Wilderness as therapist
By Ray Wiles, High Country News
One of the environmental movement’s most legendary characters was also a traumatized war vet. You might remember George Washington Hayduke for his inventive, destructive antics, but he was also a man who measured road miles by the number of six-packs it took him to drink while driving and whose mind often wandered back to Vietnam. “What’s more American,” Hayduke wonders in Edward Abbey’s novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, “than violence?”
The fictional Hayduke had a real-life model: a former Army medic named Doug Peacock. Peacock served in Vietnam during his 20s, and as he went through the violence of that war, the thing he carried was a map of the Northern Rockies. He brought it out during rare quiet moments and imagined himself in its contours, rolling over the sharp granite creases of the Wind River Mountains or the grassy meadows north of Yellowstone Lake. When he returned from the war, he returned to nature, studying grizzlies for several decades and fighting for their federal protection, as well as for that of other threatened species. These days, the 72-year-old activist and writer has become a new role model, not just for greens, but for a new generation of veterans.
“What they need to do is go out and immerse (themselves) in the wild,” he said recently. “Let it wrap around you. See what it does to you.”
The idea of wilderness as therapy for veterans is nothing new. In recent years, a growing number of such programs are springing up around it. But in order for it to work on the scale that’s needed, its supporters are going to have to get the military behind it. And that’s where the difficulty lies.
What a great article. Of course, Nature heals. We don’t need data to prove that. Imagine how this area could benefit if the VA got on board with funding ‘wilderness therapy’ for vets. We could be the ‘center for healing’ that those of us who live here already know that we are. And local vets like Kenny C. are already doing this kind of work here. The prospects are exciting and I’d like to see our representatives go to bat for us, for funding for this in our area.
I strongly recommend to anyone enjoying or finding value in this article a subscription to High Country News (after, needless to say, subscribing to Lake Tahoe News). HCN is neither liberal nor conservative, although unreasonable radicals on either side will find their articles disturbingly sensible. HCN is “For people who care about the West.”
I’ve been a subscriber and reader for well over 20 years and find that, unlike just about any other media I read, when I finish an HCN article I feel like I actually know something about the topic.
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Sorry Kae.
Isee, Thank You. Two years ago the VA hospital in Yountville (near Napa) sent up 9 of the most at risk PTS vets they had for a day of skiing and boarding at Sierra. They had a half day of lessons with these great Sierra instructors and then went skiing in the afternoon with The Skibum (lol), a patroller and host from Sierra. I filmed the entire day including lunch and made a dvd which I gave to them at their graduation we attended in Napa. What a change from the morning where they were silent and moody to whooping it up and laughing at the end of the day where we bragged about our exploits. I could go on and on but we are trying to make this an annual event. The entire event was funded by private donations. It works as one of the guys went on to work at the VA with PTS vets.
COPPER, right on with the accolades for High Country News. It is, by far, one of the best sources of balanced news about the west. HCN also has opportunities for aspiring journalists, internships and access to creative and inspiring journalists.
The benefits of (W)ilderness are tremendous. It adds value to every aspect of my life and I know this to be true for most of my friends. I can only imagine how it has been a benefit to vetrans seeking solace after their experiences in battle,to some who seek their spiritual self outside the walls of churches, to the spirit of a young person sleeping out under the stars for the first time, there are as many benefits from a wilderness experience as there are people who go into the wild. It is my faith…
Ed Abbey was a hero to me as well. He coined my blog name “natur bats last”
I posted my comments on High Country News before I even read the article, knowing how enthusiastic Kae would be about me providing free advertising on her web site for another publication. So I didn’t realize that the spirit of Ed Abbey, one of my handful of favorite writers as well, permeated the story.
I don’t know how many used paperbacks of Desert Solitaire I’ve given away to friends; my lone remaining copy is hardbound and ain’t goin’ nowhere.
When I first came up here I was in pretty bad shape mentally, pedal to the floor, transmission in neutral. Tahoe by the grace of God healed me. Didn’t take that long, you just have to go to the right places.
27 in Tahoe