Up Front With Sara Parker Pauley

I often get reflective as I head into a new year. As I listened again to the speech given by Simon Roosevelt (great-great grandson of Theodore Roosevelt), our 2020 Partners Roundtable keynote speaker, his words captured me anew in contemplating not only where we are as the conservation community in effecting positive change for our resources, but also as individuals. Taking a page from Thoreau, Simon reflected, “Every moment is a meeting of two eternities, all that is past and all that is yet to come.”

The perspective is a powerful one not only for the long view, but even as we launch a new year. As I contemplate the decisions I need to make today that will build a healthier and wiser version of the leader I want to be, it certainly resonates deeply as I consider my role of helping steward Missouri’s natural resources.

Will we as a society take the time to reflect on what we’ve learned from the past and what new thinking will be required to best steward our natural resources — or will we decide it is someone else’s responsibility? Will we rise to the challenge or wither with the status quo?

My hope for all of us in this new year, as we contemplate choices in how we will care for ourselves, others, and the precious resources that our lives depend upon, is that we will use this present moment to contemplate the past, present, and future, and then choose courageously.

Sara Parker Pauley, Director

SARA.PAULEY@MDC.MO.GOV