The Sierra Club's Military Families and Veterans Initiative is now part of our Mission: Outdoors program. Please visit the Mission: Outdoors blog at http://sierraclub.typepad.com/missionoutdoors/ and update your bookmarks!
May 21, 2013
June 13, 2012
United States Marine Corps, Sierra Club, and Hawaii
Marines Partner with Sierra Club Hawaii to Restore Popular Hiking Trail
Today's guest blogger is Jen Homcy, from our Chapter in Hawaii who are doing great work with the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base in Hawaii and other military families and veterans in the Islands.
In February, the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter rekindled an old flame and the timing couldn't have been better. Karley Peterson, coordinator of the Single Marine and Sailor Program (SMSP) at Kaneohe Marine Corp Base reached out to the Chapter for a volunteer partnership. At the same time the Chapter was nurturing another partnership with the State Department of Land and Natural Resource's Na Ala Hele Trails Program. The project: To restore the most heavily used trail on Oahu, The Manoa Falls Trail.
For many of Hawaii's visitors, this trail may be their only nature experience. Its close proximity to Waikiki and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, its short distance (0.8 miles each way), lush tropical forrest, crystal clear stream, and waterfall make it a top choice for locals, tour guides and tourists alike. With over 100,000 hikers a year, the trail is in dire need of some serious restoration work in order to protect the natural resources and make it safe again.
For the Hawaii Chapter, having the Marines involved has been awesome! These men and women have come out in force giving time, muscle, and energy in such an uplifting way that I can't imagine the project without them.
This is a year long project with two (and sometimes three) six hour work days a month. It aims to recruit an average of twenty volunteers per work day with two Sierra Club Leaders, a co-leader and coordinator, all of which are managed by a Na Ala Hele manager. With a need for over 500 workers this year alone, the Marines have played an essential role in fulfilling those numbers.
But the Marines are not alone. Combined with other enlisted personnel and veterans from all branches of the military, service men and women have made up over one third of the 200 volunteers on the project so far and the numbers are increasing.
Moving forward, we will continue to nurture our new relationships, build our capacity to engage new volunteers, develop more partnerships, and work to establish a new community of service volunteers by bringing our military partnerships outdoors.
Thank you to all of our service men and women for all that they do to protect our land and water, both here at home and overseas. We are forever indebted to you for your service and we look forward to giving back by continuing to connect people to our open and wild spaces, the spaces you all fight so hard to protect for all Americans!
For more information on the Hawaii porjects, please contact Jennifer Homcy at [email protected].
"Helping America's Military and Veteran Community experience the freedom of the land they defend"
June 11, 2012
Explore Your Parks!
When I look back on my own journey in the outdoors there were a handful of state parks where my dreams and visions of big expeditions, towering mountains, and wild rivers were first born. It was next to well-manicured campsites that I first got comfortable in a tent and learned to wander off in the woods and pretend to be days into the backcountry, miles from any road or civilization. In a way, you could say it was state parks that gave birth to my dreams of adventure.
It was with great excitement then, that two weekends ago Mission Outdoors Military Family and Veterans Initiative was able to partner alongside The North Face and Maryland State Parks on a magnificent weekend at Patapsco State Park in Maryland along with nine military families of all different ages and about 75 other volunteers and non-military families.
The event served as the annual kick off for the North Face’s Explore Your Parks program. This initiative, in many states, makes it easier for families and military families, individuals and single service members to take full advantage of their state park resources. Additionally, The North Face has donated equipment to state parks that families and individuals can rent out to ensure a positive camping experience and lower the barrier of entry into the outdoors.
Before several outdoor living classes through the Camping 101 program and all the fun of just being outside on a beautiful Maryland day, our team partnered with a great group of volunteers from the American Hiking Society and REI for a trail clean up as part of National Trails Day. Everyone got in on the action from toddlers just barely able to pull invasive species out to parents and service members who were able to get down and dirty in the mud. Weed pulling and trail maintenance are universal sports.
