Military community needs more access to the great outdoors; a new report explores obstacles and solutions

Yosemite National Park
(Photo by Johannes Andersson, Unsplash)

Spending time exploring nature has proven especially important for the U.S. military community's mental and physical health, which is why the Sierra Club Military Outdoors campaign and the University of Kentucky’s Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky have been investigating how to make the outdoors more accessible for all armed services members, their families and veterans.

The partnership just released its initial report and will host a virtual briefing at 1 p.m., E.T., on Wednesday, Aug. 28, to go through the report, provide community reactions to the findings and offer a space for questions. Register for the briefing at https://sc.org/SCMOReportBriefing.

Particularly for veterans, spending time outside walking or participating in activities 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, and barriers such as cost, transportation, experience level and mobility can interfere. These obstacles and how plans could be enacted to remove them prompted the report.

To research outdoor uses and accessibility, the SCMO conducted a series of in-person listening sessions in California, Florida and Georgia, as well as a virtual listening session for women veterans and a nationwide online survey that drew respondents from 48 states. The report combines research from the listening sessions and survey results.

Overall, the report's 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, and 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.