This is a nice piece about the value of parks and public lands. You won’t get an argument from me, and I certainly find your statements to be a clear rationale for why we have parks. I am grateful for your efforts and your refreshing perspective on the future of our public lands.

For me, what is missing is a paragraph that demonstrates that the agencies have thought deeply about the threat posed by climate change and how this changes conservation planning. Climate change fundamentally changes the nature of how we will conduct conservation, and there is now a rich scientific literature addressing this. I know that Interior requires explicit planning for climate change, and there will be hard conservation choices in the future. I think that the public and professionals would be reassured to hear a few words about the nature of the this planning.