This year, as with the 4th Saturday of every September, the National Public Lands Day has come to mark its 30th turn around the sun. Jointly organized by the NPS and NEEF in the US, it involves a lot of free National Park travel, volunteering and other opportunities. However, due to illness and being busy, this year, I am unable to do any of that. However, I am happy to commemorate it, along with the first day of Fall for 2023.
Going from Good to Bad
The concept of public lands, conservation and shared heritage – we think of them as novel ideas, but you look at a typical waterhole in Africa, and you see how animals share and share alike. Tribal cultures also evolved around those ideas. It is only in the last few centuries that the worst harm to the notion of public lands was done with horrifying concepts of private ownership, “manifest destiny” and other unacceptable inventions started destroying the wisdom of living with nature, and sharing her bounties with everyone.
Awareness opportunities
And now, even after a 100+ years of National Parks, Forests, State and other regional parks, reserves, preserves and a wonderful bounty of other concepts, we struggle to explain the importance of leaving nature be, and the importance of public lands and sharing. Well, that’s the struggle. However, therein are also the opportunities.
The Benefits
By getting people across generations, and of course the younger generations interested in public lands, we can improve our interactions and care for nature, provide funding and resources for conservation, and the backbone of support conservation efforts need. Along the way, we can save a few species and leave behind a healing, breathing planet!
So go out there, and enjoy the public lands, and support their cause, not just today, but every day!
References
- The NPS on National Public Lands Day: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/public-lands-day.htm
- NEEF on National Public Lands Day: https://www.neefusa.org/what-we-do/conservation/national-public-lands-day/npld-promotional-toolkit