Videos Highlight Young Latinx Leaders
“OK everybody, follow me,” says the grinning Jayrlin Molina, a Humboldt State University forestry major, as she heads down the trail through the lush Redwood Park in Arcata Community Forest. She places her hand on a towering tree.
“This is a coast redwood. Coming from Los Angeles, I never really had a relationship with the outdoors due to the lack of access,” she says. “However, the idea of preserving outdoors was already in my mind.”
Molina is a Latino Outdoors outings leader, and with warmth and enthusiasm, she introduces video viewers to the forest’s history and wonders in her favorite park, which she always visits whenever she needs to feel grounded.
Molina’s tour is among three Explore the Redwoods videos produced by Latino Outdoors and Save the Redwoods League to offer virtual trips to the coast redwoods and giant sequoia. The joint project advances the League’s mission to connect people of all backgrounds and identities to redwood forests. Latino Outdoors is a unique Latinx-led organization working to create a national community of leaders in conservation and outdoor education. The organization serves as a platform for sharing cultural connections and narratives that are often overlooked by the traditional outdoors movement. The League is grateful for its long-standing partnership with Latino Outdoors and is committed to deepening relationships with Latinx communities.
