The Cuyahoga River fire of 1969. The Love Canal catastrophe in 1977. The Bhopal, India disaster of 1984. These incidents were defining moments in my youth that ultimately influenced my choice of careers. However, if I had to point to a single, seminal moment that most affected my desire for environmental conservation and restoration, it was the early 1970s public service announcement (“Keep America Beautiful”), which featured a Native American chief shedding a tear as trash is thrown out of a moving car and lands at his feet. During this vignette, the announcer said: “People start pollution. People can stop it.” How profound, and still very true
