In most of the rural places where I work, Earth Day is not a construct that I see referenced often. These communities are filled with people who touch the land, and directly tend the soil, forests, and rangelands. They are the first responders in moments of natural disaster, whether it is fire or flood. They understand their role within their landscapes and live daily as part of the systems that Earth Day is supposed to remind us exists.

I am part of what some might call the Earth Day generation, meaning, I was raised in New York City during a period of rising environmental consciousness. I worried about pollution, about letting the water run from the faucet while I brushed my teeth, about the fact that there was no recycling, and about limited corporate accountability. I grew up wanting to save the planet.

In college, I spent a semester in Africa, drawn by the opportunities learn about wildlife and experience a different culture and people. But I also saw poverty, and people working to preserve personal dignity against all odds. I left Africa frustrated that the conservation priorities lacked strategies to improve the livelihood of the people who knew the most about the land and the majestic animals that had drawn me to region.

After college I worked in eastern Kentucky, where poverty and environmental destruction had deep impacts on rural people in my own country. I met a war veteran whose land was strip mined while he was abroad protecting our country. I met a woman fighting to have the coal company do something about the fact they had contaminated the wells of her community. I met two best friends that were fighting to protect their community from a toxic facility that wanted to locate in the town where they had been raised.

And, it was here, nestled in the hollows of coal country I met my first organic farmer, saw my first residential recycling program, and encountered people engaged in democracy within their community and with their government. For the first time I saw what it would look like if we tried to take care of the environment by listening to and following the lead of those most impacted by its demise and best positioned to improve the conditions. 

Over the past 10 years in my work at Sustainable Northwest, I have met countless individuals -- community leaders, rural business owners, foresters, loggers, ranchers, tribal leaders, county commissioners, government employees, the young and the old, the poor and the rich -- fighting to create solutions that will keep the West’s environment, culture, and communities vibrant and resilient.

As you think about Earth Day, I challenge you think beyond efficient light bulbs and recycling and embrace a vision that recognizes that inextricable link between the protection and productivity of the land and the health of its communities, a vision that focuses on the vital role that rural America plays stewarding our national lands.