{"id":165052,"date":"2020-12-07T17:28:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T01:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=165052"},"modified":"2020-12-28T17:03:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T01:03:28","slug":"president-trump-signs-accelerating-veterans-recovery-outdoors-act-into-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/president-trump-signs-accelerating-veterans-recovery-outdoors-act-into-law","title":{"rendered":"President Trump Signs Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act into Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\"><p>In a win for veterans, President Trump Sunday signed into law the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/house-bill\/8247\">Veterans COMPACT Act<\/a>, which will make it easier for veterans to use the outdoors as part of their medical treatment and therapy.<\/p>\n<p>The act establishes an interagency task force, calling on members of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Interior, among other federal agencies, to identify barriers and make recommendations to increase the use of public lands and other outdoor spaces for veteran medical treatment.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2019, Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Adam Smith (D-WA) introduced the House version of the bill, and Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the companion bill. More than 150 members of Congress from both parties signed on to sponsor the legislation.<\/p>\n<p>REI also played a role by partnering with members of Congress to help draft and advance the bill through the legislative process.<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Time in nature has been shown to help people of varying backgrounds with mental health issues by reducing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/srep28551\">depression<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/17055544\">anxiety<\/a>\u00a0and increasing overall\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4157607\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">happiness<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Time outside appears to help veterans, in particular, by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5193293\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">decreasing symptoms of PTSD.<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\"> It <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">may also help former service members <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2018-27538-001\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">reintegrate into civilian life<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>To learn more about the bill\u2019s history and its significance, read the Co-op Journal\u2019s previous coverage:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/news\/a-new-bill-could-provide-better-outdoor-recreation-programs-for-veterans\">A New Bill Could Provide Better Outdoor Recreation Programs for Veterans<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/news\/eric-artz-americas-veterans-deserve-the-healing-power-of-time-outdoors\">Eric Artz: America\u2019s Veterans Deserve the Healing Power of Time Outdoors<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/hike\/can-hiking-help-heal-veterans-with-ptsd-researchers-seek-to-find-out\">Can Hiking Help Heal Veterans with PTSD? Researchers Seek to Find Out.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a win for veterans, President Trump Sunday signed into law the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act as part of the Veterans COMPACT Act, which will make it easier for veterans to use the outdoors as part of their medical treatment and therapy. The act establishes an interagency task force, calling on members of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14208,"featured_media":165065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[2124,727,1938,656,1484,1421],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-165052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-accelerating-veterans-recovery-outdoors-act","tag-latest-posts","tag-public-health","tag-public-lands","tag-staff-society","tag-veterans"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/news\/president-trump-signs-accelerating-veterans-recovery-outdoors-act-into-law","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"President Trump Signs Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act into Law","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/president-trump-signs-accelerating-veterans-recovery-outdoors-act-into-law","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/president-trump-signs-accelerating-veterans-recovery-outdoors-act-into-law"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/12\/SMW_011217_001.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/12\/SMW_011217_001.jpg?fit=6730%2C4047"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Grothjan"}],"creator":["Sarah Grothjan"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["accelerating veterans recovery outdoors act","latest posts","public health","public lands","staff 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