1.  More than 150 years ago, the U.S. government began setting aside public land to protect scenery and wildlife, and to allow people to enjoy them long into the future (Yellowstone was the world's first national park).   For decades Congress has trimmed funding from public lands, so that between 2010 and late 2024 the National Park Service lost 20 percent of its workers even as a record 332 million people visited these public lands.  Staffing at national wildlife refuges, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, shrank 30 percent during the same period.  Yet supporting wildlife on public lands, working to reduce wildfire risk, and fending off invasive species require constant work, all of which is made more difficult by recent deeper cuts to funding. Disruptions to monitoring make it harder for scientists to know how species are faring, while the billions of dollars for nearby communities generated each year by national parks and refuges, are threatened.  Support public lands, and urge lawmakers to support them as well.  

2.  In a document titled "A Call for Climate Justice and the Common Home,"  Roman Catholic leaders in early July, 2025 appealed to world leaders to address the climate crisis more forcefully.  At the same time, Pope Leo approved a new Mass titled "Mass for the Care of Creation," inspired in part by Pope Francis' landmark 2015 encyclical on the environment, "Laudato Si," (Praise Be To You).  The new Mass "offers liturgical, spiritual and communal support" for all who care that parts of our world are being ravaged, "a matter of social, economic and human justice," according to the Vatican.  In the midst of the triple threat of climate change, species extinction (60 percent of all land and water animal life, 30 percent of bird and insect species), and pollution (PFAS or "forever chemicals," microplastics, carbon emissions, industrial and farm run-off,etc.), the decree for the new Mass states: "At this time it is evident that the work of creation is seriously threatened because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods God has endowed to our care."  Add your voice to those of Pope Leo and other religious leaders by urging our own leaders to work toward the care of our shared common home.  

3.  The U.S. Department of the Interior - which oversees the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), among other agencies - manages 640 million acres of public federal land (forests, rivers, wetlands, grasslands, deserts, and mountains) that offer unmatched opportunities to hike, camp, fish, hunt, paddle, watch wildlife, and connect with nature, according to the National Wildlife Federation.  Yet these priceless public lands (63 national parks, 154 national forests, 588 wildlife refuges) face persistent threats by policymakers of being sold off to balance budgets or fund other priorities.  Selling off public lands would "irrevocably reduce public access and degrade wildlife habitat," threatening thousands of at-risk wildlife species, clean water, and the next generation of outdoor explorers.  Public lands are the birthright of every American, so be an advocate of protecting  and preserving our public lands.

4.  While the climate crisis is already altering natural systems, threatening biodiversity, and harming endangered wildlife, we hear how important it is that everyone has access to the outdoors (especially children) and the public spaces that tell a fuller history of our country, according to the Trust for Public Land (tpl.org).  As the continued development of natural land for human use continues to degrade habitat, clean water, and public spaces, we would do well to remember the 1916 National Park Service Organic Act that states its purpose "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."  Organizations such as TPL  work to conserve the public lands that ensure the safety of wildlife, the preservation of clean water, while expanding access to nature for communities.  Be a part of this valuable work by supporting TPL, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Pheasants Forever, and other worthy organizations working on behalf of a healthier world for all of us.