California Just Voted for Outdoor Learning. We’ve Been Making That Case Since 1992.

June 5, 2026

AB 2158 passes the California Assembly unanimously. Here’s why Point Blue is celebrating – and asking you to help carry it across the finish line.

On May 27, 2026, the California Assembly passed AB 2158, the Outdoor Learning and Environmental Literacy Act of 2026, with a unanimous bipartisan vote.

Not a single dissenting vote. No opposition in committee. No debate on the floor.

For anyone who has ever watched a fourth grader plant a native willow at the edge of a stream, or seen a middle schooler’s face change the moment they understand what a watershed actually is — this vote felt like a long time coming.

At Point Blue, we’ve been making this case for over three decades.

What AB 2158 Does

AB 2158 establishes the Outdoor Learning and Environmental Literacy Act, creating a statewide framework for California’s TK-12 schools to meaningfully expand learning outside the classroom during the school day as a core part of education, not an add-on. The bill envisions students spending 20–25% of their school hours actively engaged with the outdoors, with a focus on students who are most underserved by the current system.

The bill cleared every Assembly committee without a single opposing vote, and now crosses to the Senate, with a Senate Education Committee hearing expected as early as June 10.

Point Blue is proud to be among the 214 organizations formally supporting this legislation.

STRAW Has Known This for 33 Years

Our Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed (STRAW) Program was founded in 1992 by a 4th grade class who wanted to know how they could help the endangered California freshwater shrimp. Today, STRAW operates across more than a dozen California counties, engaging approximately 4,000 K-12 students, teachers, and young adults every year in hands-on watershed science and professional habitat restoration. Students don’t just learn about ecosystems; they restore them. They plant native vegetation, implementing climate-smart restoration practices grounded in Point Blue’s own scientific research to bolster habitat, improve water quality, and increase carbon sequestration along creeks and in wetlands.

STRAW also provides on-campus lessons aligned with science standards, annual professional development for teachers, and field-based early career training programs. Through our Community College Conservation Internship (CCCI), we’re working to broaden who participates in conservation science — prioritizing training for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, and building the next generation of conservation leaders.

This is what AB 2158 is reaching toward: learning that is rigorous, rooted in place, and genuinely transformative. STRAW has been demonstrating that it works since before most of today’s students were born.

The Science Backs It Up

The research case behind AB 2158 aligns with what we observe every year in STRAW: students who learn outdoors show stronger academic engagement, measurable improvements in mental and physical health, and a deeper sense of connection to their communities and the natural world. These outcomes aren’t accidents of enthusiasm; they’re the documented result of what happens when education moves outside.

California faces overlapping crises: a youth mental health epidemic, declining environmental literacy, and a widening gap between young people and the living systems that sustain them. AB 2158 addresses all three. So does STRAW. So does every field trip to our Palomarin Field Station, where roughly 1,500 students and community members each year watch our scientists band and release songbirds — and begin to understand what 60 years of bird data can tell us about a changing planet.

What Happens Next, and How You Can Help

AB 2158 needs Senate support to become law. If you agree, please consider doing the following:

• Sign the letter of support found on the Ten Strands’ California Outdoor Learning Coalition & Campaign site (organization and individual sign-ons welcome). New signers will be included in the letter presented to the Senate Education Committee.
• Share the news on social media and in your newsletters. Use the hashtag #AB2158 and tag @TenStrands. Every repost builds visibility heading into the Senate hearing.

A California Where Every Student Learns Outside

AB 2158 envisions a California where outdoor learning is not a privilege reserved for well-resourced schools, but a guaranteed part of every student’s education. That’s a California we’ve been working toward at Point Blue for a long time.

The Assembly just voted for it, unanimously. Now it’s the Senate’s turn.

Consider adding your voice.

Learn more about STRAW and Point Blue’s education programs at pointblue.org/our-work/education. To learn more about Ten Strands and support AB 2158, visit tenstrands.org.