Click here to read the inaugural blog post from Colorado Native Son Ken Salazar. Here’s an excerpt:
When I first ran for public office, I adopted as my campaign theme, “Fighting for Colorado’s Land, Water and People.” Genuinely rooted in my life experiences, working on a farm and cattle ranch, laboring in the outdoors built the foundation of those core values and became a major focus throughout my career. It has led to inspiring experiences and taught me great and humbling lessons.
I have spent a lifetime working to protect America’s legacy in conservation, recreation, and preservation. In my time as Secretary of the Interior, United States Senator, Colorado Attorney General, Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and in the creation of Great Outdoors Colorado, I have attempted to make the case that jobs and economic development are supported by conservation efforts, open and working lands – our great outdoors. Indeed, outdoor recreation and preservation account for millions of jobs in the United States.
As Americans, we should all be proud of the legacy given to us by President Theodore Roosevelt and many others who have made the United States the conservation leader of the world. Continuing this legacy requires new stewards: each generation needs people who will fight to protect the land today, and for the future.
One of the many Americans who have taken up the mantle as a conservation leader for this generation is Louis Bacon. Louis has dedicated his time and resources to restore, preserve and hone best practices on his own lands, and to help the likes of the Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust Alliance, and other national and local land trusts and conservation groups to protect our working lands, public spaces, wildlife habitat, rivers and streams.
In his personal life and through The Moore Charitable Foundation, I know Louis pursues two simple and equally important passions: the love of nature, and the desire and willingness to protect it.His actions demonstrate that caring for and protecting the environment is a goal around which everyone can rally. A unifying force, conserving land and cultural resources for our children and future generations is neither a liberal nor a conservative value. It’s not Republican or Democratic, urban or rural. Instead, nature is character defining for all. [ed. emphasis mine]
