Overcoming the ‘nature gap’

How Lucienne Nicholson is bringing new visitors — and a call to action — into the Adirondacks

By David Escobar

Lucienne Nicholson grew up in the bustling capital of Haiti, but her fondest childhood memories were formed in the countryside, visiting her grandmother’s farm. She walked barefoot through orchards of coffee and cacao plants, immersed in the landscape.

“Everything was so pure, so completely undisturbed by the human presence,” said Nicholson.

Since moving to the Rochester area, Nicholson regularly visits the Adirondacks in pursuit of that same feeling of solitude—an experience she wants to share with people of color living in suburban and urban communities. But for many, visiting the vast Adirondack wilderness can feel out of reach.

A natural divide

When Nicholson immigrated to Brooklyn in the 1970s, she experienced segregation firsthand—not just between Black and white communities, but also between people and nature. She spent her early years feeling confined in a small apartment, dissatisfied with city parks that felt nothing like the open spaces of her youth.

Curious about visiting a national park, she turned to mentors in her community. She was astounded by their response.

“They said I will not come back out alive,” she said. “They said that I will encounter bodily harm.”

That was her first experience with a feeling she says is common in many Black communities—the belief that remote outdoor spaces are unsafe.

The fear many Black Americans have about the outdoors is rooted in the American history of racial violence—including lynching. In recent years, people of color, including in the Adirondacks, have encountered instances of racially motivated attacks on the trails.

As a new immigrant, Nicholson didn’t initially understand this dynamic. She found the idea that a person’s safety outdoors could depend on their skin color fundamentally at odds with her vision of the U.S.

“I find that totally the opposite of the values of the country that I had learned about in books, that I had so eagerly been looking forward to,” Nicholson said.

Overcoming perspectives and barriers

When she moved to the Rochester area in search of better schools for her children, Nicholson began exploring the Adirondacks more regularly. But as a Black woman, she still felt unsafe navigating the predominantly white space alone.

Inspired by her experience, she founded Inclusive Woods and Us, a nonprofit that helps connect people of color with the outdoors.

As a result of exclusive attitudes, Nicholson said many people of color lack a sense of confidence when exploring outdoor spaces. Some, she said, lack the resources and equipment to do so safely.

“Sometimes people don’t have the proper shoes, they don’t have the proper clothing, they don’t have transportation [or] they don’t have the food that they need.”

Nicholson said some potential visitors worry over being out of cell service range in a backcountry area or dealing with microaggressions in majority-white towns.

In Nicholson’s experience, trusted guides can help curb fear. She said seeing someone who looks like you leading a hiking or paddling trip matters for people of color, who may feel more inclined to let their guard down and fully embrace the experience. So far, she has seen transformative results.

“No matter the apprehension, the suspicion, the reticence, they always leave the trail saying, ‘I want to do that again,’” she said.

Though she no longer runs her nonprofit, Nicholson partners with the Adirondack Diversity Initiative, including as a consultant for the organization’s Cultivating Community Leaders (CCL) Program. CCL hosts Adirondack retreats for people of color who are leaders in their respective communities around the state, acquainting them with the benefits and beauty of the region.

Nicholson said the absence of Black and Brown role models in outdoor spaces is only part of the equation. As the daughter of immigrants who worked six or seven days a week, she understands some city dwellers lack the time, money or interest to make a trip to the Adirondacks possible.

Nicholson said engaging newcomers from communities that have not historically been visitors could yield more regular visitors to the Adirondacks, but she believes it is also key to the park’s success. New York taxpayers contribute millions to the region via state-led environmental projects. Making the park relevant to a greater number of people, she said, will ensure its prosperous future.

“You cannot protect what you don’t love. You can’t love what you can’t see or feel,” she said. “In order to create new stewards, new interests [and] new lovers, we need to bring new people.”

David Escobar is a Report For America Corps Member. He reports on diversity issues in the Adirondacks through a partnership between North Country Public Radio and Adirondack Explorer.