ABOUT US
Changing the lives of Veterans, one park at a time
The idea for this initiative was born out of a love of nature, love for and heartbreak over the death of my best friend and partner Alexander Lofgren, a lifelong desire to help others, and to make the world a better and more positive place.
There is so much good and an immeasurable amount of beauty out there, and I think it needs to be celebrated and accessible without boundaries by the heroes that have served our country - past and present. The National Parks and lands changed our lives for the better, and I know it can change yours too.
All because of Alex.
On December 27, 2021, the Alexander Lofgren Veterans in Parks Act was signed into law, recognizing the life of my US Army Veteran for his love of nature and his lifelong dedication to helping Veterans. I am on a mission to ensure this incredible Act is known, utilized, and loved by all who deserve it most.
On April 4th, 2021, I lost the love of my life in a tragic and brutal hiking accident. After falling 70’ from a cliffside in Death Valley National Park, Alex suffered incomprehensible injuries and was left stranded on a steep, desolate, impassible canyon ledge. Without hesitation, I was able to downclimb halfway, but fell the remainder of the way. I was able to be by his side and comfort him until he succumbed to his injuries about 30 minutes later. From that moment on, I relied fully on mental fortitude, determination, and hope to make it out alive, because nothing seemed real or survivable after the moment of his passing.
I suffered a severe ankle injury, snapping both my tibia and fibula in half upon impact. I was stranded on the same small cliff by his side for six days, unable to move or call for help. I was surrounded by two vertical walls towering hundreds of feet to my left and right, a 70’ vertical climb behind me where I fell from, and a 100’ vertical drops in front of me.
I am forever in debt to Lemoore Search & Rescue for making the impossible happen, and getting me out alive six days later.
I don’t know fully why I’m alive, but this Act and this account/initiative is the best I’ve got. I have to dig deep every day to find my purpose, but I certainly have the fortitude and encouragement from my guardian angel to keep me going.
Things have (seemingly) come full circle. It makes sense to put my energy towards this Veterans in Parks initiative because of where life has insanely led me.
I moved to Phoenix, Arizona in early 2018 after spending my lifetime in the comfortable confines and hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio in a one-year commitment through the AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer program, placed with a nonprofit organization that worked to provide education and resources to employers across the state of Arizona to better serve our nation’s Veterans.
Through this organization, I met Alex. He was a caseworker on a Veterans crisis line helping Veterans in immediate need. He grew up as an Army brat living in more than five states through his adolescence (his dad is a retired Colonel in the Army), served as a Combat Engineer in the Army, deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 for a year, and honorably and medically discharged after four years of service.
Alex was incredibly passionate about everything he did: including helping Veterans on a local, state, and eventually federal level after his time in the Army. Our next move was supposed to be to Washington, D.C. so he could live out his dreams and make some big moves. I always thought he was precisely the missing piece they needed to get things done at the top, with his stubborn and strong-willed attitude ready to tackle any challenge thrown his way. He had a flight to DC scheduled two weeks after our Death Valley trip for that exact reason. Unfortunately, he never got there.
If he can’t be here with us, this is the next best thing: for his name to always and forever be associated with giving Veterans free access to the very thing that helped him most and that he loved most in the world: traveling. The outdoors. Nature. Our National Parks and lands.
I don’t know what this space and community will be just yet, but I have the gut feeling it’s going to be something important. I am hoping to use it for advocacy, education, positivity, nature, stories of hope and determination and how nature has helped shape the lives of our Veterans. Life is unpredictable, so as with everything else in life, I’m just here for the ride and trying to make the best out of it.
I hope you continue to follow along, support me and Alex, and help keep his memory alive and strong.​​
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Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Emily​