BY JON KOVASH
Do young people care more about climate change than old people? That’s part of the premise of a new outreach effort by the Grand Canyon Trust.
Back in 2014, the Flagstaff-based Grand Canyon Trust launched an experimental new program called “Uplift.” The idea is to create a regional conservation movement specifically aimed at young people.
“We have been to Prescott, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Durango so far.”
And now Moab, where recently Uplift presided over an evening of collaboration among local activists and wannabe activists. Claire Martini is Uplift’s coordinator. She was accompanied by volunteer organizers Brooke Larsen and Montana Johnson.
Martini explained,“We’re really concerned about the watershed of the Colorado River, and these kind of upper parts that are incredibly beautiful, and also incredibly threatened. Climate change is this terrifying issue that doesn’t seem to present any easy opportunities to fix anything, and so we’re looking at how story telling can maybe be a tie that connects us, and spurs people to action. I mean, I think across the region climate change is this existential crisis almost, for young people...”