Natasha Blakely, natasha.blakely@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Sierra Club Military Outdoors (SCMO) campaign today released a report surveying the military community’s experiences with the outdoors, including a set of recommendations for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Task Force on Outdoor Recreation for Veterans to improve outdoor accessibility for the veteran and the military community. The report was developed in partnership with the University of Kentucky’s Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK).
Spending quality time outdoors can improve a person’s general health and well-being, reducing feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Research has shown that there are measurable positive benefits of spending time in nature, and for veterans in particular, outdoor activity can supplement treatment for injuries and disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder. However, safely accessing the outdoors is not always easy for the military community – which includes veterans, active duty service members, and their spouses and families – when barriers such as cost, transportation, experience level, mobility, and more can interfere. This is the impetus for the report, which provides a series of recommendations for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, and federal land management agencies to implement to make the outdoors more welcoming and accessible to the military community.
“Sierra Club Military Outdoors works to help the military community make meaningful connections with nature and fellow veterans,” said Sherman Neal II, Deputy Director of Sierra Club Military Outdoors. “Based on my own experiences as a veteran, I know the life-changing impact of time in nature on our bodies, our mental states, and on our relationships. Our veterans and service members have sacrificed a lot for the nation, and they deserve to enjoy and heal in the lands that they served to protect.”
Starting in late 2023, SCMO conducted a series of in-person listening sessions in California, Florida, and Georgia, as well as a virtual women veterans listening session and a nationwide online survey that drew respondents from 48 states. The goal was to create an inclusive environment where military community members, especially those from underrepresented and underserved communities, could share their ideas and experiences regarding access to nature. The report recommendations were generated from those sessions and the survey.
"By utilizing multiple methods of collecting feedback on their program, SCMO was able to capture both the benefits the military community already enjoys from participation in outdoor activities, as well as deep insight into the ways that federal support could increase and expand these benefits to more veterans and the wider military community. Importantly, these experiences help build a sense of community among a population that can struggle to re-enter a place once their military service is completed,” said Alison Davis, Professor of Agricultural Economics and Executive Director of CEDIK.
Recommendations include improving equitable access with a new grant program supporting outdoor access programs focusing on underserved veteran populations, establishing an Office of Outdoor Recreation that would coordinate and support efforts around outdoor access for veterans and military, expand and fund the new Military Families Outdoors Program which generates programming and initiatives on public lands to improve the health of the military community, increasing community awareness of health benefits and existing programs, and supporting transitioning service members in pursuing conservation and outdoors careers.
“These recommendations are not quick, easy fixes,” said Gerry Seavo James, Deputy Director of Sierra Club’s Outdoors for All campaign. “Rather, they are aimed at building a better, more supportive infrastructure that will make outdoor recreation and nature therapy both viable and accessible options for the military community. They also represent the actual needs of the military community, who were consulted directly to ensure that they were given a voice in the process and that these recommendations would offer real solutions for real people. We hope the VA Task Force on Outdoor Recreation will take this report seriously into consideration, especially as they work toward releasing their own recommendations report later this year.”
SCMO will be hosting a virtual briefing at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, to go through the report, provide community reactions to the findings, and offer a space for questions. RSVP for the briefing at https://sc.org/SCMOReportBriefing.
Find out more, including the full report, at https://sc.org/SCMOReport2024.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.