Nebraska state parks mark Color Blindness Awareness Month

During this International Color Blindness Awareness Month, Nebraska Game and Parks is launching its campaign to make the outdoors more enjoyable to those with color blindness.

About 8% of men and .5% of women are color blind, and people with red-green color vision deficiency — the most common type of color blindness — only see about 10% of the 1 million hues and shades visible to those with regular color vision.

Instead of vibrant reds, oranges, yellows and greens when trees turn in the fall, they may see a sea of yellow or a field of washed-out color.

To help them experience more vibrant, enhanced color outdoors, Game and Parks is working to bring EnChroma color-blindness kits to parks across the state. The kits costs about $850 and include glasses for the most common types of color deficiency.

Donations are being accepted for the Parks in Full Color Campaign at OutdoorNebraska.gov. Once enough funding is received, Wildcat Hills Nature Center, Schramm Education Center and Ponca State Park will receive kits, with additional parks added as funding becomes available. Guests will be able to check out the glasses to enhance their park visit.

The first two individuals or organizations to sponsor a kit will receive a complimentary pair of EnChroma Outdoor Deutan Lens glasses, valued at $379, courtesy of EnChroma as a part of the campaign launch.

Donate, learn more or take the EnChroma colorblindness test at OutdoorNebraska.gov; search “EnChroma.”