Key Contacts
Practice Areas
Increasing Access to Parks for Disabled People
The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., was a trailblazing event in civil rights law. Beyond prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, and public accommodations, the ADA established an affirmative duty on the part of private and government entities to provide reasonable accommodations that enable full participation in society. This mandate extends to the ability to experience the natural world. Whether visiting a neighborhood garden, exploring a state wildlife preserve, or watching the sun rise at Yosemite’s Tunnel View, time spent outdoors can improve physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being; enhance a sense of belonging; and help people connect with others. These well-known benefits draw one billion visits to federal public lands per year; conservative estimates place the number of annual visits by people with disabilities at 15%, or 150 million. See U.S. Geological Surv., Monitoring Recreation on Federally Managed Lands and Waters—Visitation Estimation, Sci. Investigations Rep. 2025-5022, at 1 (2025) (estimating 1 billion visits annually to public lands); U.S. Dep’t of Interior, Nat’l Park Serv., Accessibility in the National Park 2015–2020, at 6 (2014) (conservatively estimating 10–15% of visitors to park service lands have disabilities). These spaces present a challenge: How do we balance public access with the responsibility of environmental preservation?
Read the full article featured in ABA's Natural Resources & Environment Volume 41, Number 1, Summer 2026.