A big thanks also goes out to all of the amazing team at the Maryland Park Service. These fine men and women have done some amazing work in reaching out to their state’s communities, from the mountains to the sea, rural to suburban to urban, they are connecting people with the great outdoors. They have also started to develop a model in veteran and family outreach, spear headed by Christina Holden, an avid hunter, fisher, and outdoorswoman herself, that could be replicated by other states.
Rather than creating new programming specifically for veterans and military families, Maryland State Parks are simply working to make sure service members and their families are included in many of the existing programs they already have. On a sunny day in Maryland, it was apparent that the combined work of The North Face, Maryland State Parks, and Mission Outdoors was successful. You could hear the laughter through the trees and see the joy on the faces of families, some who were setting up tents for the first time, and some who were setting up tents from the 100th time, working together to enjoy the land.
Our state parks are a fantastic resource and a great introduction to the vast public land resources we have as our privilege and right to use. As I left the weekend, I could not help but think about which first time or young camper on Maryland that day, would be the future mountain climber or Appalachian Trail through hiker in a few years.
~Stacy Bare, OIF Veteran
Military Families and Veteran Representative to the Sierra Club
"Helping America's Military and Veteran Community experience the freedom of the land they defend"
June 04, 2012
Grizzly Tracking in Montana for Veterans, Service Members, and Families
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Katie Smith
ASC and the Sierra Club’s Mission Outdoors Team Up to Track Grizzly Bears
Bozeman Montana, June 4, 2012 - Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation (ASC), a Bozeman based non-profit that links scientists in need of data with adventurers who want to protect the environments they travel in, has teamed up with the Sierra Club Mission Outdoors to offer free grizzly bear tracking programs in several Western Montana mountain ranges during three weekends in September.
These programs will be an experience of a lifetime for military veterans, their families, and members of the public to learn how to track these amazing animals and contribute to an important body of knowledge imperative to the USDA Forest Service’s understanding of grizzly bear activities in the range. These citizen-science programs cultivate a sense of stewardship for the environment. ASC founder, Gregg Treinish explains, “When people participate in these projects, they connect with the landscape in a new way. In addition to greatly contributing to our scientific knowledge of this area, volunteers will gain a profound connection to the Western Montana ranges and one of their most charismatic species.”
ASC’s grizzly tracking citizen-science program is in its second year, and the partnership with the Sierra Club will increase the reach and scope of the program both to foster an ethic of stewardship and an appreciation for wilderness, in addition to honoring military veterans and families. Participants will spend two days tracking and two nights camping and will receive training not only on the areas they are traveling in, but also in non-invasive grizzly bear tracking techniques and DNA collection.
The experience of learning how to track animals in the wild and contributing to a body of science is rewarding, especially for those involved in Sierra Club Mission Outdoors whose bonds may have been tested while family members were away serving their country. Stacy Bare, the Sierra Club’s Military Family and Veterans Initiative coordinator, attributes the healing power of being outside and discovering the natural world as one of the best ways to connect with family. “You can never go into the mountains and feel unchanged. When you're working together with such amazing animals like grizzlies, you have a touchstone experience. When things get tough, you have a wonderful experience or a memory to return to and you know you can get outside on your own with your family in a fun, safe way,” says Bare.
This free opportunity is open to members of the public as well as military veterans and families and will take place on August 31 - September 2, September 7 - September 9, September 21 - 23, 2012. For more information or to sign up for any or all weekends, please visit http://www.adventureandscience.org/trackbears.html.
About Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation
Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation was founded in January of 2011 with the understanding that many people traveling in the outdoors genuinely want to do more for the places they visit but often struggle with how to help. ASC exists to bridge this gap by pairing adventure athletes already traveling to some of the earth's most difficult-to-reach places with the scientists who need information from these areas. ASC also has the goal of creating unique and innovative learning experiences about science. while also saving the scientific and conservation communities millions of dollars in data collection costs. For more information visit www.adventureandscience.org
About the Sierra Club Mission Outdoors
Mission Outdoors is Sierra Club's initiative to provide access to outdoor experiences to people of all ages and backgrounds. Through direct programming, advocacy and education, Mission Outdoors aims to give all Americans a meaningful outdoor experience. Read more at http://www.sierraclub.org/missionoutdoors
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May 31, 2012
9/11/12 Summit for Someone
Perhaps this past weekend you were standing at a Memorial Day parade or service and thinking to yourself that you wanted to do more. If you are a veteran or service member like me, who suffers from,time to time, an acute guilt that I did not, could not ever do enough to honor my friends and colleagues who gave the ultimate sacrifice, we offer up an opportunity for you to continue to honor those who sacrificed and to get your local community involved. You may think it may never be enough, but every little thing counts.
Sierra Club's Mission Outdoors have partnered this year with Big City Mountaineers (BCM) on two very exciting programs. One program is training veterans and service members on basic mountaineering skills and then partnering him or her up with a young man or woman so they can mentor one another on a mountaineering expedition.
The second, is by taking BCM’s signature program, Summit for Someone, and tilting it to create a climbing team of all veterans and service members who will make a summit attempt on Mt. Shuksan in the North Cascades of Washington State on 9/11/12. While the climb itself has been underwritten, each participating veteran is required to fund raise $1,500.00 that will be put back into the first program. If you are a veteran, you can apply for the climb and get to work fund raising the $1,500 for kids here. Seven spots remain on this trip.
If you are interested in supporting the climbers through donations, you can check back on the Climbers' Page (you can just look for the Veteran's Climb) as climbers sign up and show your support through donating to the program in the name of a specific climber. But first—climbers, we need you to sign up!
We are also excited to be partnering with both Veterans Expeditions and Hound Summit Team to make this event possible!
We’ll see you on the trail!
"Helping America's Military and Veteran Community experience the freedom of the land they defend"
May 18, 2012
Armed Forces Week Outside: Dave Coyle and Resiliency
We hope you have enjoyed Armed Forces Week and hearing from our different participants, three Iraq or Afghanistan Veterans and one Army Spouse, as well as the great news from your Department of Interior. We hope to see you on the trail soon.
Today's guest blogger:
David Coyle, Tech Sergeant, USAF, Hurlburt Field, FL
The day started out like most others; my alarm clock woke me up at 0515, I hit the snooze, rolled over and tried to grab an extra five minutes. I knew it was going to be a rough day and I better grab every bit of sleep I can. The major difference between today and most others is that today I was not heading off to work to lead my team of Air Force aircraft maintenance technicians. Today I was part of a different team; one comprised of seven prior service members, representing all branches of the US military, and one military spouse. That, and I was about 15 miles deep in the Gila Wilderness, part of a six-day expedition designed to get veterans outdoors and teach them leadership traits they can take away to be more successful in their personal lives.
I had no idea how much I would learn or how much fun I would have. Backpacking and hiking in the outdoors were new concepts for me, but I was up for the challenge. The trip turned out to be one of the greatest leadership experiences of my life. My time outdoors taught me many things from how to walk uphill correctly to what works best as natural toilet paper (surprisingly it was rocks); however, the most important thing I took home from this expedition was learning how to overcome adversity and uncertainty while connecting it with resiliency.
Everyone will undoubtedly face adversity and uncertainty at some point in their life. Some will experience it more than others, especially those serving (or who have served) in the military. The seemingly impossible situations presented to those serving in uniform makes dealing with adversity and uncertainty so important. Being able to bounce back after problems arise whether related to work, or one’s personal life, constitutes resiliency. Since problems do not go away by themselves, and constantly being told to “do more with less” only increases adversity and uncertainty, resiliency becomes a character trait required for each and every service member both active and prior service.
