Memorandum
“We must adapt our strategies to meet the new challenges of our time. Over the last century, our population grew from 9 million to 300 million people, and as it did, we lost more and more of our natural landscape to development. Meanwhile, a host of other factors—from a changing climate to new sources of pollution—have put a growing strain on our wildlife and our waters and our lands.”
-President Barack Obama, April 16, 2010
Presidential Memorandum -- America's Great Outdoors
"Across America, communities are uniting to protect the places they love, and developing new approaches to saving and enjoying the outdoors. They are bringing together farmers and ranchers, land trusts, recreation and conservation groups, sportsmen, community park groups, governments and industry, and people from all over the country to develop new partnerships and innovative programs to protect and restore our outdoors legacy. However, these efforts are often scattered and sometimes insufficient. The Federal Government, the Nation's largest land manager, has a responsibility to engage with these partners to help develop a conservation agenda worthy of the 21st Century. We must look to the private sector and nonprofit organizations, as well as towns, cities, and States, and the people who live and work in them, to identify the places that mean the most to Americans, and leverage the support of the Federal Government to help these community-driven efforts to succeed. "