Activity Report Explorer

Rio Grande Valley Broadband • Entered by Susan Ostlie on March 31, 2021

Network for Landscape Conservation – justice and diversity

March 31, 2021

Key Issue: Public Lands Health & Protection
Activity Type: Trainings (WALTS, CAREs/GLOWs, research, conferences, workshops, etc.)
Key Partners: Moderator – Dr. Mamie Parker, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources Commissioner and Former Head of Fisheries at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services,

Short Description of Activity

The modern conservation movement in the US has had many celebrated successes in terms of the National Park system and other public lands, private land acquisitions and easements, and more. But some of this has come at the considerable expense of underrepresented populations and benefited some populations far more than others. It is past time to correct a historic imbalance and recalibrate the land conservation movement as one for all people.
Panel Members:
Martha Williams – Principal Deputy Director of US Fish & Wildlife Service;
Patrick Gonzales Rogers – Executive Director of Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition;
Curtis Bennett – Director of Equity & Community Engagement at National Aquarium, and steering committee member of Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition;
David Lamfrom – Vice President of Regional Programs at the National Parks Conservation Association.For the future of nature and society, we must move beyond the concept of nature as exclusive for a few to nature as essential for all.
The purpose of this forum is to explore opportunities (and examples) for building a broad-based and enduring constituency for landscape conservation, and for the many essential services nature provides for all people, in all places.

Reflection/Evaluation

This was one of the most useful and motivating panel discussions I have attended this year. Each one of the speakers had a unique perspective, a distinctive ethnic background, and very strong educational, scientific and work credentials. It motivated me to reach out again to the Land Grant Communities for input in a collaborative project I am the chairperson on for the Sandia Collaborative. I had pretty much given up on getting them to engage, but I think that is wrong-headed, and I will try to re-engage them in the next week or so. This was a really well-constructed webinar. I believe they said they had 900 participants from all over the globe for this activity.