" Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself."

            ~ Gaylord Nelson on the first Earth Day, April 22nd, 1970

29 years ago at a conference held here in Seattle, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin  announced that there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment held in the spring of 1970.  Dissatisfied that the state of the environment was virtually a non-issue in mainstream U.S. politics, Senator Nelson envisioned an opportunity to place the environment in the “political limelight,” as he described it.  His idea afforded the American people a forum to express their concern over the degradation of the environment, and since Senator Perry’s proclamation, Earth Day has grown to encompass hundreds of thousands of movements worldwide and is celebrated by over 500 million people.

President Bill Clinton, while granting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Senator Nelson in 1995 said: “As the father of Earth Day…He inspired us to remember that the stewardship of our natural resources is the stewardship of the American Dream.”

With multiple projects this year on both Earth Day and Earth Day Saturday, there are lots of options to choose from.  We’ll be doing trail work, invasive weed control, and having fun while giving back to the earth!  Find the best project for you and sign up!

 
We hope that you help us celebrate the earth this year on April 22nd and throughout the whole month of April – a day affords but one opportunity; in a month, we can really make a difference.