We all know that without natural spaces, we cannot survive. If we don’t make a real commitment to protecting our lands and waters from development and natural resource exploitation, we will experience all of the worst effects of climate change and see even more drastic species extinction than is happening now — both of which will have a direct impact on our society.

As a human who not only wants to survive, but wants to live, my motivation does not lie solely in the fact that I don’t want to live in a world that we have destroyed to the point that it will no longer be able to care for us. I want to protect our natural spaces, not because my survival requires them, but because of my love for them. Reflecting on my life this far, my most fond memories come from the times I have been with people and nature. Reliving these memories, and the yearning to continue making ones like them, gives me the motivation I need to protect our natural spaces.

In order to have the opportunities to create new memories, we must commit to protecting 30% of our world’s lands and waters by 2030. Opportunities like the CORE Act and the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative put Colorado in an optimal position to contribute to this goal. For all that our world does for us, it is the least we can do.

If you also want to help protect our lands, please join me in calling on Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper to continue working to enact locally led 30×30 related policies to make Colorado a leader in conservation.