Welcome to our 2021 Environmental Justice Community Day Virtual Celebration! The theme for this year's event is "Resisting Injustice: Principles of Environmental Justice, 30 Years and Strong." For this 7th annual event, Valle de Oro NWR and it's host community commemorate and build on the Principles of Environmental Justice, whose authoring happened during the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, from October 24-27th, 1991.

You can watch the recording of the live virtual program which ran on Saturday, April 17th. See the link below.

Also be sure to check-out our full line-up of virtual activities:

• Review a draft of the updated 2021-2025 Valle de Oro NWR Environmental & Economic Justice Strategic Plan
• Explore our virtual toxic tour, highlighting the environmental justice advocacy work happening in the Refuge's host community, the Mountain View Neighborhood.
• Reflect on the Principles of Environmental Justice and the Jemez Principles of Democratic Organizing
• View a wrap-up of our our #EJisEveryday social media campaign highlighting the Principles of Environmental Justice 
• Celebrate the history of our Environmental Justice Community Day Events at Valle de Oro NWR

Thank you for joining and celebrating Environmental Justice Community Day with us, despite having to gather virtually this year!

Join us for for a panel discussion about the first Leadership Summit, music, movie, poetry and a special guest speaker!

This Virtual Program and panel discussion ran live on April 17th, but you can watch a recording of the Facebook livestream by clicking the link below. 

Note: You do not need a Facebook account to watch the program

You can also just watch a selection of the videos from the live program by visiting the "Environmental Justice Community Day 2021" YouTube playlist.

This recently updated draft of the Valle de Oro NWR 2021-2025 Environmental & Economic Justice Strategic Plan (EEJSP) expands on the commitment of the refuge to the community and the community’s dreams, needs, and advocacy. In implementing this plan, the refuge's Environmental Justice (EJ) Leadership Team wish to expand on the first EEJSP produced in 2017 and the Refuge’s goal to adhere to environmental justice principles and ingrain environmental and economic justice practices in the activities and programs of the Refuge as it is developed and restored.

The updated goals, strategies and action items presented in this document are still in draft form and were created with the generous advice and support of our Community Accountability Group (CAG) and residents of the refuge's host communities. The Valle de Oro NWR EJ Leadership Team includes representatives from: Valle de Oro NWR, Los Jardines Institute, & the Friends of Valle de Oro NWR

The first Environmental Justice Community Day was held in 2015 as a way for neighbors of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge to gather as a community and celebrate the history of environmental justice advocacy in the Mountain View Neighborhood, Pueblo of Isleta and the South Valley. Annually, we come together in April each year to celebrate Earth Day, the victory of the neighbors who joined together to establish the refuge, and gather input and report back on the refuge's commitments to its community through it's Environment and Economic Justice Strategic Plan.