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Oak Tree on John Gilbert Nature Trail, St. Simons, Georgia Photo: SSLT
Today would have been Stewart Udall’s 100th birthday — and while many Americans may not know his name — he was Secretary of Interior to President’s John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and led the birth of today’s conservation movement in the 1960’s — there are few Americans who have not benefitted from his legacy, parks large and small across the nation. He made parks an integral part of modern America.
The American Academy of Parks and Recreation Administration said of Udall, “He broadened the concept of conservation from a mere custodianship of individual resources to an understanding of the interrelationships of natural and human resources and to a concern for the health and beauty of the entire environment. No longer were conservation activities, the saving of a forest, park, or wildlife range peripheral actions, isolated from the mainstream of American life.”
Why This Matters: Today in our divided federal government, it is hard to create new National Parks much less maintain the ones we have. Land trusts are increasingly the manifestation of Udall’s vision — community parks, trails and protected areas around the corner, donated by local residents as a gift to their neighbors and future generations. These are places like the John Gilbert Nature Trail, a forty-acre marsh-front park situated along one of the main roads on St. Simons, Georgia right in the heart of this island community, donated to the St. Simons Land Trust by a local resident in memory of her husband. At almost anytime on any given day, there are cars and bikes parked at the entrance to the trail, with families walking the trail or just hanging out on one of the benches contemplating nature and the extraordinary beauty of the live oaks draped with Spanish moss. Similarly, the Santa Fe Conservation Trust has helped to create a network of more than 40,500 acres of natural, open lands in northern New Mexico by providing landowners with tools to place their lands into “conservation status” and sponsoring programs like “Vamanos” to get people out walking on public trails in the Santa Fe Community. Public-private conservation partnerships will be critical to reaching the goal of protecting 30% of the planet by 2030.
Days after announcing a $1.6 billion investment into national parks, reserves, and Indigenous schools, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited Bears Ears National Monument to speak to Utah state and Tribal leaders about the future of the monument.
by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer The Department of the Interior announced Friday that it will use funds allocated by a conservation bill passed last year to fund 165 national park improvement projects that will create nearly 19,000 jobs. The Biden administration has pledged to protect 30% of public lands and waters by 2030, but accomplishing that means completing deferred maintenance […]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced late last week a new pricing structure for its federal flood insurance program. The federal government has been subsidizing flood insurance for people in areas defined by the government as flood-prone — the new pricing takes into account the actual risk to people’s homes.
Why This Matters: The prior system was inequitable and FEMA says its new system will mean that low-income people with less valuable homes will pay only their fair share.
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