Guest Blog: The Connecting Power of Time Spent Outdoors
By Arizona State Representative Alma Hernandez
I was born and raised on the South Side of Tucson. My father grew up on a farm in Van Nuys, California and my mother emigrated from Nogales, Mexico. I’m the youngest of three, and proud to carry the strength and resiliency of my ancestry and my community. The district that I’m from and also represent is predominantly Hispanic and low-income. Our community is beautiful, with vendor-lined streets and a strong sentiment of care.
Having grown up on a farm, my father would hunt, fish, and his family would grow their own food. Some of my earliest memories are of him encouraging my siblings and I to go outside to see and understand the world around us instead of sitting on the couch, glued to the television. I didn’t understand it back then, but today I’m so grateful that he did that. We would go up to Madera Canyon, which was a 30-minute drive from our home. Sometimes we’d fish, but sometimes we’d just hang out as a family and enjoy a picnic. Being outside with my family was always a bonding experience, and it was something that we did all of the time. It brought us together and offered respite from the hustle of the world around us.
One of my favorite memories is when my dad started teaching us how to shoot. We started small with target shooting, aiming at cans. When I was 11 and my brother was 13, my brother shot a pigeon. My sister and I were so excited because we knew what would happen next. My dad had always told us that we shouldn’t shoot at anything unless we were prepared to eat it. I remember standing with my siblings as my father found out about my brother’s trespass, giggling with my sister as my father made my brother go out to find the pigeon so that he could prepare it and eat it. We all thought he was kidding until my brother had to prepare the pigeon to cook it. My dad said, “let this be a lesson to you all that you never shoot at anything unless you’re going to eat it, because they don’t deserve to die just because you feel like it.” It was an ancestral lesson that I will never forget. Today, hunting is a tradition that my family has been practicing for four years now. We will join fellow legislators for a bipartisan dove hunt in Yuma. It has brought us all closer together as spending time outdoors does and has helped us find common ground.
As well as encouraging my siblings and I to spend time outdoors, my father taught us the importance of being civically engaged. When I was 14, he would drive us about 40 minutes to the Pima County Democratic Headquarters to drop us off for the day until he could pick us up at eight. My involvement started so early on that it became closely intertwined with my life. Deciding to run for office was a natural next step after I finished up my grad program at the University of Arizona. I’m going into my fourth year representing the district that I was born and raised in. I hope to cultivate the connection my community has with the outdoors, and a big part of that is making sure that my constituents have outdoor spaces that they can access. Additionally, I’ve found that my community is largely left out of the discussions taking place addressing improvement or beautification projects. Our input must be prioritized when it comes to environmental enhancements and that’s something I appreciate about the work that HECHO does.
To build on the connection our communities have to the land, we need to strengthen the legacy of stewardship we carry within us. Strong legislation like the Build Back Better Act could support this, especially with programming like the Civilian Climate Corps that would support all communities having access to careers in conservation that also help address the impacts of climate change, as well as outdoor traditions that have been passed down for generations. In Arizona, it would create jobs, expand access to the outdoors, and improve our landscapes. This would be beneficial to my constituents, and to all Arizonans. It has extraordinary potential and is one of the best possible investments that our government can make for our communities.
Today, I still enjoy spending time outdoors, and with my family. From taking smaller walks around my neighborhood or local park, to visiting national parks like Saguaro National Park, which is in my district, or traveling to visit Zion National Park. The connection I have to the outdoors that my family helped to develop has become even stronger. I look forward to helping my community build on their connections to the outdoors and inspiring the next generation to become stewards of our natural landscapes.
Representative Alma Hernandez is a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, and represents District 3.