A College Freshman Shares His Love of Public Lands with New Friends

Dylan Carey loves to ski, hike, backpack, bike, and explore the great outdoors of Colorado and Utah.

I know that I was extremely lucky: growing up in Denver meant that spectacular mountain ranges, national forests, and state and national parks were a stone’s throw away. Due to their proximity and accessibility, these public lands played an integral role in my life. From as early as I can remember, I was visiting the Great Sand Dunes, driving across the state to visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah, or skiing in the Arapahoe National Forest at Winter Park Resort.

Each of these public lands provided its own unique experience of adventure, scenery and solitude. Looking out over Fraser valley at the surrounding snow dusted national forests and mountains will always bring me joy. However, I could say the say the same thing about a visit to Arches, the Sand Dunes, or the San Juan National Forest.

Throughout high school and middle school, I attended a summer camp based in Durango that focused on backpacking. At the summer camp, I backpacked through some of the most spectacular national forests and mountain ranges that I have seen in my lifetime. While we were always surrounded by beautiful scenery, the most valuable part of this experience was learning ways to protect and conserve public lands. Since public lands are open to anyone, they are often subject to mistreatment. If we want to keep public lands beautiful, we should practice the principle of leaving them nicer than we found them.

I’m just finishing my freshman year at Colorado College. I would be lying if I said that my decision to stay in Colorado was not impacted by Colorado’s widespread access to breathtaking public lands. During our last break from school, my friends and I visited one of my favorite national parks: Arches. Visiting this park brought back fond childhood memories of hiking with my family and gazing in awe at the red rock formations and arches. Additionally, none of my friends had been to the Arches or Moab area before, so they were all blown away by the unfamiliar yet incredible landscape. It never got old to hear one of them say, “Wow look at that!” Arches was just as spectacular as I remembered it, but my favorite part of the trip was easily sharing and introducing such a spectacular place to my friends. I also taught my friends the same “leave no trace” principles I learned at camp. By using these principles, we left our campsite in a better state than when we found it.

Public lands are places where we can observe the natural beauty of the earth, find peace and quiet, and reflect on things on our mind. Public lands also give people an opportunity to share places they love with people they love. It is our responsibility to preserve these lands so that future generations can enjoy them as well.

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So many of our country’s parks and public lands written about in these love notes would not exist but for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Capitol Reef National Park mentioned above was supported with funds from LWCF. This important conservation program was permanently funded when Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act last year. You can learn more about the Land and Water Conservation Fund here.

Would you like to write about public lands that you cherish? Please email Mary Jo Brooks at brooksm@nwf.org for guidelines. You’ll get this cool sticker as a thank you.