Growing up in big cities my whole childhood taught me to consider squirrels and pigeons as wildlife. When I moved to Colorado as an adult, my frame of reference drastically shifted. Out on the trails I’ve seen coyotes, fox, moose, and bald eagles just to name a few natural world friends. Seeing these creatures out on the trails in the mountains has been a great source of happiness for me and one I have missed most during these uncertain times of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC) is the 501(c)(3) national non-profit working in partnership with the US Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management to complete, promote and protect the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. Founded in 2012 by a passionate group of volunteers and recreationists, CDTC is a membership organization working to build a strong community of supporters who want to see the CDT protected not just for today’s users, but for generations to come.

Hispanic Access Foundation is launching its new webinar series “Staying Connected to Conservation” on May 15. In the first webinar, “Water and How the World Has (and Hasn’t) Changed,” HAF and its featured guests will discuss the importance of staying engaged during this time — and how to do so from home; how COVID-19 has and hasn't changed the natural world; and improving resilience with green infrastructure.

As our nation experiences the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of access to the outdoors – an outlet for communities to support our mental and physical health – is magnified. Unfortunately, those in less privileged communities find themselves in a double whammy of air pollution making the disease more severe, while lacking the green space that is so necessary to resilience, health, and well-being.

While Congress debates the details of future stimulus bills, Hispanic Access Foundation’s President and CEO Maite Arce released the following statement to encourage Congress to include the Great American Outdoors Act, a bipartisan Senate bill that would fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and address the maintenance backlog in our public lands, as part of the package:

This year, the Conservation team at HAF is focusing a portion of our work on ocean education, conversation, and advocacy. To support these efforts, the Ocean Alumni Advisory Council was created. Drawing from our network of MANO Project alumni, we pulled together a cohort of five alumni from across the country with backgrounds in ocean science and conservation to advise our Ocean work for the year. The Council has advised us on oceans research, policy, and community engagement around oceans.

When all of humanity is facing a pandemic, why should we care about conservation?

Because we need nature and the benefits it provides now more than ever. COVID-19 has both revealed and exacerbated deep inequities in access to green space. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be at home, away from the front lines, appreciate more than ever the mental and physical health boost provided by walks and nature views. And those in less privileged communities find themselves in a double whammy of air pollution making the disease more severe, while lacking the green space that is so necessary to resilience, health, and well-being.

As the United States reels from COVID-19, scientists and environmentalists say beefing up conservation efforts could help protect humanity from future pandemics.

Lawmakers and policy experts alike have been focused on the immediate health and economic concerns from the pandemic. But many environmental advocates say the global crisis has also laid bare the need for more proactive and integrated measures over the long-term — including land and water conservation and tighter regulation of the wildlife trade.

Last week, more than 30 Latino faith leaders learned how their churches can implement and plan for green infrastructure projects in order to conserve water and mitigate climate change. Pastor Agustin Jimenez from New Hope Methodist Church in Tucson, Ariz. shared how his church converted its facility to conserve and harvest water to preserve the watershed and mitigate flooding, which is experiencing hotter conditions, higher water demand, and dwindling water supplies.

The 10th annual Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West Poll released today shows Latino voters in the Mountain West calling for an aggressive agenda to protect more public lands in the face of threats from climate change impacts and energy development.

Last week, Latino leaders from HAF’s networks visited elected officials in Washington to share why the 100% Clean Economy Act (H.R. 5221 and S.B. 3269) is critical in combating climate change in order to protect our economy, environment, public health and way of life. The act will empower the Environment Protection Agency to both set and move the country toward a national goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2050.