How Kindling Collective Busts Down Barriers to the Outdoors

Environmental spaces and activities have historically been designed within a particular “outdoorsy” paradigm, which has created serious barriers to the outdoors for the many people who don’t fit that mold.

Inaccessible trails pose difficulties for people using mobility aids. Many environmental education programs fail to include different cultural histories, beliefs, and knowledge about the outdoors. And gendered gear and equipment make it difficult for many queer, transgender, and nonbinary people to feel comfortable participating.

Portland’s Kindling Collective is working hard to change all that.

“We’re trying to reduce barriers by making outdoor gear more accessible and offering trips where we support people in learning skills and create opportunities for people to be in groups with shared identities,” says Hallie Herz, co-director.

Herz and their team put this mission at the forefront of everything they do — dismantling barriers with every trip, gear rental, and workshop they run.

Fostering Relationships With the Natural World

While the Kindling Collective staff share a passion for the outdoors, each member brings unique expertise to the organization. Olivia Orr, for example, is a cross-country ski coach, while Alejandro Strong teaches packrafting skills. Other instructors take groups on backpacking trips, hiking adventures, wilderness first responder training, and more.

With support from Herz and their partner and co-founder, Eva Fury, the team works to build community, teach practical outdoor skills, and steward people’s connections to the natural world, primarily through three initiatives:

• Queer-centered gear-lending library: The library is a membership-based repository through which individuals and families can rent backpacks, tents, hydration systems, canoes, and so much more. Members get other perks, too, like staff tips, invitations to community events, and discounts at CoHo Hostel and Portland Yoga Collective. To expand this shared resource even further, Kindling Collective offers an interlibrary loan program with Maine GearShare.

• Workshops and courses: When queer people and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) expressed a need for safe community spaces for outdoor learning, the organization delivered. In April 2024, for example, Kindling Collective held a queer wilderness first aid course, then followed up in May 2025 with a similar course for BIPOC individuals. Both events were hugely successful, with long wait lists and much enthusiasm, which further illustrated the need for these opportunities.

• Outdoor trips and adventures: Outdoor trips are the beating heart of Kindling Collective’s offerings. Participants can find everything from backpacking and sailing to hut-to-hut trips and kayaking adventures. Events are organized by activity level, and some are designed specifically for people with shared identities. Participants learn practical skills, find common ground, and build relationships with each other and the environment. They become active leaders in their own learning process, developing more and more confidence in their skills.

“Our trips aren’t guided, they’re instructed. Our goal is to involve people and give them leadership over the trip.” — Hallie Herz, Co-Director of Kindling Collective

Equity, Inclusivity, and Justice

As anyone who’s embarked on a Kindling Collective journey has seen firsthand, justice and equity are central to everything the organization does. The team truly walks the walk, putting their core values into action at every step, while encouraging everyone to have fun and enjoy the outdoors in the process.

Economic Justice

All trips and activities with Kindling Collective are built on a sliding payment scale, modeled on the Green Bottle design of economic justice.

“We invite folks with more resources to pay more so that people with less can pay less,” says Herz. “It’s recognizing the history of systemic racism and how that’s impacted people’s access to resources.”

Gender and Racial Equity

Specifically for their wilderness medicine courses, Herz and Fury have thought deeply about how gendered and racialized dynamics play a role in outdoor activities in both micro and macro ways.

“There’s a common practice of looking for healthy skin that’s ‘pink, warm, and dry’ — but that describes white skin, not melanated skin,” says Herz. “In our wilderness medicine courses, we make sure we talk about the tools we have to find healthy skin on every skin tone.”

That’s just one example of the work Herz and Fury have done to prioritize inclusivity. They’ve also de-gendered much of their equipment and gear. They’ve enabled participants to define what “family” means to them — biological, adopted, or chosen. And they’ve adapted the language they use to be more inclusive.

Empowerment

Every trip starts with breath-based grounding exercises — a practice that helps participants take in the environment around them and ground themselves in their own power and knowledge.

Reset breaths set the foundation for self-empowerment and community connection. As participants learn new skills, they also engage with one another and learn how to support each other’s unique needs. “Marginalized communities often can’t trust the resources around us, so it’s important that we can care for each other,” says Herz.

Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty and Knowledge

Herz, Fury, and their team are committed to establishing and strengthening reciprocal relationships with Wabanaki community members and organizations. They name the lessons that come from Wabanaki ancestral knowledge and actively support Indigenous land-back efforts in Maine.

“There’s this incredible, rich history about Indigenous cultures throughout the globe. So much of the roots of our wilderness medical practices come from that history,” Herz says. “In our wilderness medicine courses, we’re trying to take whiteness and Eurocentrism out of the center.”

The team also partners with Sikwani Dana, a member of the Penobscot Nation, who serves as an advisor and helps deepen Kindling Collective’s understanding of Wabanaki practices and history.

“A lovely part of these courses is reminding people that they already have the tools. You already know how to take care of your community.” — Hallie Herz, Co-Director of Kindling Collective

A Place To Refill Your Cup

Many Mainers have been deeply impacted by Kindling Collective’s work, so much so that they often come back for more trips and work their way up to advanced activities. Participants make friends, learn new things, have fun, and, most importantly, see themselves reflected in their instructors, lessons, and cohorts.

The organization also provides a support system for community activists. “Kindling provides a space of respite for people who are doing advocacy work,” says Herz. “That’s always been a goal: Be a space where people can rest, refill their cups, be in community, and learn skills that can help them in their work.”

Moving forward, Herz and Fury are hoping to expand their partnerships with other Maine-based nonprofits to work toward a shared goal of creating accessible, inclusive outdoor programming. The team is currently working with Portland Gear Hub, for example, to set up more expansive bike rentals through the gear library.

Also on the horizon are more wilderness medicine courses and BIPOC and queer Maine guide training courses, all designed for and around people from marginalized populations.

Maine’s rich natural landscape has so much to offer, and now, more and more people are able to access it — thanks to Kindling Collective’s dedication to breaking the mold of traditional outdoor programming.

Check Out Kindling Collective!