During my expedition in the Gila, I realized how important this concept of resiliency was, not only for me, but for my team as well. After hiking for three days straight while carrying a 45 lb. pack for the first time in my life, I was a little worn out. I think the fun I was having helped me forget about the soreness, but it was nevertheless there. Imagine my surprise when our leaders for the day informed us that we were going to hike 14 miles (three of which were off the map) carrying extra water and would need to summit two mountains. Adversity was staring us in the face, but I am always up for a good challenge. As the day wore on, the sun beat down, and we conserved our water as we hiked. We crested our first mountain and began the trek down into the saddle off the map. I wouldn’t say we were lost, but no one could be sure of our exact location.
Tired and unsure, we trudged forward; bring on the uncertainty. Just when we thought we had about enough, our instructor tripped over a downed tree and had a seizure. Everyone’s training kicked in. We secured the scene, stabilized our patient, documented the situation, set up a tent, and were preparing to send runners for help, when she popped up and said “great job guys.” It was a test! We were angry, but knew it was for our own good. At this point, we all wanted to call it a day and camp right there, but the rest of our team was ahead of us and waiting for our arrival to cook dinner and set up camp. So we did what any group of military guys would do, we pulled up our bootstraps and trudged ahead a few more miles, up a mountain, then down to the camp.
When we arrived at camp, we expected water waiting there for us, but the spring was dry. Even so, it was the perfect end to a rough day. As we woke the next morning, and continued on, I felt a sense of accomplishment. We all, as a team, defeated adversity and uncertainty through our resiliency. Making this connection will forever cement the concept of resiliency as a virtue in my life.
"Helping America's Military and Veteran Community experience the freedom of the land they defend"
May 17, 2012
Armed Forces Week Outside: Leith Edgar on the Value of Wild Places
Gila National Forest Offers Veterans Respite from Reality
By Leith Edgar, Former Army SGT, Denver, CO
Experiencing the world's first designated wilderness has always been an appealing prospect to anyone enamored with North America's Great Outdoors. However, it wasn't until the documentary Green Fire highlighted this national treasure and I fortuitously came across an opportunity to backpack the Gila National Forest with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) that I realized a pilgrimage to the mecca of conservation: the Aldo Leopold Wilderness.
Thanks to the Sierra Club and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, I had the honor and pleasure of seeing the wild lands and wild animals the great conservationist Aldo Leopold, one of the godfathers of modern conservation, tirelessly toiled to protect from anthropogenic impacts. For anyone who's yearned to escape the manmade world, the Aldo Leopold Wilderness in the Gila National Forest is your ticket to unencumbered nature.
The band of brothers (and sisters) - with whom I shared a week meandering densely-vegetated drainages, ascending the Black Range and observing the varied terrain of a national forest that stretches from the desert floor to more than 10,000-feet – were far from the typical patchouli-wearing tree-huggers you might expect to find trekking a place no visitor soon forgets. Nay, this motley group had collectively hugged more rifles than trees whilst serving their country in uniform.
Coincidentally including members of the four branches of the military, my fellow backpackers comprised the inaugural class of veterans to complete the Sierra Club's Veteran Outdoor Leadership Course. The course was initially conceived as a means of connecting the veteran community to the natural resources they had fought to defend. The group included combat, disabled and retired veterans, both enlisted and officer alike.
The mission of the course was simple on the surface: foster leadership within a select group of veterans in hopes that the positive experiences of the group would reverberate throughout the military community to thousands of veterans who've come home from overseas conflicts. Far from token charity, the program seeks to empower its students to lead outdoor trips for friends, family and fellow veterans.
In order to bring veterans with varying degrees of outdoor experience, NOLS trained us kinesthetically, i.e. via doing. Following basic instruction, we students took the lead as trip leaders, navigators and cooks, among other camp roles. Similar to the military, from sun up to well after down, we worked together on common goals. Whereas the common goals formerly involved national defense, this mission was focused on the group's movement and well-being in the unforgiving natural environment. Instead of guns, we shot azimuths; instead of Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs), we dined on communally-cooked camp food; and instead of saluting those above our pay grade, we saluted our natural surroundings each day as we rose each morning to experience the natural wonders of wilderness.
