It’s Time for a Participation Revolution

It’s time to revolutionize how we participate in our democracy. You organized. You posted. You marched. You protested. You’ve seen what a unified and organized force we can be when you take action. And now, it’s time to amplify your voice and take it to the next level.

Like many of you reading this, my life was impacted by COVID-19. I lost my job due to cutbacks at our company. I lost family members due to COVID. And the sense of certainty I once had was flipped into a world of uncertainty and loss.

I turned to nature for my therapy.

Nature taught me to appreciate my situation. If I hadn’t lost my job, I would not have had the opportunity to explore the trails, dirt roads, and public lands that are my backyard here in Colorado. Our public lands are awesome wildlands and open spaces to explore whether you like to hike, camp, hunt, fish, or get away from the crowds and be one with nature.

The more I explored, the more I felt connected to nature and heard her call for help. From drilling leases on our public lands to wildfires raging, nature was speaking to me, to all of us.

Many of you are already involved and taking action. Our mission is to rally the folks still on the fence and who may not fully understand how our votes can protect public lands and that we need to find the balance among resource extraction and protecting the ecosystem, wildlife, and cultural heritage of the lands so that future generations can continue to visit them.

If we want to keep enjoying our public lands, we have to step up to protect them. We have already seen what the power of our voices can accomplish, and the road ahead requires that we continue to use our voices to create change.

Today, the world is changing faster than any of us could have imagined. We’ve witnessed how the power of our unified voices can influence change, and it is just the beginning. We’re right around the corner from a presidential election, and we have a choice:

1. We can step up, get in the game, make our voices heard, and create change.
2. Or, we can sit on the sidelines looking west for a sunrise, hoping things will change.

Our vote is our voice, and our voice is power.

I’m writing to all of you who have found peace, joy, and adventure outdoors. Whether you’re a hardcore backcountry skier, a weekend warrior, or somewhere in between, it’s time that we all stepped up and made our voices clear: we need to protect our lands from those who believe that climate change is a lie and that public lands are resources to be exploited at will.

This is nature’s call to us: Your voice matters. Your vote matters.

Here’s how you can make sure our voices are heard in this election:

1. Get yourself registered to vote today. In many states, you can register online.
2. Get informed. How are your public lands being impacted?
3. Get involved. Mobilize with others who are turning their love for public lands into action.
4. Get out and vote. Election day is November 3, 2020.

We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and the actions we take today will echo in the lives of those that come after us. The time has come for a participation revolution.