Earth Day Thoughts

por Luis Villa

Today is Earth Day, and I am remembering my years in Costa Rica, helping to plant trees with friends, colleagues, and local community members, including police officers.  I am also thinking about policing in America and its partial origins in the slave patrols of the South, which wanted to maintain slavery and stemmed from economic motivations.

Economic motivation may be as old as humanity itself.  It’s a derivative of the desire to prosper, which in turn, is descended from the survival instinct.

For many, somewhere along the way, the survival instinct became an unrelenting drive to accumulate and hoard wealth. This most visibly manifests itself in socioeconomic systems, capitalism and socialism alike, that become severely unbalanced, where the “haves” are few, the “have nots” are numerous, and the disparity between them becomes so great that the entire system becomes dangerously strained.

We see this in the natural world, when a particular species takes up all the resources, grows too big for its own good, and the entire ecosystem collapses.  Large scale agriculture offers another example.  Forest ecosystems that host rich and resilient biodiversity are cleared away to make room for a particular crop, a single species or monoculture.  At first, the soil and other growing conditions are excellent for that single crop to thrive.  Then, the diminishing returns become increasingly evident.  It takes more and more pesticides, herbicides, and other artificial inputs to suppress all the other species of plants and animals that also want to enjoy the soil, space, water, and other resources.  Eventually, the soil becomes too infertile and the groundwater too contaminated.  Nothing thrives on the land anymore.

“If we pay attention to Nature, we can learn about the importance of diversity and balanced ecosystems”

Luis Villa

Human systems are not exempt from the laws of Nature.

If we pay attention to Nature, we can learn about the importance of diversity and balanced ecosystems.  In human systems, pervasive and growing racial, economic, and other social injustices (along with our constructive and destructive responses to these injustices) are either signs or full-blown alarms that something is off-balance.  They are an indication that we must nurture more diversity, share the soil, and spread the wealth between ourselves and also with the natural world, which is where all our supply chains begin and is ultimately from where we source all our sustenance and wellbeing.

On this Earth Day, I am thinking about the connection between humanity’s social systems and the Planet’s natural systems.  On this day, I am thinking more about sustainability than I am thinking about race, politics, or economics. I am thinking about the need for peace among ourselves and between us and our Planet.


#LatinoAdvocacyWeek

por Maricela ‘Marci’ Rosales

When I started my advocacy journey, it began with me advocating for time outside to play and taking in cats and dogs from the streets of Los Angeles as a little girl! FACTS! I remember bringing up important issues I cared about or needed to be addressed with my parents and siblings and finding solutions that made a difference and even changed the way they saw the world through my eyes. I was/am their next generation.

I’ve been an advocate in different ways throughout my life, from volunteering time in my teens to local animal rights advocacy groups to addressing issues on Southern California’s coastal lines and beaches. In my 20s, I became aware and involved in college education opportunities and funding advocacy to Disability Rights Advocacy. Today I continue my advocacy journey with the lens in Outdoor Justice, Equity, and Inclusion and Environmental Conservation Advocacy.

There is no one direction when looking at advocacy. The issues I’ve come to care for and advocate for are not better than the other. They intersect and are interdependent on one another. But what makes things move in a better direction is when WE get involved in the political process through advocating for people, place, and planet.

This week is the Inaugural Latino Advocacy Week. I am proud and humbled by the work it took to organize the efforts of the Hispanic Access Foundation to inspire communities, coalitions, and non-profits to engage, educate, and encourage the Latino/a/x/e community to get involved and to learn about it.

Is there an issue that gets you fired up? Whether it’s protecting the environment, fighting for more resources at your neighborhood’s school, or calling attention to the inequities that affect your community, the Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF) can give you the essential skills and strategies you need to be an agent for change. Watch the #LatinoAdvocacyWeek virtual training on Advocacy 101 

As we wrap up Latino Advocacy Week remember you can start your advocacy journey when it feels right to you. It’s okay if you don’t know exactly where you are with advocacy or what it means. Holding space and speaking your truth is a form of self-advocacy and that’s a great starting point. You don’t need to be an expert you just need inspiration and ganas (desire) to act!


Maricela Rosales (she/her/ella) is from Los Angeles, California. Is a Latino Outdoors Ambassador and the CA Program Associate Director for Conservation Lands Foundation. Find out more about her on Instagram @lemarci 


Lifelong Love of the Outdoors

por Andrea Enger

I am so proud of my Chilean heritage! It is so intertwined with my love for the outdoors, too!

I grew up getting lost in the wilderness of my native country, Chile. Every year until I was in my teens, we spent three months at my family’s country house, nestled between the forest and the beach. We explored the many trails, encountered wildlife (like mountain lions!), and farmed/harvested the land. It instilled in me early on how it is so important to take care of our planet so we can continue to enjoy its gifts

From Chile I moved to Seattle, Washington, when I was 20, and fell in love with a completely different landscape and climate: lush, green mossy hikes, misty mountains, and picture-perfect fields of wildflowers. Then I visited Colorado, where I now live, and was awestruck by the majestic peaks, the red rocks, and the big, blue skies. I love hiking in the backcountry where you don’t see another soul for days. It feels like the world is completely yours — the still, mirrored lakes, the fragrant pine trees, the bright, shining stars…

“I am also dedicated to helping our earth not only survive, but flourish”.

I have traveled all over Chile and backpacked in more than 20 countries across North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel as much as I have. I realize that so often, appreciation of the outdoors is only possible with some level of privilege, and it’s so important to continue working to make it more accessible to all.


I am also dedicated to helping our earth not only survive, but flourish. I recently became a certified Leave No Trace Aware Photographer and I practice and promote these principles at every one of my sessions. I donate a portion of my profits to the Leave No Trace Center, the National Park Foundation, and Water for People. Our world is such a beautiful place and I want to do everything in my power to keep it that way.

Andrea is a Chilean-born, Colorado-based photographer who specializes in elopements and micro weddings. She is an inclusive photographer who celebrates diversity, believes love is love, and thinks that adventure brings everything to life.