Great Outdoors Live Video Chat - March 3

Last week, President Barack Obama released the adminstration's recommendations for the America's Great Outdoors initiative.  The recommendations come after nearly a year of public listening sessions across the country where the administration had conversations with over 10,000 people, and gathered comments from nearly 100,000, about crafting a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda.  The Sierra Club has been highly engaged every step of the process and activated thousands of folks like you who told the administration that protecting and reconnecting Americans to our country's wild legacy has to be a top priority. 

Our lands and wildlife face ever increasing threats from overdevelopment, fragmentation, and a rapidly changing climate.  At the same time, Americans are more disconnected than ever from the great outdoors and spend less and less time outside.  The America's Great Outdoors initiative has the potential to take on both of these problems, and the Obama administration wants more public input on how it can work.

Thursday, March 3, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley will be holding a live video chat.  You can join by video before the chat or by Facebook during the chat.  You can post your YouTube video questions by responding to the video above, or by sending your questions to policyoutreach@ceq.eop.gov. 

To submit by Facebook during the live chat, sign on to the Facebook chat application on Thursday March 3rd at 4:30 pm (EST).

Below are some sample questions you may want to ask:

1) The climate is changing and likewise, older and outdated models of conservation must change as well.  How do you see AGO acting as a venue to ensure that we can help our lands and wildlife become resilient to climate change.

2) Thank you for the recommendation to designate new national monuments under the Antiquities Act.  Can you talk more about the importance of using this tool to conserve natural areas and how the administration intends to work with local and national interests to protect more critical components of our country's natural heritage?

3) A large focus of the initiative is reconnecting Americans, and especially youth, to the great outdoors.  Can you talk more about the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps and how it will accomplish those goals?

Join the Facebook chat!