Like everyone at the lake that day, Arati is new to the U.S. and Minnesota. She came to this fishing day through Nature for New Minnesotans, a pilot project developed by the University of Minnesota’s Extension services and a language class at Our Saviour’s Community Services English Learning Center.  

Many programs with similar aims have popped up across the country in response to the “nature gap” between affluent, mostly white Americans and less wealthy communities of color, especially those new to the country. But racial gaps in outdoor participation haven’t seemed to budge, so the University of Minnesota is testing a new formula: partnering with established English language classes to offer an in-depth curricula about local natural history. 

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