As a company rooted in making sustainable apparel and giving back to environmental organizations, all inspired by a bike trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway that sparked the idea for Recover, caring for our public lands has always been important to us.
Around this time, 8 years ago, we had an initiative aimed at raising funds to protect our public lands, and now, it’s just as important as it was then.
The United States is home to a vast amount of protected lands, spanning millions of acres, preserving our country’s natural beauty and unique ecological diversity. The National Park System, comprised of 433 sites and covering 85 million acres, first began with the designation of Yellowstone National Park in 1872. Yellowstone, created “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people,” was the first national park in the world.
Alongside our national parks, the United States has a National Forest System, spanning 193 million acres, which includes 154 national forests, much of which is used for public recreation. Many of these forests originated as Forest Reserves in the late 19th century, with the Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve established in 1891 as the first forest reserve in the United States.
These lands have played a crucial role in sustaining our unique plant and animal biodiversity and protecting their delicate ecosystems, while serving as large carbon absorbers that help to combat climate change.
Beyond their environmental importance, these lands provide invaluable opportunities for recreation and education in the United States, allowing people to experience nature’s beauty and develop an appreciation for it. These protected lands also provide immense economic support to many communities nationwide by boosting the tourism industry.
These systems to protect public lands were created over 100 years ago in response to the very same threats they face today—overdevelopment and exploitation, which is why it’s crucial to keep advocating for their ongoing protection.
“There, vast landscapes, still untouched by development, filled the eye. Artists, authors, and scientists struggled to capture the beauty they encountered and to record and share their discoveries. But they worried. What would happen when westward expansion arrived on the doorstep of the wilderness?”
- Origin of the National Park Idea, National Park Service
To continue to highlight the importance of these lands, we’ve collaborated with American Hiking Society to raise awareness and funds to advocate for their protection. This collaborative collection features 16 products with designs that reflect the beauty and importance of our public lands and planet, with each purchase raising funds to support the work that American Hiking Society does.
American Hiking Society has been at the forefront of empowering everyone to enjoy, share, and preserve the hiking experience. By providing resources and education to hikers, engaging in political advocacy to secure funding and preservation, fostering opportunities for public lands stewardship, and more, they work to ensure that everyone feels welcome in the American hiking community and has permanent access to meaningful hiking experiences.
In combination with the impactful work that organizations like American Hiking Society are doing, it is also up to us to engage with our public lands in a sustainable manner to reduce human impact, which means following the 7 principles of Leave No Trace and practicing good hiking etiquette- all resource which are available through AHS. Volunteering for river cleanups and land stewardship projects is also a great way to give back to the land that you adventure on!
Through ongoing advocacy together, we can keep elevating and centering the importance of our parks and forests for recreation and environmental protection for generations to come.
Check out the Recover X American Hiking Society collection HERE for sustainable summer apparel that gives back to our public lands.
