...the care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.
Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays
Before discovering or caring about technology and business, I was immersed in nature for most of my childhood. I was blessed to go through my childhood years living on a ~100 acre property in rural Kansas that offered abundant natural beauties, including wide open Tallgrass prairies, groves of black walnut trees, and numerous other woodland and open habitats. My siblings and I spent most of our time running barefoot through the trees and grass and we gained a deep appreciation for nature and all that it has to offer.
One of the simple truths in life is that land is finite. We cannot make more of it and what we have is limited and, sadly, we as a human race have done considerable, lasting damage to our planet’s surface.
I believe it is important for everyone, individuals and companies, to have missions that in some way strive to make the world a better place today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. One of my personal missions that has been made possible through the work we do here at Sandhills Development is land stewardship.
I have committed to using a portion of profits from Sandhills Development for investment in the conservation and restoration of natural land.
In 2017, we made our first land purchase for the purpose of creating a green space in an urban neighborhood. That project has been progressing well with several dozen trees already planted and many more in the years to come.
Today we completed our next land stewardship project and have finalized the acquisition of 54 acres of Tallgrass prairie land on the outskirts of Hutchinson, KS. The purpose of this acquisition is to conserve the land and the natural state it is in, and to ensure that no urban development can be done on it.
With a few trees, abundant native prairie grass and a small creek bed, this is a prime wildlife habitat.
And that's exactly how it will stay.
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
Foreword, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.
This is admirable. Well done, Pippin 🙂
Wonderful to see this, and refreshing in an era when so many people, corporations, and governments still treat the natural world as a throw away commodity.
How I wish this could be emulated by our people in Nairobi, especially leaders who are capable and well-off. If they could have the love of keeping green spaces in our urban zones and residential areas free of concrete structures or other non-essential, commercial erections, this would make our environment lovely and keep it habitable.