Although modern camping - with all of the accoutrements of a big-box store - is arguably as comfortable as a suburban home, light-weight backpacking is the closest many of us may ever come to experiencing homelessness in that everything needed to survive is in your possession. Carrying your means of survival translates to carrying roughly one-quarter to one-third of your body weight – for more than eight hours in some cases. So it made sense that most nights the day's mileage usually left many of us ready for an early lights out. But one night the allure of the open sky proved stronger than the body's desire to recuperate.
That night under a cloudless, crystal-clear sky speckled with diamonds of light and peppered with occasional shooting stars was proof positive that there's peace to be attained by experiencing nature. Taking off of work, flying down to Tucson, Ariz., and spending a week with perfect strangers in the wilderness was all controlled chaos on the surface. But ultimately the leap into the uncertain delivered a piece of peace - albeit fleeting like the shooting stars, which raced across the dark tapestry of that wondrous night – but peace all the same. It's that sense of naturally-induced peace, which you cannot help but discover, in the eponymous wilderness that I believe drove Aldo Leopold to conserve the Gila National Forest so that all Americans, including those who've served in uniform, might experience it for themselves.
"Helping America's Military and Veteran Community experience the freedom of the land they defend"
May 15, 2012
Free Park Passes for Active Duty and their families
Sierra Club Praises Free National Park Pass Program for Active Duty Service Members
The Department of Interior and Dr. Jill Biden today announced plans to offer free National Parks and Federal recreation lands passes to active duty service members and their families. Beginning on Armed Forces Day the passes will be valid on all public lands.
In response, Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:
“The Sierra Club applauds the Obama administration for giving service members and their families free access to our National Parks and public lands. This investment helps lower the financial barriers standing between our military heroes and the benefits of reconnecting with their family and friends on land that they have fought to protect.
“America is home to some of the most beautiful and inspiring landscapes in the world. Our public lands offer essential opportunities for military members and all American families to bond, unwind, heal or simply enjoy.
“We’re honored to support the administration’s Joining Forces initiative and build on today’s announcement. Through our Missions Outdoors program, the Sierra Club has helped get over 50,000 military kids outdoors, and we’re working to improve outdoor services and expand opportunities for service members, veterans, and their families. The Sierra Club is also working with the University of Michigan to research the effects of the outdoors on veterans’ mental health. We believe strongly in the benefits of getting outside and are pleased that the Obama administration has recognized those benefits as well.”
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Armed Forces Week Outside: Acacia Elkins and Camraderie
Today's guest blogger is Army Spouse and Cross Fit Superstar, Acacia Elkins!
Acacia Elkins, Army Spouse, Bowie, Maryland
"It is Nature’s indifference that makes her both marvelous and fearsome. Her consistency gives me a sense of security, every time I return I see she’s faithful not to change. Yet I know it’s not for me alone that she remains a sanctuary for the human soul.”—John Muir
I spent a week in the Gila with 7 veterans and two NOLS instructors. Mostly strangers to each other, we risked spending a week in close quarters in the middle of Gila Wilderness together. I’m pretty sure this kind of thing is the premise for many reality TV shows. You know, from Lord of the Flies to Lost, put a bunch of strangers together on an Island and watch what happens. But, in this case, instead of petty drama rooted in selfishness, there was grace and understanding. We not only survived our time in the Gila, we came out more alive than ever.
One participating veteran’s friend doubtingly inquired, “You’re going to spend a week in the wilderness with a bunch of strangers?” To which he responded, “Yeah, it’ll be fine, they’re veterans.” It’s this attitude that made each willingly risk to eat, sleep, lead, follow, and learn for a week in a completely unfamiliar environment.
