Donate

Category: Environmental Stewardship

Gus sits in a red fire truck waving out the window.

For our Children…forever.

por Gustavo (Gus) Martínez

The mission of the National Park Service is perhaps one of the most noble statements memorialized in law “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations”.

For over thirty years I have supported this mission and devoted my career to ensuring that these words translated into real action. Working in the Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services (LESES) program the focus was on public safety; Law Enforcement, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, Search and Rescue. My career took me to various stunning locations from the Santa Monica Mountains, the granite walls of Yosemite, the shores of Point Reyes National Seashore, the border lands of Big Bend and the barrier Islands of Padre Island. Eventually (at the urging of my wife Sylvia) we made it to Alaska at Glacier Bay. We returned to Yosemite for my final assignment as the Deputy Chief Ranger of LESES, were I reached the mandatory retirement age for emergency services. Now, I have since returned to Glacier Bay as the Safety, Health and Wellness officer for Southeast Alaska.

Gus and YLP Cohort. Photo by Sylvia Martínez

I was fortunate that there were teachers, mentors and counselors that helped me on my path. My high school biology teacher sparked my interest in ecology and camping. I studied with Dr. Roderick Nash at the University of California, Santa Barbara who helped me see my place in wilderness and how I can protect it. The Religious Studies courses with Dr. Inés Talamantez introduced me to the spiritual ways that Native American people revere the land and created in my young mind a new appreciation for open spaces and a sense of belonging. My career counselors guided me on my first opportunity to work with the National Park Service at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Outer Coast Grizzly. Photo by Sylvia Martínez

The National Park Service (NPS), then and now, struggles with becoming a true reflection of the demographics of this country. I was part of a cohort of students of color that were recruited in attempt to diversify the NPS. This led to what I now know as “micro-aggressions” directed at me from other NPS employees that saw me as competition for a coveted position which I was “taking” from them. Yet, there were other employees that supported the idea of diversity in the workplace and supported and mentored me early in my career. They understood that my success was an asset to the National Park Service. I was a hard worker and an eager learner, having grown up working in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, I had a strong work ethic.

Gus y Sylvia at Yosemite National Park. Photo by Sylvia Martínez

“They understood that my success was an asset to the National Park Service. I was a hard worker and an eager learner, having grown up working in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, I had a strong work ethic”.

Gus Martínez

Now, change is happening to the National Park Service. I would like to think that I have had a small part in this. I made the effort to outreach and share the mission of the National Park Service with people underserved communities. My efforts were mostly focused on bringing school groups and Police Explorer posts to the public lands I worked at. As I took on leadership roles in the agency, I challenged the supervisors that worked with me to be creative and use different hiring authorities to bring in more people of color to diversify our workforce. I started groups and events to create a sense of community and belonging. At Yosemite National Park I became actively involved in mentoring the students that participated in the U.C. Merced Yosemite Leadership Program. There has been some success, but the key is getting people of color to feel they are also a part of this mission of conservation and preservation.

I see groups like Latino Outdoors and Outdoor Afro as the link that was missing in my efforts. Recently, during Latino Conservation week I was gratified to see so many fellow Latino NPS staff post their pictures, proudly wearing the “grey and green” of the National Park Service. Thirty years ago, I couldn’t imagine seeing so many diverse, young, excited people working to advance the mission of the National Park Service. As my adopted Native brethren, the Huna Tlingit of Alaska, say “Haa Yatxee Jeeyis Aya, For our Children Forever”.

Lessons Learned From My Beloved Father

por Marisol Morales

As we celebrate Latino Conservation Week (July 18-26), I have been reflecting on my own experiences as a Chicana and of people who helped shape my views of the conservation movement. For me, conservation means stewarding our lands to preserve and respect all living things. The history of the conservation movement as we know it, is rooted in the destruction of the environment and cultural groups. The indigenous people who preserved and respected the land and the environment, were attacked. Their experiences and voices were ignored and silenced.

My father recently passed away, but he left me the most valuable lessons about people and nature. He believed that people, like plants, need to be cared for and respected.

