5. Why We Need Accessibility

Cover Image: a lush, grassy park with a wide, flat trail through the center surrounded by trees

We need to improve accessibility in outdoor spaces. These spaces have historically been occupied by white, nondisabled, affluent men. However, the outdoors should be a place that everyone has access to. Robert Vessels, military outdoors campaign manager for the Sierra Club, has said, “We are redefining what it means to be outdoors and access to the outdoors is a basic human right. It’s really a public health issue” (Doiron 1). People from oppressed groups of any kind should not be excluded from nature and parks as they have the same right to relax, appreciate and explore outside. Vessels describes this exclusion as a “public health issue”, which is evident in the numerous health benefits that being outside provides. Therapeutic recreational specialist Erica Price lists the many improvements to well-being that being outside presents: lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, fights depression and anxiety, improves mood, improves focus, helps us heal faster and supports healthy aging (Being Outdoors Can Make You Happier and Healthier 1).

I know that I was at my happiest in my semester off in the fall where I spent the majority of my time farming and hiking with friends. Now, whenever I start feeling stressed or upset about something, walking the nature trail or even just lying down and hanging outside on the grass outside boosts my mood exponentially. Lack of accessibility in the outdoors means that many people with disabilities are entirely excluded from or not able to receive these benefits as often as nondisabled folks. This problem is more than an issue of unequal access to outdoor spaces, these spaces are also a human right and lack of access to them is a public health issue.

Furthermore, improving accessibility would benefit so many people. The 2010 census estimated that one in five people in the U.S. are disabled and about nine percent of that population uses wheelchairs or other mobility assistive devices (USDA Forest Service 3). Disabilities of many kinds make it difficult to have a safe and comfortable outdoor experience, whether it is chronic illness, mobility impairment, etc. Additionally, as we age we will all likely face disability at some point. Accessible design greatly benefits seniors, families with young children and often nondisabled people as well. When it comes to improving and creating accessibility, there really are no drawbacks. We must include outdoor spaces in our vision for accessibility to ensure that everyone has equal access to them and the improvements in well-being that they present.

References:

Doiron, Alexa. “Barriers to the Outdoors: Some Public Spaces Still Pose Access Issues for

Many.” Williamsburg Yorktown Daily, August 31, 2020.

https://wydaily.com/local-news/2020/08/31/barriers-to-the-outdoors-some-public-spaces

still-pose-access-issues-for-many/.

“Five Ways Being Outdoors Can Make You Healthier and Happier.” May 19, 2020.

https://www.sharp.com/health-news/5-ways-being-outdoors-can-make-you-healthier-and

happier.cfm#:~:text=According%20to%20Price%2C%20being%20outdoors,related%20

ormones%20cortisol%20and%20adrenaline.

Zeller, Janet, Ruth Doyle, and Kathleen Snodgrass. Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor

Recreation and Trails. Missoula, MT: USDA Forest Service, Technology and

Development Program, 2012.