Image courtesy Sierra Club Military Outdoors.
It’s hard to believe, but you may have missed a piece of news last week. In between talks of presidential succession, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and our country’s ongoing struggle for racial justice, the United States Senate passed a package of bills addressing veterans health and suicide prevention known as the Veterans COMPACT Act, sending it to the president’s desk to be signed into law. One bill in that package, the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act, could have serious benefits for veterans struggling with service-related trauma.
For many veterans, the effects of their service linger long after they receive their discharge papers. Although they may leave no scars, some of the effects of war, such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, can be equally or more disabling than an obvious physical injury, making it even harder to adjust to life at home. For veterans who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color, that trauma may be exacerbated by systemic racism encountered both during service and after returning from deployment.
The Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act (AVRO) would lay the groundwork to provide critical therapeutic and healing benefits for veterans by making it easier for them to access a specific but powerful therapy — the healing power of nature. Studies have shown that recreation on public lands can be an effective adjunct therapy coupled with traditional health care, while ultimately reducing reliance on costly prescription medication. For context, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 2021 budget requests $10.2 billion to provide mental-health services for the seven million veterans enrolled for treatment.
Once AVRO is law, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs will establish a Task Force on Outdoor Recreation for Veterans. This interagency task force, comprising public lands and health agencies, will be responsible for three duties:
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First, the task force will identify opportunities to formalize coordination between the Department of Veterans Affairs, public lands agencies, and partner organizations regarding the use of public lands and other outdoor spaces for facilitating health and wellness for veterans.
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Second, it will identify existing barriers to access for veterans seeking to get outdoors.
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Lastly, it will develop recommendations to better utilize public lands and outdoor spaces for promoting wellness and the use of the outdoors as adjunct therapy for veterans.
The research is clear — the efficacy of outdoor recreation as therapy shows significant improvements in mental and physical well-being, social function, and outlook on life. It also indicates these programs may be especially beneficial to the veterans most in need of help. Moreover, veterans are already relying on the healing power of the outdoors. Structured programs utilizing outdoor recreation have become increasingly common within a variety of Veterans Service Organizations. Many veterans see fewer stigmas associated with outdoor recreation compared to clinical treatments.
Sierra Club Military Outdoors has seen these positive effects first-hand. Thousands of veterans have benefited from the meaningful connections both to the outdoors and with other veterans made while on outings. I will let Rep. Chris Smith share the profound benefits of time spent outdoors through his remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives as he recalls the experience of Blake, a Military Outdoors volunteer leader. For more on how veterans are using public lands to heal from trauma and how we can all benefit from spending time outdoors, check out the recording of our Veterans Day panel.
AVRO is not the end of this work. Not enough veterans have access to the kinds of outings like those Sierra Club Military Outdoors provides. Moreover, veteran homelessness and suicide are national crises — and national shames. But it is a start. In a world that increasingly seems unstable, the outdoors offer stability. Nature is always there when we need it, ready to restore us, help us heal, and help us build community. Let’s get to work.