It was a perfect combination, this pre-existing trust and the indifference of Nature. We spent almost every waking hour together working at the simple tasks involved in outdoor living. The best hours were on trail, I felt like with each step and breath I let go of some city worry. By the time we peaked McKnight Mountain on the third day, I felt light as air. I was thriving in the current moment, soaking in the scenery. Although sitting on top of the mountain was definitely a highlight in my year, it was a mere moment in the life of the seemingly ageless McKnight Mountain.
For how “social” our lives are, being in constant communication with everyone through Facebook, Twitter, etc, our few days in the wilderness seemed more social than any in the city ever could be. Why do I say this? Without the constant distraction of checking into some virtual world, we were at ease to actually get to know each other. We told stories about our lives, our friends, and ourselves. I certainly laughed more in that week than I had all together in months. A day on the trail seemed so long and full because I was present in every moment. It felt great to forget what day it was. When we weren’t talking or laughing, we were met with wide-open spaces on all sides and a penetrating silence that encouraged contemplation.
During the week in the Gila, I think we all got to know each other better than we could in a week in the city. Most of our group, when asked why they go outdoors, said, “The camaraderie.” I agree, the wide open sky and lack of distraction press us to be present to Nature and the people we are with.
"Helping America's Military and Veteran Community experience the freedom of the land they defend"
May 14, 2012
Armed Forces Week Outside: Trevor Ivory, Beyond the Comfort Zone
Good morning Sierra Club Nation!
During Armed Forces Appreciation Week, we will be sharing a different reflection each day of one of the participants in our recent leadership training trip with the National Outdoor Leadership School, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Operation Free, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars in the Gila Wilderness. We think you'll appreciate the different points of view that these different service members all brought into, and out of the wilderness. Let us know how this matches up with your experiences in the outdoors as a service member, veteran, military family member, or just as...you.
First up is Trevor Ivory:
Trevor Ivory, USNR, Orange County, CA
As a 20 year retiree of the United States Military, US Navy specifically, I feel very lucky. Both, of the service that I completed over the past two decades and the opportunities/trust place in me by those I served with at all levels. It is that camaraderie that ties all of us together no matter where, when and for how long we all served.
This Sierra Club Wilderness Expedition was a unique experience that built on that tradition. Although I previously had very little outdoor/wilderness experience, I immediately felt at ease with my fellow veterans and our outstanding NOLS instructors. The course provided instruction/experience in Expedition Planning, Backpacking /Camping skills, Leadership and Leave No Trace principles. Even though I was outside my comfort zone from day 1, the interactions with staff and other veterans built a confidence and sense of self and team accomplishment that I hadn’t experienced since my time on active duty.
I think all veterans suffer to some extent as they leave military service in finding their way in the next chapter of life. For me this was a significant issue, as I have struggled to find a second career path. I felt a bit like Morgan Freedman’s character, Red from the movie Shawshank Redeption. “I’m an institutional man, and not sure I can make it on the outside”. In spending time with our group of diverse and accomplished veterans, I was impressed with the success and variety of career paths that they have pursued, providing me with a sense of what is possible as I move ahead.
I take away from this experience a great appreciation for not only the outdoors (Gila Wilderness is an awesome American resource) but to the organizations that are supporting veterans to include your Sierra Club, NOLS, and the myriad of other organizations that are trying to address some of the needs of our increasing veteran population.
As far as the program goes, I believe the challenge will be to reach those that are most in need. As our group showed, we were all relatively well supported and tied into veteran services/support (i.e. IAVA &VFW). How do we get to those individuals who are not tied-in whether that is by choice or not?
My plan for the future is multi-tracked. I want to work with Irvine Ranch Conservatory (IRC) to qualify as a volunteer trail guide (assistant Docent). This includes a Naturalist Training Class offered by local community college and IRC sponsored first aid training. This will continue to build on last week’s training and allow me to gain additional outdoor experience. I am also looking at planning and executing a 3 to 4 day backpacking trip this summer in the Cascades of Washington state. As I build experience I will be more willing and able to support possible veteran type trips.
"Helping America's Military and Veteran Community experience the freedom of the land they defend"
