Wilderness and Conservation

Hey guys!

So I just got back from an amazing five weeks in a beautiful part of Oregon- Mount Hood. I was part of the Northwest Youth Corps, camping in the backcountry on the mountain and doing hours and hours of trail maintenence work every day. The program helped to remind me why I have become an environmentalist, and why we need to save our planet. Living in the wilderness for five weeks, seeing amazing sunsets and more stars than I have ever seen in DC, getting to see a rainbow of wildflowers across pristine meadows every single day, and tasting fresh, pure air are experiences that fewer and fewer people get these days. We talked a lot about conservation ethics, the wilderness, and leave no trace. Sometimes I think I get too caught up in the politics of the environmental movement and this experience brought it home for me.

I had an interesting conversation with my dad on the way home about the differences in the conservation movement and the environmental movement. It seems that there are a lot of conservative people who care about wilderness preservation but are wary of the super-liberal green environmental movement. To me, the two movements are totally intertwined, but there does seem to be a gap for many people. If we could bridge that gap, demonstrating that without the wilderness there is no need for the green movement, and without the green movement there will be no wilderness (climate change will not just "skip over" protected areas), we could get a whole lot more people on board to save the planet.We have to remember Teddy Roosevelt's message and legacy... the beauty of America's wilderness is what makes our country special. So get a group of people together, and head out camping somewhere beautiful, and remind yourself why we're doing this.