Photo:Andrea Manning
Ted Manning, a Conservation Alliance board member and Executive Vice President of Eastern Mountain Sports, joined The Conservation Alliance in Washington, DC a few weeks ago, carrying a message of how conservation is as good for business as it is for the environment.
This was Ted's first time to Washington, DC in an advocacy capacity and he came away with some great insights, which he shared in a piece posted on the Eastern Mountain Sports blog.
"What I am left with is the realization that there are some really great people (working in a very tough environment) to protect our natural assets. They do this work without a lot of glory, but the work they do is critical to our economy, our communities and our heritage as Americans. I am also left with the feeling that all of us really can make a difference. We just have to be willing to take the time to inform ourselves on the issues at hand and begin to make our own informed decisions about what is right and what is wrong. And once we're clear on that, well… then we fight like hell. Because when you're truly passionate about something, you've got to stand up for it.
If we win, our children win. If we lose, we can still look our kids in the eyes and say that we didn't sit by and allow our Wilderness to be taken from us without fighting for it."
To read Ted's complete recap of his Washington, DC experience, click here.