Lake Erie Group Sierra Club
"I will do anything outside!" says Tom Hiegel, outings chair for the Sierra Club's Lake Erie Group. "In any weather, any time, on land, water, or swamps, day or night, in all seasons!" That's Hiegel with his son Steve, above.
Born in Detroit, Hiegel 
has lived nearly all his life in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he has been a Club outings leader off and on for over 30 years.
"Getting outdoors is so much a part of me, I don't know how to be any other way," he says. "It's in my blood to be in the outdoors. When I was a young kid I'd go out in the woods with my big brother Dave near where we lived. Then when I got a little older and I was a Boy Scout, I'd take my little brother Todd. Getting out into nature, just cutting loose in the woods, has always been my escape. It's still the way I regroup, rest, and restore myself. I'm truly most comfortable in wild areas."
An avid hunter and angler, Hiegel has been involved with the Sierra Club since 1978. Back then, Club members in Erie were part of the Allegheny Group, which took in the whole western tier of the state. But as membership grew, so did the need for a new group. So in 1984, Hiegel helped start the Erie Group in the state's northwestern corner.
"Peter Wray and Bruce Sundquist of the Allegheny Group in Pittsburgh were pushing for a group up here, and I was the one who they recruited to do it," Hiegel says. "I called a meeting at Presque Isle State Park, a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie, and over 100 people showed up. I was one of five core members who started the new Lake Erie Group."
Now Hiegel is trying to start yet another new group: an ICO (Inspiring Connections Outdoors) program in Erie. Formerly known as Inner City Outings, ICO has 55 groups nationwide, including two in Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. The program provides safe and fun wilderness trips to nearby nature and parks for those with limited access to the outdoors -- especially youth. Hiegel says he is getting big-time support in the endeavor from Pennsylvania Sierra Club chair Wendi Taylor and Sierra Club Outdoors associate director Melanie MacInnis.
"One of my motivations is helping the poorest of the poor kids in the city experience nearby nature," he says. "I was one of those kids once, and I'm still running away from poverty in some ways, even though I'm living a comfortable life just half a mile away from my old neighborhood. But I vowed to myself that someday I'd go back there and help give these kids a chance to experience nature, because it has made such a difference in my life. Well, someday is now!"
Hiegel is working to set up a trail system in a local park that's within walking distance of some of Erie's poorest schools. "I fire kids up about the outdoors and learning about the woods and wildlife, and try to help them feel more comfortable in nature. And they fire me up, too!"
Hiegel makes a point of weaving a conservation purpose into every outing he leads. "We're doing the outing for a reason," he says. "I break down the 'explore, enjoy, and protect' parts of the Sierra Club motto and focus on aspects of all three." Below, Hiegel with fellow hunters and Erie Group members Chuck and Bob Benson, after their annual cleanup of the Pennsylvania Game Lands near Waterford, Pa., about 10 miles south of Erie.
This summer, Hiegel and the Lake Erie Group hosted an outing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act by taking 15 hikers into the Hickory Creek Wilderness. Among them was Justin Duewel-Zahnhiser, the grandson of Howard Zahniser, primary author of the Act and a native of the region. That's Justin below, fourth from left.
"Many of the people on the trip were profoundly moved by hiking in a real wilderness area," Hiegel says. "It took me back 30 years to when my brother Todd and I took several groups of university scientists into the proposed wilderness to inventory flora and fauna so we could promote Hickory Creek as a designated wilderness. To this day, whenever I visit the area, it brings back memories of watching people map out the wilderness on my kitchen table. In 1984, after a long battle, we got the Hickory Creek Wilderness Area designated. Working on that campaign was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done."
On this summer's outing, Hiegel took several participants off-trail -- a first for many of them. "I told them the trail would disappear, but it was OK because I'd scouted it that morning. People were nervous. After we'd walked for a while, I stopped and said, 'Congratulations, everybody; you haven't seen a trail marker for half a mile.' Later on, more than one of them was moved to tears. They said they'd never experienced this in all their lives, and they'd never felt this comfortable in wilderness before. They said, 'You've released us. Now we can do this on our own.' That's what makes being an outings leader so rewarding for me."
At the urging of Erie Group chair Check Nenson, Hiegel is now leading "How Not to Get Lost in the Woods" outings.
Among Hiegel's greatest joys is working with his son Steve, who is nearly blind. "Steve doesn't let his condition stop him," Hiegel says. "He's very proud. He's the water boss of the hydration team for a local high school football team. We are inseparable, and I love getting outdoors with him. We'll go out hiking even when there's snow on the ground. I've taken him out hunting with me and he loves it. I'd like to get outings going for all kinds of handicapped kids and adults like Steve. I'd love to lead a wheelchair outing."
Asked what he'd say to others who might want to get involved as a local outing leader for the Sierra Club, Hiegel says, "Just jump in! Take the Club's outdoor leader training, get Red Cross first aid certification, and get out there to help others explore, enjoy, and protect the planet."
Editor's note: As this story was going to press, Hiegel called to say that he'd received a phone call from Joshua Brandon, a veteran who is the Sierra Club's Military and Community Outdoor Recreation organizer, about setting up a Military Outdoors outings program in Pennsylvania.
"Mel MacInnis of Sierra Club Outdoors connected us, and Josh and I quickly bonded during that first call," Hiegel says. "We've both been big Browns and Indians fans our whole lives, and I shared that there are many veterans in my family, although I'm one of the few that couldn't serve because I'm a diabetic. Anyhow, I said, 'Let's get it done!'"
Hiegel knows from his own family's experiences how hard it is for many vets to adjust to civilian life after they leave the armed forces. "My brother was a vet who never really 'came back' from Nam," he says. "He suffered from PTSD for 20 years before essentially killing himself with drugs and alcohol. My cousin was killed in Iraq, and my dad, my three brothers, my father-in-law, and many cousins have all suffered in some way once they returned from active duty.
"All this made me vow that for the rest of my life I would do everything in my power to help vets, and now I have a chance to do so with Josh. We'll also be working with Monte Kapec, the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Procurements, who has land in Pennsylvania that we could use as a base camp in eastern Pa., and my buds in Erie stepped up by offering a camp here in western Pa. Most of my hunting buds are vets and they all jumped on board, as did a local university with a Vets Center -- and the Veterans Hospital here will likely contribute to the effort as well. All this in less than two weeks -- things are just taking off!"