Alaska BHA's UAS Intern on SB 105

-Lillian Thorington's oral testimony at the committee hearing on March 17th.

Hello, I am your Miss Juneau Volunteer America, Lillian Thorington. I am also an intern for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. I would like to speak on the importance of public lands. My pageant platform - Nature without Limits - focuses on making the outdoors more accessible to everyone. Public lands are integral to this mission. I was in the Girl Scouts for 14 years, and access to public lands was essential for us to learn our outdoor skills, as well as our life skills. Growing up I spent a significant amount of my time on public land...I still do actually! I also grew up in a low-income household, and I would not have achieved nearly as much in life if I did not have access to public lands. Public lands give an opportunity for outdoor recreation to everyone, especially low-income families. Spending time outdoors offers an opportunity for personal growth and learning.

In Alaska we have a have higher than average rates of suicide and depression. It's no secret that mental health is an issue in Alaska. It's also been repeatedly proven that spending time in nature will positively impact mental health. I am concerned that if we reduce access to public lands, which is such an important mental health resource, that it will have a very negative effect on many of our most vulnerable community members. In 2019 Veterans made up 10% of the population here in Alaska, and we have over 21 thousand active military personnel. Both of these groups are at high risk for mental health issues. Public lands offer an opportunity for healing through outdoor recreation, whether that is hunting or hiking.

I would like to end with a quote from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walking”:

“At present, in this vicinity, the best part of the land is not private property; the landscape is not owned, and the walker enjoys comparative freedom. But possibly the day will come when it will be partitioned off into so-called pleasure grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and exclusive pleasure only —when fences shall be multiplied, and man traps and other engines invented to confine men to the public road, and walking over the surface of God’s earth shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman’s grounds. To enjoy a thing exclusively is commonly to exclude yourself from the true enjoyment of it. Let us improve our opportunities, then, before the evil days come.”

Thank you