Insights from an evaluability assessment of the U.S. Forest Service More Kids in the woods initiative

We conducted an evaluability assessment of the U.S. Forest Service's "More Kids in the Woods" internal grant initiative based on a review of 26 funded proposals, the creation of logic models, and a survey of project leaders. Evaluations of the initative are warranted because it has clear outcome objectives, is implemented as intended, and results suggest plausible benefits associated with providing underserved youth with outdoor experiences. Findings also point to the types of evaluations that will be useful and add to the limited literature on environmental grant programs as well as environmental educators' evaluation interests, practices and perceived competencies.