Bridging the Nature Gap in Urban Communities

Authors

• Hayley Allison, Bridging the GapFollow
• Jacobo Barriga, Bridging the GapFollow
• Sarah Beier, Bridging the GapFollow
• Hunter Moore, Bridging the GapFollow
• Joe Wheelock, Bridging the GapFollow

Publication Date

10-20-2026

Bridging The Gap is the largest local environmental nonprofit serving the greater Kansas City metro, actively engaging thousands of community members, planting thousands of trees, and stewarding thousands of acres of natural areas across both sides of the state line. Despite existing in a sprawling two-state metropolitan area where functional habitat on public land is often fragmented, degraded, or lost entirely, parks and natural areas across Kansas City still report upwards of four million visitors every year. City, county, and state public landowners, like conservation agencies and parks departments, often have limited capacity to effectively steward and improve urban green spaces; through empowering and educating volunteers and meeting people where they are, Bridging The Gap leads a decades-long community-led mechanism for environmental stewardship.

Recommended Citation

Allison, Hayley; Barriga, Jacobo; Beier, Sarah; Moore, Hunter; and Wheelock, Joe (2026) "Bridging the Nature Gap in Urban Communities," Cities and the Environment (CATE): Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 46.
DOI: 10.15365/1932-7048.1444
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol13/iss1/46

DOI

10.15365/1932-7048.1444