The occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge gave Oregonians firsthand experience with the dangers of the “patriot” movement and its mission of seizing America’s public lands to “give them back” to states or local entities. When this radical mission showed up in the 2016 Republican Party platform, we knew we’d have to transform our old organizing tactics to meet new and unpredictable threats.

One way to share power with new activists is to simply give them resources and then let them get creative.

At the same time, a groundswell of Americans were newly energized to stand up for their lands. Looming threats provided an opportunity to engage new communities and audiences, and the potential to bring people together around a shared value of public lands. As ONDA planned for 2017, we began to design a program to empower new advocates for public lands who could engage and inform their own communities.

Read the full article on public land by Gena Goodman-Campbell at Medium