No picture can capture what it feels like to watch a sunrise on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, gaze up at a redwood tree, camp in the Ouachita National Forest, or hear the waves crash against the rocky coastline of Acadia National Park. All of these and more are opportunities on American public lands. As a lifelong resident of Hot Springs, Arkansas, some of my earliest memories involve exploring Hot Springs National Park, and when I’d ask my children what they wanted to do for fun, they would often choose floating on the Buffalo National River. Since being elected to Congress, my main district office has been located in the National Park Service building in downtown Hot Springs.

America is a place of beauty with rich natural resources, quite literally from sea to shining sea. We have a responsibility to steward this land and our resources well, and to leave the country in better condition than we found it. A huge part of that responsibility involves investing in our national parks, state parks, and other public lands for future generations.