WE GIVE TO … create opportunity
why we give
lauren bechtel dachs, san francisco, california
“The Trust for Public Land brings special places to people all across the country — and people to special places.”
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TPL.ORG/WHYWEGIVE
Before the tech boom, the Santa Clara Valley was a fertile patchwork of orchards and oak-shaded ranchland rolling down to the south shore of the San Francisco Bay. As a child, Lauren Bechtel Dachs and her siblings roamed free there all summer. “We had our own outlaw gang,” she recalls. “We built forts, rode horses, gathered cattle, and fished in streams. We were outside from dawn to dusk and then some.” These days, the Santa Clara Valley is better known as Silicon Valley, and much of the region where Dachs first fell in love with nature has been paved over to make way for data centers and housing developments. As president of the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Dachs is working to ensure that future genera- tions of California kids don’t miss out on the life-changing opportunity to play and explore in nature close to home. Under her leadership, the founda-
24 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2016
tion—started by her father Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr.—supports educational and environmental efforts across the state, including The Trust for Public Land’s Parks for People program. Dachs and her colleagues at the foundation believe the parks and public spaces created by The Trust for Public Land are critical to community health and well-being. “We need to preserve some of the land that provides our food and our clean water, and that is increasingly playing a role in providing resiliency in the face of climate change,” says Dachs. “We also need to preserve the right for all people to connect to the natural resources which feed our souls in this fast-moving and urbanized world.” Late last year, in appreciation of her long record of service, The Trust for Public Land awarded Dachs the orga- nization’s highest honor, the Land for People Award—presented annually
to the person who best embodies our mission to create parks and protect land for people. Past recipients include Sally Jewell, U.S. secretary of the interior; Douglas Durst, chair of Durst Organiza- tion; and Michael Kowalski, chair of the board of Tiffany & Co. As she expressed at the award cere-
mony, “The work of The Trust for Public Land is hugely important and increas- ingly urgent. Children need outdoor places to learn, and to develop values such as a sense of self and responsibility for others. Adults also need a place to gather, to become a real community by planning, building, and sharing a sense of place where they live. “The Trust for Public Land brings special places to people all across the country—and people to special places. I wish for some of this for every child, as I know it was a huge part of making me who I am today.”
courtesy the s. d. bechtel, jr. foundation
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