Earlier this year I wrote a president’s message about the importance of public lands. The premise of my message was essentially that public lands were critical in providing people with opportunities to connect to species and spaces. Furthermore, it was this connection between people, the species, and the land that leads to the passion and desire to protect them. These ties, many of which are deep and part of the core of a person, are powerful and they apply to all sorts of passions and cultures.

Carolyn Sugg, Flickr

Connection Motivates

Connection is a powerful motivator for advocacy and action regardless of the issue. The issues we pursue are determined by our connections to those issues. Find me a staunch advocate, fan, or activist for anything and I will show you someone with a clear connection to that cause, team, or action. For example, asking someone who their favorite football team is seldom ends quickly or simply with their answer. We dig further and ask them why. We wonder what their connection is to that team, with a clear assumption that before anyone would proclaim their allegiance to a team, there must be some connection—and almost always, there is.

Conservation is no different. The strongest advocates, biggest fans, and most active in conservation all possess strong connections to the natural resources they spend their lifetimes learning about and engaging with—and ultimately conserving. Some of the most ardent wildlife advocates and conservationists I know grew into their passion as the result of experiences that afforded opportunity for deep connections. The idea that hunters and anglers can simultaneously deeply respect fish and wildlife while also taking the life of the same, is counterintuitive to many nonhunters. For those of us who hunt and fish, it couldn’t be more intuitive. It is a deeply held connection that comes from intimately knowing your quarry. Pursuing an animal generates profound respect and unrelenting desire to also protect them. Birdwatchers pursuing a “lifer” can experience the same profound emotions. Incredible vistas, fall colors, and majestic landscapes all move us, connect us, and compel us to conserve. As discussions and strategies surrounding the relevance of conservation in modern society continue, I can’t help but ask myself, how it is that we can foster a more endearing connection between people and nature that could result in a greater desire to conserve it. Human nature clearly demonstrates the power of connection in promoting advocacy and action.

Troubling Trend

Although we can recognize that connectedness to nature is generally a good thing, we struggle to effectively increase it in ways that pay meaningful dividends. We pursue ways to message nature’s benefits for our physical health, mental health, immune systems, cognitive function, sense of well-being, and many other things. We highlight outdoor recreation, and the associated health and economic benefits it creates. We know that if we can find ways to somehow connect people to nature, conservation would benefit as would people. Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, the current trend of nature connectedness is not a good one.

A recent paper published this past June in the journal Earth explored nature connectedness in the human-nature relationships from 1800 to 2020 and beyond. The authors modeled nature connectedness and what has happened because of urbanization and environmental deterioration. Their conclusions were that human connection to nature has declined 60% over the last 200 years. The authors also evaluated the use of nature-based language in books. They identified the loss of words like river, moss, and blossom from contemporary literature, although there are slight increases as of late. This probably isn’t surprising news to most of us. We’ve talked about this disconnection in the ONB and our profession as a whole. Nature deficit is a term we know well, and while we are making strides, there is much work to do. As I often do, when worrying about these things, I find myself turning to the very thing that restores me…. to nature.

Reconnection Season

For obvious reasons spring is often referred to as the time of renewal. As winter’s blanket of snow and bare trees give way to new green growth and early daffodils—the environment is filled with new, fresh, emergent vegetation. As much as I like spring after a long cold winter, there’s something about fall that really fills my conservation cup, the connections I make with nature. I find reasons and ways to get out in nature nearly every day.

I hike, birdwatch, fish, and explore in nature daily. I make connections with migrating mountain bluebirds chronicling when they come and when they leave. I watch the beavers in a local creek modify the stream channels and water levels. When May arrives, I keep my eyes peeled for the elusive rubber boas and when October arrives, I know they will be “gone” for a few months. The daily adventures and connections I make in nature fill my cup and undoubtedly deliver numerous benefits.

However, when fall arrives and the nature of that connection deepens, the fulfillment escalates. In fall, many of us are getting out into the wilderness for hunts, for foraging opportunities, and for getting in our last hikes and camping adventures before the snow flies. For those of us lucky enough to have gardens, it’s the time to harvest and preserve the fruits of our labor for the cooler winter months. While I feel deeply connected to the landscape and to nature all year-round, it is the fall that deepens and strengthens this connection. How incredible it is to see the changing fall colors, to experience the sometimes wild swings in temperature, to prepare for another season that will provide yet another experience with nature in different ways.

As you venture into fall in whatever way is meaningful for you, contemplating how these deep ties to nature are fulfilling us, driving our passion for conservation, and fueling the work we all are engaged with can be restorative and meaningful in deep ways.