Public Lands for Public Health
Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Circa 2016
Past reports evidence that Americans spend over 90 percent of their time indoors and an estimated 87% of their time inside buildings. While rising mental conditions are proved to affect a person’s capability to work, be present for their family, and contribute to society, this blog isn’t to further convince you that more time outdoors is critical for our collective well-being.
Over our lifetime, the outdoors have been marketed to us as optional, fun, recreation, tourism, hobbies, an add-on to supplement our grueling existence demanding us to be indoors majority of our life. But, that’s not how humans are meant to live or function at their best. Have you ever heard sayings about how one’s environment dictates their ability to grow, or how a poor environment can negatively impact one’s evolution?
As beings, mammals, on this planet, we are creatures driven by an innate sense to migrate in order to survive. And especially, to thrive. When an environment or habitat becomes more like a trap, with walls or confinements, we instinctively seek to migrate in order to find an environment better suited to our growth. For example, have you ever seen a lion pace in captivity at the zoo or a monkey scream while caged? Animals are creatures who live by a natural order in tune with their seasons, time of day, and their environments. While mental health challenges continue to rise across all populations in America, and especially Appalachia— we can make a direct link to less and less exposure to the great outdoors.
That is why I believe Public Lands should be protected for Public Health. The great outdoors is not just a supplement to achieve a more purposed, fulfilling existence, it is the key to which we not only survive but thrive. Access to nature and the mental health outcomes when increasing one’s time spent in nature are proven, backed, thoroughly researched, and no longer a commodity for the average American. Washington is witnessing an increase on the attack of America’s public lands, threatening privatization and corporate for-profit sell-offs by billionaires.
If we can stop treating nature and the outdoors as an item to be sold off to the highest bidder, we can more truly begin to understand that we are nature (term coined by Dr. Novotny). And spending time outdoors in nature, however one most connects, is critical for our survival.
TAKE ACTION NOW to join the organizations who are fighting lawmakers to keep public lands in public hands and prevent corporate, billionaire, private buy-offs.
