“Everyone Needs to Be A Naturalist”: A Conversation with Parks Project CEO Keith Eshelman
Keith Eshelman, Los Angeles-based founder and CEO of Parks Project, is also an active member of NatureBridge’s Yosemite regional board of directors. His stewardship journey began not in a boardroom, but at the trailhead of a closed trail in Big Sur, CA. Hoping to share an outdoor experience with his young daughter, Keith found the trail shut down—and it sparked a question that changed his life: How are we leaving parks and trails for the next generation?
That moment inspired Keith to start volunteering for trail and habitat restoration efforts. He organized groups to get out into the parks and give back to them, and he began studying the needs of various parks, particularly those in California. Keith founded Parks Project in 2015 as a way to continue this work and support parks on a larger scale.
As Keith delved deeper into the needs and offerings of the parks that Parks Project supported, the youth programs he discovered resonated deeply with him as the father of young children. Reflecting on his own background volunteering with youth development programs, including the L.A. Big Brothers, Keith began considering ways in which he could be a steward of the parks and also inspire young people to do the same. It was this path of inquiry that led him to NatureBridge.
In 2018, Keith joined a group of fourth graders on a NatureBridge trip to the Channel Islands and saw the program in action. One highlight he recalls: seeing students using custom Parks Project bandanas to collect their lunch crumbs and practice Leave No Trace. Keith watched in real time as the fourth graders began to recognize their impact and learn how to care for the land. “You could see the light bulbs go off,” he remembers.
Parks Project already embraced the motto “Leave it better than you found it” as the organization’s guiding principle; this moment on trail with NatureBridge students crystallized for Keith the realization that NatureBridge and Parks Project shared the same DNA. “The values of the program and the respect for the outdoors is a really powerful tool,” Keith says of NatureBridge.
The more people that get connected to nature, the better off we’re all going to be.Keith Eshelman, Parks Project Founder and CEO
In 2023, Keith facilitated a successful Parks Project collaboration between Yosemite National Park and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, with proceeds from the collection supporting NatureBridge programs in Yosemite. His niece also had a transformative experience as a student on a NatureBridge Yosemite program around this time, leading Keith to an even firmer conclusion that “The experience can be life-changing when you get a better perspective on the world and yourself.” Therefore, Keith deepened his commitment to NatureBridge by joining the Yosemite regional board in 2024.
Keith believes NatureBridge helps ground kids in the natural world at a time when they need it most, creating more connected, compassionate communities. “Everyone needs to be a naturalist,” he says, noting that making connections to the environment leads to investment in preserving these landscapes for future generations. “The more kids that can go through the [NatureBridge] program, the better off we all will be,” Keith concludes.
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“Everyone Needs to Be A Naturalist”: A Conversation with Parks Project CEO Keith Eshelman
Keith Eshelman, Los Angeles-based founder and CEO of Parks Project, is also an active member of NatureBridge’s Yosemite regional board of directors. His stewardship journey began not in a boardroom, but at the trailhead of a closed trail in Big Sur, CA. Hoping to share an outdoor experience with his young daughter, Keith found the trail shut down—and it sparked a question that changed his life: How are we leaving parks and trails for the next generation?
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