Forests at Risk Symposium

DH and I were fortunate to be able to participate in the Forests at Risk Symposium at the Aspen Institute yesterday. Wow! So many great thinkers gave talks, participated in panel discussions, and answered questions.

We took the bus in to the Institute --- I mean, really, could we have driven to such a symposium? Actually, we use the bus a lot, not just to get to this symposium!

We walked in quite a ways to get to the actual building, but it was wonderful.



















Former Governor Ritter (called the "greenest governor")was the emcee of the event which lasted from noon to about 7PM.







Rene Montagne, from NPR Morning Edition, was the moderator. My goodness, she's so tiny! She reminded me of a little gnome.







Some shots of the proceedings, talks, panels:




























Former Vice President, Al Gore, was the keynote speaker, and gave a passionate talk!










“It is a call to action,” he said, “if you love these forests, if you think for a moment about the obligation we have to those who come after [us].

“This is a forest issue. It's a political issue. It's an economic issue. It's a national security issue. It's a jobs issue. But at bottom, it is a moral issue,” he said to widespread applause. “And we have to be willing to stand up and do the right thing.”

For more info, here is a link to the speakers: Speaker list
And a newspaper article from today's paper: Aspen Times

It was a very long day, but so worthwhile.