While in Sweden this past August, I had the rare opportunity of photographing what researchers call the oldest living tree on Earth. This Norway spruce took root in the Dalarma Province over 9,550 years ago.
Read more at National Geographic.
With today being Earth Day, I'd like to honor its founder, former Wisconsin U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, who started this annual event, on April 22, 1970, as an environmental teach-in at college campuses. Senator Nelson wanted to show other politicians that there was widespread public
support for the environment.
"Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures." -Senator Gaylord Nelson
I had the pleasure of meeting Senator Nelson in Ely in the late 1980's, while he was the counselor for The Wilderness Society. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in September 1995 in recognition
of his environmental work.
My first published photograph for Earth Day was in 1971 at the Worthington Daily Globe, in southwestern Minnesota. It is still representative of our need to be a responsible steward of the land.
