What the Big Beautiful Bill Means for Environmental and Outdoor Learning 

This blog is an adaptation of a piece that was originally written by Katie Navin, Executive Director of the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education. We thank Katie and our sister organization for the thoughtful analysis and for bringing attention to the impact of this historic federal legislation on our sector. 

August 1, 2025

As environmental and outdoor educators, we are trained to think in systems — to see how every piece connects and how actions ripple through ecosystems, communities, and policies. On July 4th, a sweeping new piece of federal legislation, known as the Big Beautiful Bill, was signed into law, implementing a complex set of changes that will ripple across our field over the next several years.

While the provisions in the bill don’t directly reference environmental and outdoor learning (at least that have been found so far), they may impact fundraising, employer requirements, our partners, our learners, and the public support for the important work that we do. While the bill presents some significant challenges, it also presents an opportunity for us to support our communities in new ways.

As an educator, YOU build trust with students, families, and communities every day. Environmental and outdoor learning organizations work side by side with teachers and schools, provide child care through summer camps, and offer countless opportunities to improve our well-being by getting outside. In a world where there is so much distrust, we can continue to build trust with the communities we serve. We can share information about services and resources. We can listen deeply to community needs and show up as reliable partners who care.

Note: The bill is over 800 pages long, and analysis about its impact is ongoing.  We will do our best to summarize some of the key provisions in the bill that might impact environmental and outdoor learning. Please let us know what we missed, what needs more context, or other impacts and opportunities.

Wins for Everyday Donors, Challenges for the Nonprofit Sector

One of the more encouraging parts of the bill is the new Universal Charitable Deduction. Modeled on bipartisan efforts, this deduction allows individuals to deduct up to $1,000 and married couples up to $2,000 even if they do not itemize taxes. Since about 90% of taxpayers fall into this group, this policy aims to encourage widespread giving. It’s estimated to generate $74 billion in additional charitable support over the next decade—a meaningful boost for the nonprofits and educators who expand outdoor learning opportunities and nurture the next generation of environmental stewards.

However, we know that this bill’s provisions also introduce troubling barriers. Caps on itemized deductions for high-income donors, new floors for individual and corporate charitable giving, and other restrictions threaten to reduce nonprofit funding by at least $81 billion over 10 years. This loss will place heavier burdens on organizations already stretched thin, limiting their ability to fill gaps left by reduced government support.

Conservation and Climate Wins and Losses

Thanks to community advocacy from people like YOU, some critical wins were secured: the bill stopped the forced sale of millions of acres of public lands and blocked new excise taxes on wind and solar energy. We know many of our environmental and outdoor learning providers visit and conduct programming on public lands, so this was an important win.  However, the bill also opens the door to massive oil, gas, and logging expansion on over 200 million acres of public lands, rolling back royalty rates, reinstating noncompetitive leasing, and locking in long-term timber contracts—which could potentially undermine the outdoor experiences we strive to protect.

Unfortunately, the bill also rolls back significant clean energy investments, gutting incentives for electric vehicles, solar, wind, and energy efficiency. This will likely lead to higher electricity costs, loss of hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs, and expanded fossil fuel support. For educators and programs inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders, this rollback is especially disheartening—just as more young people are energized by the promise of green careers, we’ll most certainly see the pathways to those jobs being narrowed, as well as the momentum around environmental career exploration, equity in STEM, and real-world relevance in education.

Impacts on Schools and Students

The bill introduces a private school voucher program, while making historic Medicaid cuts—the fourth-largest source of school funding. This jeopardizes vital school health staff and services, particularly in rural areas. SNAP reductions threaten free school meals, and immigration enforcement concerns may continue to increase student absences. The Child Tax Credit was increased from $2,000 to $2,200, however that increase excludes many low-income families, leaving 19 million children without meaningful benefit. On a positive note, Pell Grants were expanded to include workforce training, which could help strengthen career pathways in fields like conservation and clean energy.

The combination of these cuts will force many schools to make difficult decisions about which services they can continue to provide to their students. As funding is redirected to cover needs like healthcare staff or meal programs, there will be even fewer resources available for field trips, outdoor experiences, and other forms of experiential learning. These kinds of opportunities are often the first to be cut, despite their proven impact on student engagement, academic achievement, and mental well-being. For educators working to connect students with nature and real-world learning, these funding shifts could pose a significant challenge.

Moving Forward Together

Because we understand systems, we know the importance of addressing these ripple effects holistically. Our work as environmental and outdoor educators is more vital than ever—to advocate, collaborate, and innovate in ways that counteract challenges like these.

AEOE cares deeply about our community. Our leadership team has been in discussion around how we can continue to be a trusted source of information and learning for our communities—especially in the face of funding cuts and shifting priorities. Just as we saw in the pandemic, environmental and outdoor educators are thinking creatively about how to serve their communities in new ways.

While the bill has already passed, you may be wondering, “Is there anything we can do?” The answer is yes.

While the bill is now law, there are still multiple avenues for action:

• Advocate for Appropriations. The Big, Beautiful Bill is a reconciliation bill and deals with primarily taxes and mandatory spending programs. Appropriations bills determine the spending for discretionary spending, like agency budgets. This can have deep implications for community programs.

• Influencing how the bill is implemented through public comment on regulations, engagement with agency rulemaking, and legal challenges to harmful provisions.

• Shaping future legislation by pushing for amendments or repeals of the most damaging parts, and advocating for positive alternatives that better reflect our values.

• Raising public awareness through storytelling, grassroots organizing, and community education that mobilizes people to stay informed and involved.

• Building coalitions with organizations across sectors and joining organizations like AEOE to amplify our voices and increase our collective impact.

There is a lot to think about in the coming years about how we can best support our communities and advance critical outdoor and environmental programming. By sharing stories, building partnerships, and pushing for just policies, we can turn these ripple effects into opportunities. We invite you to stay engaged, share how your community is responding, and continue imagining what’s possible together. As systems thinkers and nature’s storytellers, we are uniquely positioned to shape a healthier, more just future for all learners.