COMMENTARY: I often solve problems by reconnecting with the natural world. I go on a hike, bike through the mountains, swim in the Rio Grande, and all my problems quickly disappear. When isolated from the noise of everything else, I can always think more clearly.
All humans are made this way, we are meant to be connected to the natural world — a place where we can let go of all our problems and be our deepest selves. While we have built cities and civilizations, getting outdoors helps us reconnect with our wild, free, fun and adventurous sides.
Courtesy photo
Maya Forte
At least half of my childhood was spent looking at the stars on my roof, trekking in my family’s campervan and getting outdoors to explore everything in New Mexico. As a kid, I grew up skiing in the Taos mountains in the winter, hiking through those same mountains in the summer, playing in local parks and visiting our national parks.
Much of this was made possible by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is set to expire this Sunday, Sept. 30. The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides money for local parks, but also funds public access and outdoor recreation to our national parks, forests, and so many of our public lands, including the Carson National Forest and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, a landscape I grew up on.
Growing up in Taos, exploring the outdoors was the main source of fun during the summer. My family and I would often drive to the Rio Grande, swimming and floating down the river on tubes and jumping off of the Gorge’s cliffs. My brother and I always remember setting up tents at night and laughing when we couldn’t set up the tent just right.
These camping and backpacking trips at many sites funded by or made accessible through the Land and Water Conservation Fund helped us learn responsibility, independence and the need to care for our environment.
I wanted to share these experiences with other kids, so I became a counselor in training for the Field Institute of Taos when I was 13. Serving as a counselor opened my eyes to the lack of outdoor experiences of many of New Mexico’s kids and why the Land and Water Conservation Fund is so important. Many of the kids that I taught did not have the same access to the outdoors that I had growing up — many had never been to a national park, swam in the Rio Grande or even explored the outdoors.
Watching these kids find themselves for the first time in nature was an amazing experience that made me want to share the wonders of the outdoors and work to protect our environment.
While I don’t know what the future holds, the one thing I am certain of is that we must make sure that our local parks, national parks and public lands will still be available for people of all ages. Now more than ever, I urge all New Mexicans to call on our congressional leaders to actively work to permanently reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Conservation Fund.
As New Mexico students and our state’s future leaders, we have a duty to remind our federal elected officials that we want a future where we can go on hikes and trail runs in our national forests, swim in rivers and lakes with our friends, and ultimately one day take our kids to beautiful national parks and public lands.
My natural exploration allowed me to become the person I am, and without it, my life would not be the same. All New Mexico kids deserve the chance to explore — not only what’s in their backyard, but far beyond. If our country fails to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund, then we are not only failing our nation’s lands and waters, but we are also robbing my generation and the many generations to come of the opportunities to be transformed, grow, learn and experience the wonders of nature.
Maya Forte is a senior at the New Mexico School for the Arts. Maya is the head of the Sustainability Club, and in her free time she enjoys hiking, mountain biking and exploring the great outdoors in and around Taos. Agree with her opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here.