This country has an incredible legacy of protecting land, and we need to keep building on that

This country has an incredible legacy of protecting land, and we need to keep building on that.

I’m one of the key people running a national coalition campaign to protect mature forests. In April 2022 President Biden issued an executive order, starting the process to protect these forests. It seemed like a response to our campaign, and the issues moved from being something that was just batted around to part of the conversation about natural climate solutions and conservation policy.

People come from all over the world, not only to see Rocky Mountain National Park and the Grand Canyon, but parks and lands that are further off the beaten path. And there are more mountains and more slot canyons and more rivers to protect.

Where we’re at now could be the halfway point of the American legacy of protecting land, and I’m not convinced that we’ve protected enough yet.