This is the time of our becoming. As a community of people who care about the land and about our relationship to it, this is a moment of opportunity. It is that community I address.

What we care about and what we stand for is powerful medi- cine for what most ails our planet. Within the land and within acts of restoration and conservation are essential clues for how to live joyfully and responsibly in a world being torn asunder. But our country will never taste what we ourselves are afraid to put on the table. The work of conservation is bigger and more important than our smaller interests in easements, acres, plans, dollars, and tax benefits. What was once a movement guided by passion, vision and values is in the process of being reduced to a technology – even, merely, to a commercial enterprise. The true benefit and skill of land conservationists is our ability to put on the table a feast of values that reminds every American of what is healthy, what is fair opportunity, what is beautiful and meaningful, and what it means to be in relationship.