Professional Expert Spotlight: Meet Ric Edwards, Adaptive Outdoorsman

BY DR. LYN JONES

Compliance for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Ric has served in this role since 2001, but he has a long history of creating legacy accessibility and inclusion here in Indiana.

Ric is an independent quadriplegic and uses a power wheelchair. Ric graduated from Ball State University in 1978. Ball State has a long history of campus accessibility long before the Americans with Disabilities Act became a civil rights law in this country. Because of Ball State’s reputation of accessibility and inclusion, many wheelchair users like Ric chose Ball State as their college of choice.

Ric graduated from Ball State with degrees in television and journalism. He was a popular disc jockey during his time at Ball State, spinning turntable disco at several university events. Ric met his future wife at Ball State, and they are still happily married with two grown sons.

After graduation, Ric considered law school. His dad had served in the Legislature and as President of the Bar Association. Around the same time, the Americans with Disabilities Act was being debated in Congress. Ric closely followed these developments and even testified before Congress. That is how his advocacy work began.

The Americans with Disabilities Act passed and became a federal civil rights law. Ric’s testimonies and advocacy impressed leaders in Indiana so much that they asked him to become the first Indiana State ADA Coordinator. His role was to train all of the ADA coordinators in each of the many and diverse state government agencies. Ric was in this position until 2001. Eventually those agencies became independent and a state coordinator was no longer needed to ensure that agencies were following the law.

When the ADA Coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources planned to return to his position in Forestry, Ric was hired as the Director of ADA Compliance for the Department of Natural Resources.

Ric’s position is multilayered. He works to remove any barriers so that individuals with disabilities can enjoy the parks, fish, and wildlife areas and forestry properties. He trains staff on how to best interact with and accommodate visitors at those

properties. He also helps provide accommodations for staff who have disabilities themselves.

Ric works on many systems within the DNR properties that include:

• Accessible inns, cabins, and buildings on the property

• Ramp systems for docks and decks on the property

• Water wheelchairs and trail chairs

• Sensory experiences for those with low vision or with autism

• Wider asphalt or quarter inch minus gravel or crushed stone on trails that make it easier for a wheelchair or walker to move over.

Ric tries to ensure that anyone with any kind of disability can, within reason, access the beautiful and protected outdoor parks, wildlife, and forests in the state of Indiana. Ric and his team have created a page highlighting their work. On this page, you can complete a survey and provide Ric and his team with more information: https://www.in.gov/dnr/ places-to-go/accessibility/ Ric and his team’s work is also illustrated in the annual DNR Recreation Guide. The guide provides dotted lines around any elements of each DNR property that have accessible features: https://www.in.gov/dnr/files/ indiana-recreation-guide-2025.pdf

A most recent development in Ric’s work that he is particularly proud of is the improvement of trail access by providing trail chairs. Through the gift is from Lilly Endowment, DNR will be providing track chairs at all of the DNR Parks in the near future.

Ric’s work was featured on WFYI. Learn more about his trail chair advocacy here. https://www.wfyi.org/ news/articles/indiana-aims-to-make-theoutdoors-more-accessible-for-peoplewith-disabilities

Hear directly from Ric on this podcast titled Adaptive Outdoorsman: https://omny.fm/shows/adaptiveoutdoorsman/making-indiana-adacompliant-with-ric-edwards

This writer and mom has a 22 year old son who uses a wheelchair. As a family we have frequented the many DNR properties in Parke County, Indiana for all of our son’s 22 years. We have witnessed first-hand DNR’s hard work in creating inclusion. More trails and access have opened up to my son at several of those properties. My son’s favorite path is the asphalt path in Raccoon Lake SRA that takes you through the forest for almost a mile each way.

Ric welcomes questions and feedback and loves to educate. As a person with a disability, he is in a unique position to show the impact of these improvements. There are public misperceptions about what people with disabilities can and cannot do, and he works to educate others while helping individuals experience more of the beauty of Indiana’s natural resources.