In my role as director of U.S. Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy, I have been asked to blog on my perspective on national conservation policy issues. And so, with some anxiety, this is my first installment.

I understand that the Internet and new media have become an important part of discussions about U.S. public policy, but participating in those discussions through a blog will be difficult both for me and for the Conservancy. Why?

• For me, because I began my career in government when the electric typewriter was the state of the art and when daily newspapers were the primary medium for policy discourse.

• For the Conservancy, because our organizational culture has always stressed being deliberate, science-based, avoiding confrontation and seeking common ground — perhaps not eye-catching in an age of instant exchanges of often strong opinions.

But, I will have views about a range of government actions that affect Earth’s air, land and water. And because The Nature Conservancy has hundreds of offices and projects across the United States (and around the world), I have the opportunity to gather and convey the perspectives of my colleagues working out there from the Blackfoot Valley in Montana to the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana.

Finally, I intend to focus on four themes that will determine the future of nature in America:

• Slowing the rate of climate change and coping with its inevitable impacts,
• Creating a coherent framework of conserved lands and healthy working landscapes around which we can build a sustainable economy,
• Caring for the water resources upon which life depends including finding better ways to sort out the uses of our changing coastal waters, and
• Restoring America’s role as a leader and innovator in global conservation.

As I said, my tone will be deliberate. I make no apologies for that.

(Photo: Obama for America, Creative Commons License)

Posted: January 14th, 2009 under Policy.
Tags: air, Climate Change, congress, conservation, conservation policy, conservation science, Forests, global warming, government, lakes, land, Obama, oceans and coasts, Policy, policy and environment, rivers