaching essential swimming skills, the lessons also help children “gain confidence, learn discipline and build social skills,” said Lekeisha Lucas, an AgCenter 4-H Extension agent in East Carroll Parish.

“Overall, these lessons are not just about swimming; they are about equipping our youth with life-saving skills and fostering their overall development in an environment where such resources are otherwise unavailable,” Lucas said.

The REI Cooperative Action Fund announced $3.8 million in grants to 60 grantees this spring. REI Co-op, an outdoor apparel and equipment retailer with stores in 41 states, created the fund as a separate charity to support nonprofit organizations in 2021.

Other planned uses for the grant funds are bird-watching and fishing clinics as well as community swim days at Lake Bruin State Park in Tensas Parish. Additional activities include kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding outings at Lake Bruin and at Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish.

Stroope also envisions education campaigns that encourage young people to use the outdoors and signs that identify underused public spaces for launching kayaks and canoes or bird-watching. Too often, young people are unaware of the possibilities that exist for outdoor recreation.

Signs for the program will spread an important message: “We have these natural spaces, and you belong here,” Stroope said.

East Carroll Parish 4-H’ers take swimming lessons at Grambling State University. The lessons were funded by a grant from the REI Cooperative Action Fund that strives to reduce inequities in outdoor recreation. Photo by D. Jones Visuals

Swimming lessons funded by a grant from the REI Cooperative Action Fund that strives to reduce inequities in outdoor recreation allowed the LSU AgCenter to bus East Carroll Parish 4-H’ers to a pool at Grambling State University. Photo by D. Jones Visuals

A grant from the REI Cooperative Action Fund helped fund swimming lessons for East Carroll Parish 4-H’ers, who were bused to a pool at Grambling State University because there were no public pools available for lessons in their area. Photo by D. Jones Visuals

Swimming lessons funded by a grant from the REI Cooperative Action Fund that strives to reduce inequities in outdoor recreation allowed the LSU AgCenter to bus East Carroll Parish 4-H’ers to a pool at Grambling State University. Photo by D. Jones Visuals