Listening to America
Friday, July 16, 2010
By: Molly Lester

Hundreds gather in Asheville for America's Great Outdoors sessions

Outdoor recreation advocates and land conservationists caught the ear of the Obama administration with their thoughts on how to bring people back to America’s Great Outdoors.

Some 500 people gathered at AB Technical Community College in Asheville on July 15^th to take part in a listening session sponsored by the president’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, launched earlier this year.

The Initiative’s purpose is to start dialogues between citizens and the federal government on land and water conservation, outdoor recreation and reconnecting Americans to the nation’s natural treasures. Asheville hosted the seventh listening session to be held by 10 federal agencies collecting ideas, requests and examples of successful partnerships for a report to the White House in November.

BRP Superintendent Phil Francis talks to CTNC's Reid Wilson and AGO representatives Will Shafroth and Tom Strickland (L-R) during Thursday's tour. PHOTO BY BILL SANDERS, CITIZEN-TIMES

CTNC’s Executive Director Reid Wilson, in his role as a steering committee member for the Land for Tomorrow coalition, participated Wednesday morning in a news conference at which North Carolina conservation advocates pointed to the state’s successes and potential for leadership as the AGO initiative proceeds.

“The Obama Administration is coming to learn from our successes and our innovations,” Wilson said. “We want to urge them to increase the pace of land conservation, and to connect people, especially children and families, with land conservation in their communities.”

Government representatives met with participants at a reception Wednesday night, a tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway on Thursday morning, and Thursday afternoon before the general listening session.

Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland, National Parks Service Director Jon Jarvis, and other senior administration officials welcomed participants to Thursday's session. Jarvis reminded his audience that America’s most lucrative conservation efforts were implemented during times of economic recession, like the one we face today. Both Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt set aside capital to protect American land during the Civil War and the end of the country’s worst depression, respectively, he said.

Strickland also noted the “very encouraging” turnout, estimated at 300 to 400 people, including a clutch of CTNC staff, interns and supporters. Some of the crowd came for a separate listening session for younger people Thursday morning, in which participants aged 15 to 24 discussed strategies to get their peers outside. They agreed that better marketing, specifically through technology, is needed to inform youth about the variety of opportunities available to them outdoors.

In the afternoon session, the full group viewed a short film on American’s Great Outdoors before splitting into smaller groups based on preferred topics, discussing conservation strategies for working lands, open space policies and programs to encourage America’s youth to get outdoors.

Each session was held in a classroom of AB Technical Community College, mediated by a government official. Participants enlightened officials on which strategies worked effectively for conservation and outdoor recreation, what challenges they faced, how the federal government could become a more effective partner in these endeavors and what tools and resources conservation projects need.

All the sessions were recorded. At the end of the tour, a report will be compiled for President Obama to review and use as his administration develops an agenda for protection of America’s Great Outdoors.

“We want to create an outdoor conservation agenda to rival Teddy Roosevelt’s for the 21st century,” Strickland said. “I wish we could bottle up the energy here in Asheville and distribute it around the country. What you’re doing is really the future.”

Visit CTNC's page on America's Great Outdoors for information on how to participate as the listening tour continues.

Visit CTNC's Facebook page for links to news stories about the AGO listening session.