Not just pretty views . . Ask yourself what you would do without public lands. Public lands and the outdoors raised me and I believe they played a big part in many peoples lives who have been fortunate enough to have access to them. They taught me how to breathe, how to listen, how to exist. I’ve grown, healed, and have become myself through the ability to enjoy, work for, and learn in public land spaces. Like so many other issues, what’s happening right now isn’t just political, it’s personal and fundamental. Public lands across the country are being threatened. Stripped of protections. Treated as another monetary asset we can take advantage of. As a species, we have already lost so much connection with nature. Through loss of contact there are so many who no longer care or understand its importance. Lessening that contact will only weaken this crucial understanding that ties into so many other issues and contributes a critical perspective to them and the world. These places are not empty. They’re full of life, full of history, full of meaning. It was never meant to be anyone’s to take in the first place. They’re indigenous lands. They’re climate buffers. They’re where so many of us go to feel free. They’re living, sacred, and essential to our environment, our mental health, our history, and our future. I’m not sharing these photos just to romanticize the view. I’m sharing them to say: this matters. It matters a whole awful lot. We don’t get a second chance once they’re gone and we no longer have the option to enjoy these lands without actively working to protect them. https://action.outdooralliance.org/a/reconciliation-senate?