My hope for our public lands and waters in 2050 is that America The Beautiful National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Passes are routinely gifted to newly naturalized citizens. That our National Park Service units, Forest Service group sites, BLM group sites, and National Wildlife Refuge visitor centers are honored by becoming a basecamp for naturalization ceremonies nationwide, where new citizens, as they take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America, and their loved ones are welcomed onto the places we steward for present and future generations. 25 years from now, my greatest hope is that America is truly a nation that honors its immigrant roots, providing a fair and accessible pathway to citizenship. And that this same pathway also leads to our public lands & waters.

Hi:

The most important factor to keep in mind when arguing for public lands conservation is that this issue is bipartisan. This is something GOP politicians don't seem to understand: those on the political left and the political right enjoy our public lands. Everybody enjoys our parks and forests -- it is NOT a liberal issue.

It is thus critical to keep to keep progressive leftist/woke language and tactics out of the conservation movement. In other words, do NOT follow the example of the Sierra Club, which has become indistinguishable from the Democratic Socialists of America, BLM, or other leftist NGOs. That will doom the movement.

Public lands conservation is one of the best things about America. Let's keep it positive, patriotic, and bipartisan!

The earth's lands and waters should not be owned. Resource extraction must be done respectfully, and not for private profit. Yeah, radical.
No grazing of animals to kill and eat. No hunting so men can feel virile.
Leave the lands and waters to run themselves. Keep human desires small. We are the most destructive species EVER.

People will walk away from vehicles to marvel at great old trees and steep rocky views and sparkling rivers. Sometimes, they will join a group to learn the origins, history, names of what they are seeing. The public lands will be stewarded to protect animals and plants, quiet dark skies, so that all may come and enjoy them. Waterfalls and thrush calls will be heard (not backup beepers on buses). There will be trail crews, still using shovels and saws (not powered tools). Beyond the precious core (National Parks and all Wilderness areas) miles of trails for full access by bicyclists will be maintained. And beyond the quiet areas, there will be small roads for motorized vehicles (up to 4 passengers).

There should be no land sales or leases, no corporate (or for profit) use, no mining or drilling or data centers. Lands shall be maintained in proper and good condition and remain available for appropriate public use. Protected lands and environments should remain protected, especially "wilderness". All staffing should be restored to easily meet good condition requirement and include full public protection and education. Full fire fighting capability should be maintained. More public land should be added, especially contiguous areas. Private contiguous land should have judicious and publicly controlled uses. Public lands should be fully protected, remain in the public domain and under public control.

I hope for a future grounded in sustainable farming, responsible development, and a renewed commitment to native plants and the protection of wild places and places that should return to be wild. I worry about the continued loss of biodiversity to aggressive non‑native species, the decline of soil health, and the steady conversion of land driven by development and greed. I envision more land being purchased and safeguarded by individuals, land trusts, and nonprofit organizations acting as true stewards. Our Native peoples know this land more deeply than anyone; we should honor that knowledge, listen, and act with urgency. The future of humanity depends on protecting the Earth. We must reconnect with nature, respect our environment, and recognize the intrinsic value of the planet—not as a resource to exploit, but as our home.

That our public land managers can be freed from the extreme pendulum shifts of our politics and make progress on clear long term goals. That the public can learn to share with other owners and let go of absolutist objectives for their public lands. These shared lands can and should be a source of unity and we all must be able to see our interests reflected in how they are cared for and used. Land owners have responsibilities, including to not only recognize the interests of others, but also to be willing to champion them so that the constituency that has kept them through our history will grow, not shrink.

A Green and Blue Framework of Conserved Lands and Waters

Public lands should create a permanent and, where possible, connected green and blue framework across the U.S. (in urban and rural areas and in the east and west) around which Americans can build and maintain healthy and prosperous communities. That framework should consist of a coordinated system of federal, state, local, and non-profit conservation lands and waters, as well as privately owned lands with conservation restrictions, that are managed sustainably for agriculture and forestry uses.

Taken together these lands will provide: habitat that is resilient to climate change for the whole range of native plant and animal species, access for enjoyment of the outdoors for all Americans, protection of water supplies for nature and people, storage of carbon, insulation from natural hazards, management of urban development, and the preservation of Tribal and other sacred and beautiful places that are meaningful to American history and culture.

While serving different purposes, public lands should be acquired, managed, and stewarded for their appropriate uses at functional scales with a long-term perspective, through coordination among landholding agencies and in ways that are informed by conservation science, traditional knowledge, and the full engagement of the diversity of stakeholders and rightsholders.

Acquired and managed in this way, a green and blue framework of public lands and waters will require increased public investment, but the long term documentable benefits of the framework will far, far outweigh the costs.

My biggest hope for America's public lands and waters in 2050 is that we have built the democratic capacity to conserve and steward them for generations. Conservation should not be something government does for people, but something people do with one another through durable, collaborative institutions.

The greatest challenge isn't only climate change or biodiversity loss. It's institutional fragility. The dismantling of the Bears Ears Commission showed how years of collaborative conservation can be undone by political change. If every election can unravel decades of relationship-building, then our conservation system isn't designed for the long horizon that biodiversity requires.

That challenge is one of the central themes I explore in my forthcoming book, "Designing Nature's Half": how we collaboratively design landscape-scale conservation decisions, and the durable institutions needed to steward those decisions across generations.

The biggest change I hope to see is a shift in how we think about conservation itself.

This is the In-Between Time. We know the future we hope to achieve by 2050. The question is not only what landscapes we hope to conserve, but what collaborative, democratic institutions we must build between now and then. As governments and priorities change, citizens, Tribal Nations, landowners, scientists, businesses, and civic organizations must sustain the long-term collaborations that conservation requires.

If we truly embrace the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's vision of "living in harmony with nature by 2050", conserving landscapes is only part of the work. We must also build the collaborative institutions capable of stewarding them across generations.