“At an early age, I learned about the impacts of environmental injustice on our essential agricultural workers. I also learned how to hold a plant in my hand and admire its value and beauty”.

My father, Daniel Morales, was a farmworker and a dedicated environmental justice advocate. In the late 1940s, my father immigrated to California from Durango, Mexico with his parents and siblings in pursuit of the American dream. Growing up as a migrant child, he faced many hardships and his family struggled to make ends meet. At the age of eight, he worked picking prunes, tomatoes, topping garlic among other crops. Back in the ’50s, my father, and many farmworkers like him, experienced discrimination while working in the fields; there were no age restrictions to protect children, no breaks, no clean drinking water, no bathrooms. Today, farmworkers continue to be amongst the most vulnerable in our country; living in substandard housing, subjected to hazardous and inhumane working conditions, experiencing greater health disparities – including high rates of COVID-19, and are denied some of the most basic workplace protections.

Marisol and Dolores Huerta

My father’s rough life made him strong and resilient in the face of adversity. He transcended challenging times by becoming a life-long advocate for social justice. He devoted over four decades of service to the Center for Employment Training (CET) collaborating with the United Farm Workers (UFW). The farmworkers’ movement of the 1960s was a collective effort of diverse voices committed to social and environmental justice. They fought against discriminatory labor laws and advocated for workers’ rights, improved housing conditions for agricultural workers, and better wages for farmworkers. My family was honored in 2019, when California State Assemblyman Ash Kalra awarded my father the Latino Legacy Award for being, “ A staunch civil rights and social justice advocate.” In addition, he acknowledged his contributions to the farmworkers’ struggle for basic human rights.

Ten years ago, my father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was invited to participate in a Stanford research study on farmworkers. Researchers were looking at the long-term effects of early pesticide exposure and the correlation to high rates of cancer in adults. After several tests, the results showed that he had DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) deposits in his body – the insecticide that was sprayed while he was working in the fields as a child. Similar studies have also shown that migrant children with high exposure to pesticides have significantly higher cancer rates. With more urgency than previous years, he fought for farmworkers’ rights.

I am forever grateful for my father’s compassionate leadership in the community that helped shape my understanding of conservation, advocating for justice for people and our natural resources. He understood the intersectionality between environmental justice, economic justice, and health on our relationship with nature. The memory of my father’s advocacy guides me in my pursuit of justice for communities of color within the conservation movement. Throughout his life, he embodied and shared the view, “Sí Se Puede!” (Yes You Can!). He believed all people can and should live with dignity. He worked with others to help create a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities. Conservation begins with self-respect and preservation of people. Conservation of the whole environment is fighting for justice for people and the protection of our land.

Caring for Nature with Pride and Joy

por Felix González

I am a second year graduate student studying Environmental Science at Pace University in New York. I am currently 26 years old and will be starting my thesis soon on the effects of man-made dams on aquatic ecosystems.

I become engulfed with pride and joy as I’m able to share my photos and knowledge with everyday people who also care for our natural world and the creatures living side by side with us.

I am currently working as an intern at Rockefeller State Park Preserve. During my time there, we are surveying the local turtle population to better understand what species are present and how abundant they are. In one of the photos, I am holding the largest common snapping turtle we recorded in our survey which weighed in over 20 pounds. While we conduct our research we teach parents and kids who pass by about our project and why it is important for us to know what is present in the preserve area. When we are not conducting the survey, we watch over our local Purple Martin nesting site and make sure they are breeding safely and stay well protected.

Although I’m only an intern working with the state, I become engulfed with pride and joy as I’m able to share my photos and knowledge with everyday people who also care for our natural world and the creatures living side by side with us.

Felix González is currently a Master’s of Science student at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York. A 26-year-old Puerto Rican from the Bronx, he is also a fisherman, hiker, trail runner, and wildlife photographer. Felix’s passion for the outdoors has been with him since he was a child, and he is finally able to live out his dreams of working in and protecting the great outdoors.