Helping veterans access nature

Having access to nature is the first step to connecting with it.

“The more people connect to the land, the more they will be advocates for the land,” said Mary Hollow, executive director of the accredited Prickly Pear Land Trust in Montana. “How do we make sure that conservation is relevant in the minds of everyone who lives, works and plays here?”

The answer for Prickly Pear was to make their open spaces accessible to everyone.

Through its Peaks to Creeks Initiative, the Prickly Pear Land Trust partnered with National Guard training facility Fort Harrison and purchased 180 acres of land across from the fort and a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital.

By adding a parking lot and three miles of trails, the partners helped turn this parcel of land into Tenmile Creek Park, which connects the fort and VA to the larger community. The park is equipped with wide, flat trails and guiding to ensure that people who are not fully mobile can safely enjoy the commuter routes and scenic picnic areas.

Now, veterans, soldiers and patients can safely access the park with all of its recreational opportunities and healing benefits.

“In a hospital situation, it can be a high-intensity experience. Anything we can do to lower that level of intensity can make a big difference,” said Greg Normandin, a physician at the local Veterans Affairs hospital.

And Prickly Pear helped make that difference.

By understanding the needs of its community, Prickly Pear was able to make land conservation benefit everyone. And as Mary Hollow says, these community conservation efforts improved outdoor access for a “broader set of what Montana communities look like.”