Connecting People to the Land
©2011 Theodore MackWe've all heard the dreaded refrain on family outings, "Are we there yet?" The dragging of feet and constant whining can make you question your sanity as you try to take in a nice view or enjoy some much-needed exercise. I'll admit feeling this way while hiking with our two young daughters, now 18 and 14, to places like the Candelabra Tree at Butano State Park. At first, I would try to extoll the beauty of our open space, how lucky we were to have it undeveloped, and so close to home. After some reluctance, my kids would fall into a comfortable pace, talking and laughing, and some- times, for the first time in weeks, really connect, not just with nature but with each other.
After 16 years at POST, I've come to appreciate the power of connecting people to the land. I've seen it with our volunteers as they work together to eradicate invasive weeds, or learn something new during a volunteer training day. I've seen it in the eyes of our conservation partners when, after years of effort, we finally announce the opening of a new trail for everyone to enjoy. And I've seen it in the generous giving year in and year out by you, our donors. This act of connecting people to the benefits of healthy, open lands and inspiring them to action is at the heart of what we do here at POST, and it's something I'm proud to continue in my new role as president of POST.
While we build on our successful track record of preserving our most vulnerable undeveloped lands, we must address the challenges of the current economy. Among them are the diminishing resources of our public agencies, felt most acutely in the impending closures of up to 70 state parks, and the need for a new era of collaboration with all our partners to achieve true landscape-level conservation. We’ve done a tremendous job so far protecting individual properties, but now we must knit these lands into a healthy, sustainable ecosystem that can withstand the vagaries of climate change and support the rich variety of life we've come to love about living here.
Working at such a regional scale requires teamwork and sustained collaboration. Just as our world is evolving, so must the way we accomplish our conservation goals. That's why, in the coming years, you’ll be hearing more about our collaborations like the Living Landscape Initiative, which a group of five conservation organizations including POST launched this past spring to protect 80,000 acres in and around Silicon Valley over the next 20 years. And that's why POST will be looking for new ways to make sure our public agencies have a strong basis of support to weather tough economic times.
As we move forward with this work, I hold firm to what so many of you who support POST have shown me: success is not merely measured in the acres we've saved, but in the connections we've built with the land and with each other.
Thank you.
Walter T. Moore
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