The spirit of conservation is alive and well!

There are many reasons to go to the Land Trust Alliance Rally, the annual gathering of local conservationists from across the country. At the top of my list is always the chance to charge my batteries with the energy...

From the looks on the faces of the kids and the cheers and applause from everyone in the audience at an announcement I attended last week, it is clear that something unusual and important is happening in Albuquerque.

I stood at a podium with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as he...

Two things struck me as I sat in the East Wing of the White House late yesterday afternoon, listening to President Obama release his America's Great Outdoors report.

The first was that we have a president who truly understands, and is committed to, the responsibility he, and all of us,...

Conserving land benefits all Americans, from our inner cities to wilderness areas. People cherish their local playgrounds as places children can play and enjoy the outdoors, and they appreciate trail access to our rivers through public lands. Whether you bike, hike, hunt, fish, or enjoy nature and historic places, each...

Even if you hike, fish, hunt, ski, bike, or view wildlife in any of our iconic national parks, historic sites, and wildlife refuges, you might be unaware that millions of acres of these great places were protected with funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Created...

Recently we learned that housing prices might finally be bottoming out. But it is going to take a while for the real estate market to find a solid footing, and in the meantime land conservation is gaining ground.

Prized conservation lands--farms, forests, wildlife habitat, and watersheds--are available at...

Most of my adult life, I've been a beekeeper, which has taken me deep into a tiny niche of the natural world and shown me the wonderful interplay of design, behavior, adaptation, and interrelationship with other species that has enabled honeybees to survive and thrive over the millennia.

Bees exhibit...

Much of the focus at this week's climate summit in Copenhagen will be on capping the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. But another important focus will be on the protection of forests and other natural systems that absorb CO2 and keep it out of the atmosphere.

The need...

At this time of year many of us take extra time to volunteer, give back to our communities, and support those in need. And each holiday season satisfying stories emerge of the selfless acts of giving that inspire others to join in and help make their world a better place....

Change is essential, and so is remembering where we came from and who helped us along the way.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending an event organized by the National Park Service at the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood...

After elections attention most often centers on the blue-red divide. But in yesterday’s elections, we saw that, yet again, the common bond for voters is land conservation.

Voters approved 64 percent of the 25 state and mostly local ballot measures for land conservation. The big victory came in New Jersey,...

For more than two decades, there has been one constant at the ballot box. Year in, year out, in liberal and conservative regions alike, clean water, clean air, parks, and land conservation measures are clear winners. Over that period, more than 75 percent of these measures have passed, often...

Often our impulse to conserve land, rather than develop it, is rooted in our hearts: The landscapes we love to see, the places we played as children, the trails and paths that take us into nature. These are powerful reasons and they—our deep connections to land and nature—are why I...

By Will Rogers

This week the Senate is taking its turn discussing climate-change legislation. Sens. Boxer and Kerry have introduced their version of a bill to create a comprehensive program to address climate change. Any final climate legislation should include support for programs that reward America's forest owners for taking...

A few weeks ago I shared a podium in Brooklyn with a group of ten landscape designers--none of them over five feet tall. But in describing their work, these fifth graders from P.S./M.S. 394 in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn were all business.

They were there to open...

The Ken Burns documentary series beginning Sunday evening on PBS bills our national parks as "America's best idea," a phrase borrowed from author Wallace Stegner. But lost in the excitement about the series may be the understanding that this "best idea" is not complete.

Our national parks are a remarkable...

So what are you doing on September 26? That is the date of National Public Lands Day and as in years past, more than 100,000 Americans will be volunteering at thousands of public parks, forests, and wildlife refuges. They will be pulling weeds, building trails, hauling trash, and generally doing...

Last month, my family and I spent part of our vacation in the Colorado Rockies, hiking on public lands that are collectively owned by all of us. Every time I get the chance to enjoy the places we all own together, I am thankful for a farsighted decision made almost...

Parks are always important and even more important in tough economic times. A new poll points to increasing demand for parks and playgrounds during the current recession, underscoring the importance of parks to families, cities, and human health. While logic might dictate that park funding should be cut in hard...