"The Best Rally Ever"

“‘The best Rally ever!’ That’s what I heard all last week in the halls of the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Denver,” said Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance, in reference to the Alliance’s national land conservation conference, held every year in a different location.

What better way to celebrate the Alliance’s 25th anniversary than to gather the best minds in conservation in one beautiful place to learn, network and inspire each other? Our 20th Rally did just that, drawing more than 2,200 people to the largest gathering on land conservation in the world.

The attendees at Rally, hailing from all 50 states, came to learn from our national network of expert faculty through the 37 seminars and 138 workshops offered over the four-day conference. Twelve field trips to various protected venues around Denver offered firsthand views of on-the-ground conservation, including a day on a working ranch and a visit to a 36,000-acre grasslands preserve.

Located in downtown Denver, a pedestrian-friendly area with a system of free electric buses, Rallygoers heard inspiring words from the plenary speakers. Beginning on a positive note at the welcoming dinner, Rand Wentworth asked the landowners in the ballroom who had donated land or conservation easements for protection to stand up. As several rose out of their seats, a big cheer erupted around the ballroom. Wentworth went on to describe the challenges that the land conservation community faces in the next 25 years, including unprecedented growth in real estate, and a society that is more isolated from nature than ever before.

Wentworth outlined the land conservation community’s response to the challenges, saying “Our actions today will determine the shape of the landscape that every future American will experience.”

Wentworth described the Alliance’s three initiatives to meet the challenges: “Pace, quality and permanence.” You can listen to him describe these initiatives in the sound file of his speech, as well as listen to the other plenary speeches, here.

Describing how the conservation community is changing along with the changing demographics of the U.S., Wentworth talked about a partnership between the Student Conservation Association and the Alliance that is developing conservation internships for young people of color; “the leaders of the future,” said Wentworth.

Climate change presents one of the biggest problems conservationists have ever faced. Wentworth says that land trusts “are essential to solving the problem. We must act as a united conservation community.” Looking out over the packed ballroom, Wentworth concluded by saying, “Land trusts turn ordinary citizens into champions saving the places they love.”

Other plenary speakers inspired the crowd with their stories. Author and adventurist Craig Childs narrated his harrowing experiences running a river in Southeast Asia. Wherever he goes in the world, far away or close to home, Childs says he goes to “try to understand a place.”

Charles Jordan, chair of The Conservation Fund, reflected on his 70 years on earth, looking back and seeing so many broken promises. “What happened to the war on poverty?” he asked. “Did we win that one?” Jordan rallied his listeners, asking “Are we really making a difference? You’ve got to make it personal.” As a photo of his granddaughter, Mia, was displayed on the big screen, Jordan said, “I saw the changes I would need to make to make sure Mia had quality of life. You’ve got your Mias too…We are all connected. We’ve got to think holistically. There are certain elements that every child needs to thrive: education, health, safety.”

Jordan said that the conservation message must be passed on to our children. “We know what the land has done for us. We need to teach our children the importance of what the land means to us.” Jordan described the simple act of taking a child by the hand, showing her a tree and describing how that tree cleans the air that we breathe. “I’m giving you the low-cost approach to conservation,” said Jordan, drawing laughter.

Senator Ken Salazar talked about his own personal connection to the land, about how he grew up on a working ranch surrounded by 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. He explained how farmers and ranchers know implicitly that “unless you take care of your land, you’re not going to have that land to do what you want with it the following year or the next 10 years.” Salazar talked about the great land and water protection work being done by many partners in his state today. He put the call out to all conservationists to ask themselves, “What is it we want our very special places to look like in the future?”

The last speaker, rancher Bill McDonald, gave an overview of conservation in the West, a unique experience to other parts of the country. In the West, there are fewer people, a lot less water, and vast amounts of open space, 88 percent of which is public land. McDonald described the commingling of private and public land: “Their fates are entwined.”

The ranchers who later formed the Malpai Borderlands Group, led by McDonald, recognized early that fragmentation was a serious threat to the ranching way of life. By working with public agencies, the group now holds 75,000 acres in easements. “This sounds like a heck of a lot of work for a small group,” said McDonald. “And I assure you it is,” he finished with a laugh.

With a nod to the impact that Rally has, McDonald said “Me, my wife and daughter split up to attend as many workshops as we can, but we still can’t cover it all!” He described Rally as “a tremendous opportunity” that is laying the foundation for conservation.