connection to the land took hold?
At birth. I’m weirdly connected to Utah—the sights and smells, and everything about being in a place where you were born. I’ve always been passionate about protecting lands and waters and the beauty around us, but also preserving and building com-munities—making sure we have strong connections to the places that we’re in and to each other. This also includes social justice issues. Growing up in Utah, even though I’m a white, privileged male, I became acutely aware of how differently I could be treated for what I felt were things that didn’t think matter.
How do you think nonprofits will contribute to land conservation in the future?
I think we’re in a really amazing moment for social change and for the role of nonprofits in helping us strengthen our communities. For young people who are interested in enjoying the natural world but also looking at how they want to apply their energies for the future, nonprofits are a place where you can be very creative and very solution-oriented.
There are many ways of engaging the public and private sectors to do a lot of good. A lot of people in our country aren’t that aware that Native Americans even exist. But there’s so much they could teach us—for example, the ways they engage in the public process. There’s probably dozens of sectors of our society that could get organized around policy change, where new service provision is needed, and where we can create a fuller and more complete society by helping the public participate more.
I think the people in nonprofits need to figure out how to build the kind of organizations—and how to be the kind of leaders—we all need guiding us forward. I have a lot of hope in nonprofits, and there are many ways for people to define their careers in the nonprofit sector, looking at the greater good and being creative about how each person applies their energies. Nonprofits are a great place to be, and young people can get involved and look at how they can make this important part of our society stronger.
—Interview by Allison Torres Burtka
Summer gathering (Tim Peterson)
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