As a high school student, the pandemic has turned my life and the lives of my peers upside down. With school closures, navigating distance learning, and uncertainty looming in our futures, this has been an incredibly difficult time. And yet, there is a source of comfort I have continually turned to during these past few months—spending time in nature and on our public lands.
Right now, it’s important to advocate for our public lands and rivers more than ever before. The pandemic has reminded many of us that spending time outdoors is essential to our health. Protecting public lands and rivers is therefore critical for our well-being because of the personal benefits we receive from experiencing nature.
Our futures depend on these protections too. With or without the pandemic, we all face ever-growing threats from climate change, such as sea-level rise, loss of animal habitats, and decreasing access to public lands and rivers—including in my hometown, Santa Maria. Preserving public lands and rivers is important for California’s efforts to address climate change.
That’s why I’m inspired by Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D-California) PUBLIC Lands Act, which would protect more than 1 million acres of public lands and well over 500 miles of rivers throughout our state—including on the Central Coast. I’m grateful that Sen. Harris is a champion for our state’s public lands and rivers.
I wasn’t always comfortable spending time in nature. In fact, before last year, I had never been on a hike. When a Pioneer Valley teacher invited me to join our school’s Hiking Club, I was nervous. But as it turned out, I enjoyed every second of our four-hour hike near Los Padres National Forest. We hiked across streams on small bridges and saw fish swimming in the Arroyo Hondo Creek below. On one part of the trail, I remember walking through a tunnel of trees that had grown over the path in an arch, and we could see sunbeams streaming through the branches. It was truly the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen.
I enjoyed that first hike so much that before the pandemic, I joined the Hiking Club on another outing to our local public lands. One of our teachers took me and four other students to Pismo Preserve in Pismo Beach. Pismo Preserve is a beautiful, 900-acre nature preserve with coastal hiking and biking trails. I will never forget hiking to the top of a small mountain, and seeing the Pacific Ocean from above—the uphill climb was well worth it.
These experiences helped me see firsthand the importance of ongoing protections for our public lands and rivers. After spending time in nature, I felt rejuvenated, and I could focus more clearly in school. Having access to the outdoors has helped me alleviate stress, particularly during a national emergency. Young people need more opportunities to spend time in nature—right now and into the future.
That’s why I am encouraged by Sen. Harris’ leadership to pass the PUBLIC Lands Act in the Senate. A similar bill has already passed the House of Representatives. My peers and I appreciate the accessible and protected mountains, forests, grasslands, and rivers on the Central Coast. We want to do our part to make sure these protections continue for other young people, and for future generations too.
Recently, members of our school’s Hiking Club and I wrote letters thanking Sen. Harris for championing our public lands and rivers. We ask Sen. Harris to continue her efforts to move the PUBLIC Lands Act through the Senate. And I hope that more young people spend time outdoors, whether it’s with family or friends. Please join me in appreciating the natural world and all that it offers us. Youth are the future, and soon it’ll be up to us to continue protecting our public lands and rivers.
Alexis DeHorta is a student at Pioneer Valley High School in Santa Maria. Send comments for publication to [email protected].
