Experiencing wild, open, and natural spaces is part of what it means to me to be American, and I know I'm not alone in that belief.
asserted
I → experience → belief
Our shared connection to nature crosses geography, generations, and political beliefs.
asserted
connection → share → geography
From a neighborhood trail to a national park or a stretch of open desert, the outdoors gives us places to come together, find perspective, and experience something larger than ourselves.
asserted
outdoors → give → ourselves
At a time of growing loneliness, division, and stress, being outside can improve physical and mental well-being, strengthen community, and reconnect us with one another.
asserted
being → grow → one
For millions of Americans, public lands make that possible.
asserted
that → make → Americans
But the places that sustain that connection are under growing pressure due to decisions made by elected leaders.
asserted
that → sustain → leaders
That is why, as we head into this year’s midterm election, voters must ask every candidate a simple question: How will you protect our public lands?
asserted
you → head → lands
The answer will help determine what we leave future generations.
asserted
we → help → generations
A presidential proclamation issued this summer reduced the monument’s boundaries from roughly 1.36 million acres to about 131,000, removing monument protections from more than 90% of the landscape.
asserted
proclamation → issue → landscape
Bears Ears is a living cultural landscape and sacred ancestral homeland of deep significance to Tribal Nations.
asserted
Ears → live → Nations
Similar decisions are unfolding across the country.
asserted
decisions → unfold → country
Congress rolled back protections for the Boundary Waters, opening the door to mining in its headwaters.
asserted
Congress → roll → headwaters
The Trump Administration is also considering transferring a parcel of Yosemite National Park to a private developer.
asserted
Administration → consider → developer
Pristine roadless backcountry may also be opened to development and extraction.
uncertain
backcountry → open → development
These decisions will have lasting consequences.
asserted
decisions → have → consequences
There is room for honest debate about how public lands should be managed.
asserted
lands → be → debate
Recreation, conservation, grazing, timber, energy development, and local economies all deserve consideration.
asserted
Recreation → deserve → consideration
Responsible stewardship requires balancing those interests while protecting the places that generations of Americans have worked to preserve.
asserted
generations → require → Americans
That debate matters because public lands are not only a conservation legacy—they are also an economic engine.
asserted
they → matter → ?
Outdoor recreation generates $1.3 trillion in economic output and supports 5.2 million American jobs.
asserted
recreation → generate → jobs
Communities and businesses across the country depend on the forests, rivers, trails, parks, and open spaces that draw people outdoors.
asserted
that → depend → people
The meaning runs deep.
asserted
meaning → run → ?
Public lands are among the few places in American life that connect all of us.
asserted
that → connect → us
The rock climber in Yosemite and the hunter in Montana may not share the same politics, but they share a stake in keeping these places healthy, accessible, and protected.
uncertain
they → share → places
Public lands remind us that our common ground is more than an idea—they’re real places beneath our feet.
asserted
ground → remind → feet
The decisions made today will outlast this administration and this Congress.
asserted
decisions → make → administration
Once public lands are permanently altered, fragmented, or developed, there’s no going back.
asserted
lands → alter → ?
One of the best ways to protect these places is to help connect more people to experience them.
asserted
One → protect → them
People protect what they know.
asserted
they → protect → what
They fight for places that become part of their lives.
asserted
that → fight → lives
The future of our public lands will be decided by whether Americans still believe they are worth protecting, and whether we elect leaders who believe it too.
asserted
who → decide → it
As candidates ask for our vote, we should ask where they stand.
asserted
they → ask → vote
Look at the choices they have made.
asserted
they → look → choices
Look at the policies they support and listen carefully to their answers.
asserted
they → look → answers
For generations, Americans of every political persuasion have chosen to safeguard extraordinary places for everyone who would come after them.
asserted
who → choose → them
The forests, rivers, and mountains we enjoy today exist because of those choices.
asserted
we → enjoy → choices
We can treat public lands as another political issue, or we can recognize them for what they are: places that make us healthier, bring us together, and connect us to something larger than ourselves.
asserted
us → treat → ourselves
This November, we must elect leaders who believe that public lands are worth protecting.
asserted
lands → elect → leaders
The Aporia
