Republicans Are Tearing Down Public Land Policy. We Can Build It Back Stronger

We're already doing it.

In a social sciences grad school course, a classmate asked about how we should navigate community organizing with a Congress that worked against local needs. My wonderful professor practically scoffed when she answered. “That matters,” she said. “But real change comes at the local level—in-person, grassroots mobilizing where people come together and take action.”

I’ve reached for that sentiment many times in my career, especially when citizen voices feel ignored. I found the truth in it while researching community activism in urban greenways. I saw its wisdom as residents doggedly pursued safe green spaces in our city parks.

I turn back to it again today, in light of recent disheartening news out of D.C.

This month, the dismantling of U.S. Forest Service field offices and the passage of H.J. Res. 140—a provision that stripped environmental protections from beloved public lands—hit hard. Both moves flew in the face of millions of Americans who participated in public comment periods, lobbied their Reps, and organized locally.

Right along with the loss of protected land, there is a perceived loss of voice. The avenues we depend upon to affect change feel blocked. The landscape is disorienting and, frankly, dismaying.

Then I remember the North Star. That guiding light of grassroots organizing—the place where“real change” is always in the works—is still beaming. It is resilient and it is showing us the way forward.

Already, organizations supporting now-unprotected land are raising money to counter mining in their communities.

Resident-advocates are working with state legislatures to protect their land and water through permitting and comprehensive watershed planning.

And legal groups are already forging challenges to the legality of the government’s actions, which stripped public participation from the decision-making process for federal lands.

More people are becoming more involved in the civics of public land stewardship, and because of it, we are finding groundbreaking ways to protect the environment. Shared experience, patriotism, compassion, and wonder bring unexpected allies together to fight for a common goal. Something much bigger than ourselves.

We are discovering as a nation how the health of our democracy is tied intricately to the health of our public land.

All the corruption and greed going on in the Capitol–yeah, it matters. But I’m more interested in what’s going on everywhere else, from town halls and club meetings to coffee shop conversations and trail hikes. Real change is happening at the local level with all of us, responding and innovating to make the world better. And I am so excited to see the bold, brave country we are creating now.

With love and hope for the future,

Stephanie

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