Protected areas are therapeutic

I recently watched a story on KING-TV about two veterans finishing a 2,650-mile through-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail to help heal from the wounds of war. The program they participated in is called “Walking off the War.”

People talk about how public lands support hunting and fishing, the economy, clean air and water and open space. We rarely discuss the therapeutic benefits, and how public lands support mental health. The Warrior Hike program brings that into vivid relief.

Public lands don’t magically appear out of nowhere. They are identified and protected by forward-thinking programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This fund reinvests U.S. royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling into land and water conservation projects.

Veterans trekked through at least five different sites that have received dollars from the fund, including Mount Rainier National Park, Alpine Lakes Wilderness and North Cascades National Park.

The LWCF is set to expire in 2015, forever. Moreover, the fund is authorized to receive $900 million each year, but most of these funds are diverted elsewhere. I hope Congress works to reauthorize and fully fund the LWCF and fulfill the promise our leaders made to America 50 years ago, just as our veterans fulfilled a promise to America.

Lastly, I want to thank our own Sen. Patty Murray for supporting our veterans, our public lands and for full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Brett Heatherington

Stanwood