environmentalist heroes
The folks behind our parks and greenways are often unsung.
Here in the Bay Area, our seventy-year-old East Bay Regional Park system is the direct legacy of turn of the century environmentalists and activists who fought to preserve land for common use. It is also the largest, and one of the most beautiful, urban park systems in the nation.
When we head up to the hills to hike at Redwood or Tilden or Sibley Park...we enjoy the legacy of this activism. It's a resource available to every single citizen in perpetuity. Lined with parks and greenland and nature reserves, you could also say that the entire Bay Area, with its initial investment in land reserved for nature and for public use....made a good investment.
You won't hear current day conservatives talk like this though. Even if, in their communities, they too enjoy the legacy of those "muddy boot" nature-loving greens. Even if the "green" with the mud on his boots was a member of their party.
You may be fighting to get a dog walk...or to preserve open space land...or to create a greenway. Wherever you are, and no matter how small your contribution seems, if you are a community activist fighting to preserve open space and protect the environment, you are a hero in my book.
Think of it this way. People someday will thank you as they enjoy a beautiful day in the park, even if they don't know your name.
They may also, in part, have you to thank for the prosperity and economic health of your community. That's no small legacy.
Here in the Bay Area, our seventy-year-old East Bay Regional Park system is the direct legacy of turn of the century environmentalists and activists who fought to preserve land for common use. It is also the largest, and one of the most beautiful, urban park systems in the nation.
When we head up to the hills to hike at Redwood or Tilden or Sibley Park...we enjoy the legacy of this activism. It's a resource available to every single citizen in perpetuity. Lined with parks and greenland and nature reserves, you could also say that the entire Bay Area, with its initial investment in land reserved for nature and for public use....made a good investment.
You won't hear current day conservatives talk like this though. Even if, in their communities, they too enjoy the legacy of those "muddy boot" nature-loving greens. Even if the "green" with the mud on his boots was a member of their party.
You may be fighting to get a dog walk...or to preserve open space land...or to create a greenway. Wherever you are, and no matter how small your contribution seems, if you are a community activist fighting to preserve open space and protect the environment, you are a hero in my book.
Think of it this way. People someday will thank you as they enjoy a beautiful day in the park, even if they don't know your name.
They may also, in part, have you to thank for the prosperity and economic health of your community. That's no small legacy.
Comments
furthermore, a lot of that work, like the great botanical garden in Tilden (must see, they put a whole states worth of plants in one outdoor ravine) is all work program stuff... I think that was CCC.
Also... remember, Dean got into politics fighting for a bike trail, iirc it was in a restored wetland... not sure about that part.
-pyrrho
I sensed you might have also had that in mind... but if not, it fits.
Of course the spam wasn't..but that seems to be abating....rrrg. I hope.
Environmentalists fear more logging could result
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U.S. slashes estimated recreational value of national forests 90%
Environmentalists fear more logging could result