John Muir Nonprofit Conservation Award 2014

By Megan Isadore, Executive Director, River Ecology Project
John Muir House, Martinez, California
April 22, 2015

It’s an honor and a pleasure for our team to join this inspiring group of conservationists who work every day for our planet. We owe so much to the greats who came before us; John Muir of course, whose legacy is as rich and flowing as a river on its journey from the Sierras to the great estuary of the San Francisco Bay and at last to the wide Pacific.

In thinking about that first earth day, 45 years ago, I’m struck by the consistency of the attempt, the promise and the hope in conservation. Have we achieved our goals of a healthy, sustainable planet? No. Yet…..45 years ago there were no beavers in Martinez. There were no river otters, no mink, few fish. San Francisco Bay was a polluted, mucked up mess. There were certainly no harbor porpoises thrilling us all; tourists and residents alike. Migrating birds had no thriving, restored wetlands to rest and breed in.

The Clean Water Act made way for conservation efforts, large and small, that allowed these beloved species to return and recolonize. The fact that river otters are back, and thriving all over the Bay Area is a living example of nature’s resilience.

There is lots more progress to be made, and we must make it or lose the bounty that’s been loaned to us. Let’s use this Earth Day and every day as our opportunity to reaffirm the promise and responsibility, to allow the earth to heal itself, and allow it to heal us.

Many many thanks from our team to you, for joining in the best endeavor I can think of; the work toward a healthy, sustainable planet.

What will you do this day, or any day……to serve the earth you love?