The Maine statehood stamp is an iconic image of our state’s rugged coast. It conjures up fun, exploration and exhilaration. Our family is thankful to live in Maine, where in the summer during the lockdown, we escaped into the wilderness to rejuvenate. We hiked Grafton Notch and Katahdin’s Knife Edge and swam Lower South Branch Pond.

Maine boasts many recreational opportunities, from sailing to canoeing, camping to rock climbing. We have the ocean, the lakes, the rivers, the mountains as our backyard. Not many states can say that. Maine’s wilderness has provided the needed respite from the stresses of COVID-19. But this wilderness is threatened by warming temperatures and pollution, which is why we must protect it.

Conserving 30 percent of land and water by 2030 would be a good start, and the Maine Climate Council is leading the way by including this goal in the new Climate Action Plan. I urge Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King to lead at the federal level by co-sponsoring the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature. Its aim is to sequester greenhouse gases in land and water, make science the foundation of conservation and address environmental justice.

We should preserve the iconic beauty of Maine for ourselves and our kids. After all, “we don’t inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Samantha Le
Bangor