Op-ed: As Recreation Booms, Access to Public Lands Becomes More Crucial

The Outdoor Retailer show, which comes to Salt Lake City every year, is a perfect time to recognize the importance of the great outdoors to our physical health and our economic well-being.

Wild places in America shape who we are, sometimes in profound ways. For me, a trip to the San Juan Mountains as a teenager revealed the soaring peaks, swift-flowing rivers and the majestic forests of the West. That experience captured my imagination. I knew from that moment that I wanted to protect those treasures.

As an adult, my life has been intimately connected with the western outdoors, as a river guide, as a wilderness instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School and now as the leader of a conservation organization.

But over time I’ve realized that to be fully engaged with the natural world, you don’t have to be in the most remote wildernesses or the highest mountains. Many of us find opportunities right in our communities’ backyards.

That’s no accident. Access to public lands for all Americans to enjoy is entirely intentional. Our forebears made sure land was set aside for recreation and resource conservation. More than a benefit or “perk” that we happen to enjoy as Americans, these lands really do define who we are. They are essential to our national character and our regional cultures. It’s a rich legacy we want to pass along to future generations.

Read the full story here.