ast year, President Obama announced
the America's Great Outdoors
Initiative, laying out a bold
vision to reconnect Americans
with the natural world and protect our environment
for future generations.
"Americans are blessed with a vast and
varied natural heritage," he said. "From
mountains to deserts and from sea to shining
sea, America's great outdoors have shaped
the rugged independence and sense of community
that define the American spirit."
The initiative demonstrates a strong commitment
to getting our nation back out and
into nature, for the health of our children, our
environment and our economy. It's a goal
that everyone can support.
But America's great outdoors don't stop
at the shoreline. Ever since the birth of our
nation, the ocean has been an integral part of
the fabric of American life.
From the placid, sun-kissed waters of the
Florida Keys to the rugged, storm-tossed
seas off Washington's Olympic Coast, the
ocean has nurtured and sustained us for centuries,
providing a source of transportation,
trade, food and entertainment. The nation's
coastal waters were our first highways, its
beaches our first playgrounds, and its abundant
fisheries our first restaurants.
Generations of Americans, from poets to
presidents, have listened to the whisper of
the sea and taken inspiration from it. Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Ernest Hemingway, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, President John
F. Kennedy - the list of great citizens who
cared deeply about the ocean goes on.
Today, many of us shuttle back and forth
between our homes and offices in temperature-
controlled automobiles, scarcely catching
a breath of fresh air. But even as we drift
apart from nature in our daily lives, we continue
to be drawn to the water.
Nearly 160 million people - over half of
the U.S. population - now live within coastal
communities. More than one-third of the
American people participate in some form of
ocean activity every year, from swimming to
fishing to simply lounging at the water's edge.
They go for fun, fresh air, and a feeling of
peace that only the great outdoors can provide.
Something about the salt spray and the
cool breeze rejuvenates the spirit and nourishes
the soul. Coastal tourism invigorates
the economy, as well, generating billions of
dollars in annual revenue.
The United States is a nation of sweeping
plains and towering mountain ranges, of vast
deserts and dense forests. But it's also a nation
of more than 12,000 miles of coastline
and spectacular, thriving ocean treasures like
our national marine sanctuaries.
America's great outdoors stretch from sea
to shining sea, but the sea is not a boundary.
Rather, the ocean is a part of our nation's
rich tapestry of wild places. We owe it to
ourselves to enjoy it, care for it, and protect
it for generations to come.
|What Makes the Ocean Great?|