“You cannot stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon at dawn and not realize there is something far older and wiser than we are. It is a sense of profound humility.”
ticular place. I am a strong believer in the power of grassroots activism and advocacy within local communities. Larger orga- nizations can help these groundswells grow to reach people of national influence with the power to make conservation law. The Trust for Public Land is a beautiful example of this kind of leadership, rooted in the stories of the land. It is an arduous process to establish a national park. In the future, it is going to be even more difficult to keep them. Our public lands are our public commons: to maintain the literal open space of democracy will require our ongoing love and vigilance, patience and perseverance, and acts of imagination. We must be both fierce and compassionate, at once.
behind our national parks. For example, to look only at the geologic history of Glacier National Park—and not include the cultural history, the betrayal of the Blackfeet Nation—is to deny the visitor the full experience of the complexity inherent to each place.
Do you think we’re making progress toward offering visitors that kind of experience? Yes. Wallace Stegner said that the national parks are our “best idea.” I would argue that they’re an evolving idea. President Obama has contributed to the evolution of what the parks and monuments look like—from the establishment of the César E. Chávez National Monument, to the Harriet Tubman Under- ground Railroad National Historic Park, to the Stonewall Inn National Monument that honors the struggles and triumphs of the LGBT community. We have broadened, deepened, and expanded our notion of national parks in the past hundred years as our consciousness of America’s diverse histories and peoples has expanded. The National Park Service is honoring their unique contributions to our identity as a nation.
What does it take to protect land in the modern era of conservation?
Each one of our national parks, monuments, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas has been protected because someone loved them, cared about them, and knew them—because someone spent time developing a relationship with that par-
You write a lot about family members, many of whom work in energy development. Is your relationship with the natural world much different from theirs? It is true that my father and I disagree on most everything politically. But when it comes to land itself and its intrinsic value, we see through a very similar lens: it is a spiritual issue for him and it is a spiritual issue for me. Where does this spiri- tual connection come from? I believe it comes from spending a lifetime outside in wild places. You cannot experience the bugling of elk in the fall at the base of the Tetons without get- ting chills, or stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon at dawn and not realize there is something far older and wiser than we are—that we are not the center of the universe, nor are we the only species that lives and breathes and loves on this planet. It is a sense of profound humility.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the threats to the natural world that means so much to you? Of course. Issues like climate change and the loss of our wild- lands more than concern me. Love and grief are my constant companions. Joy and resistance fuel me. When I am filled with despair and wonder how to move forward, I am aware of the limits of my own imagination. But imagination shared creates collaboration. Collaboration creates community. And in com- munity, I truly believe anything is possible. Engaging with others empowers us to act on behalf of what we love, to employ our gifts in the service of something larger than ourselves. If we can commit to restoring and protecting wild nature together, I believe wild nature will take care of us.
INSIGHT · 29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68