Once you get up there the treeline stops – you can see Sedona, all of Flagstaff, and the view from the back of the mountain is unreal. Breathtaking.

On the way down, a storm rolled in so for the last hour or two I was walking in the rain. People say, “oh man,” but honestly it was the most peace I’ve ever had. I totally got drenched it was so peaceful. The clouds rolled in and that’s all you hear is just the rain. That was one of the better hikes I’ve had in a long time. The last mile or two it really started coming down so I picked up the pace. But the rain actually ended the hike really well.

I always went fishing with my grandfather and my uncles, Bernave Arellano and Virgil Lopez, who taught me how to catch trout. Both of my uncles were very respectful of the land and understood that it was important to leave it better than you found it.

Growing up in Salt Lake City, I always enjoyed the outdoors. The air felt so good to breathe and it seemed like the opportunities were endless. We were rather poor. My mother raised four kids by herself. We didn’t have a car for much of the time. When we got on the train to visit relatives, I always looked out the window at the open range where you could run fast and feel free.

Back then, my family hunted deer and elk. It’s important to realize that hunting and fishing are fun, but the best reason is to hunt to put food on the table. This is true for most Latinos. My family made jerky from the meat of the animals they killed. They would smoke the fish that we caught. Today, my relatives living in small towns in the Southwest still hunt for subsistence. A lot of these towns are food deserts and don’t have access to the best grocery stores. But through fishing and hunting you can still feed your family with good nutrition.

When my daughter, Vida, was 3, she wanted to go on an adventure.

We packed up our backpacks with snacks, notebooks, crayons and water, and set out to explore the outdoors. We headed to Phoenix’s Piestewa Peak to climb rocks and investigate various plants and animals, and had an inspiring day that sparked our curiosity for the natural world right in our own backyard.

Vida is 8 now and a proud member of the Girl Scouts, where I also work. I watch as she and her troop members learn new skills, push the boundaries of their imaginations and nurture their connections to the earth.

I am also struck when I see Latino families in Phoenix grow closer each year when we gather at South Mountain Park to go camping, practice archery and cook dinner on the open fire. All of the generations bond for this special experience in the outdoors that is becoming increasingly rare in our urban culture.

By Mark Archuleta Wheatley

Rep. Rob Bishop has been called a lot of things by the environmental community, but late this session of Congress he defied labels and voiced his support for reauthorizing one of the most important, if underappreciated, conservation laws, the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Bishop’s pursuit of a bipartisan deal to sustain this important program was a watershed moment for a town renowned for gridlock and on an issue that had previously and repeatedly died on the vine due to the congressman’s past opposition.

The land has always been our life. Our dedication is to the land. We’ve always depended on the land to survive. My family were farmers and ranchers. I spent most of my summers with my grandfather, and I continue his traditions. We own pieces of land, but I don’t feel like they’re ours, only ours to take care of while were here.

By Arizona state Rep. Mark Cardenas, Utah state Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck and Nevada state Sen. Mo Denis

As state representatives of the Southwest, we are concerned about the future of our national monuments. Right now, both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments are under attack, and the public has just a short window to weigh in.

Both of these monuments are in Utah, but they are vital to us all, as they safeguard our nation’s diverse history and cultural heritage. Our voices are part of the two-thirds of western voters, and 86 percent of Latino voters in the west, who say that reducing these monuments is a bad idea. We are proud to have public lands in our backyard — lands that belong to all of us.

As a 26 year-old living in Phoenix, I hear all the time from the Latino community that camping and hiking is not part of our culture. That’s not true. This is part of who we are. It is part of our identity to enjoy the earth and what it provides for us, and also to have our role in protecting it. People are disengaged from their history and their roots. But if you can’t directly experience public lands, it’s harder to advocate on their behalf, or speak to elected officials about why they should care.

Sylvia Lovato Huereña loves nothing more than to watch a child fish for the first time. She had this experience with her own children, her 10 grandchildren, and countless others. “When a child goes out to the lake and catches their first fish, at first they’re terrified to grab it when it’s jumping all over,” she said. “But then the amount of joy in their eyes is one of the most profound moments.” In addition to teaching them how to hold a fishing pole and pull the hook out of the fish’s mouth, she and her husband Lupe also let them know that whatever they kill they have to eat; and that they should leave the lake in better condition than they found it.

I recently had the honor to speak at an event celebrating the recent opening and expansion of the Sabinoso Wilderness Area to the public. This was the result of years of hard work among Latino public lands advocates, sportsmen and other northern New Mexico stakeholders.