“The President was on the mark in everything he said: We need greater federal funding and partnerships with land conservation groups to protect the beautiful and ecologically vital land around the country. We need to protect working farmland. We need to create more parks in our cities and create jobs for young people working outdoors.”

This is the exuberant message I texted my colleagues at Scenic Hudson, the organization I head, on February 16, shortly after President Obama finished briefing the country’s conservation leaders on details of his America’s Great Outdoors initiative. I was fortunate to be on hand as he unveiled his conservation blueprint for harnessing federal resources, in collaboration with state and local initiatives, to connect more people with our nation’s natural treasures.

You could play an important role in determining the America’s Great Outdoors initiative’s future. More about that below.

The President’s East Wing talk culminated months of public outreach and planning among senior administration officials, including the secretaries of the Agriculture and Interior departments, and chiefs of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corp of Engineers and other natural resource agencies. It reflects vision and leadership at a crucial moment when our country’s spectacular outdoor resources can be the catalyst for creating jobs and safeguarding the health of all Americans. (The final America’s Great Outdoors report is available at americasgreatoutdoors.gov.

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