Considerable effort, energy and resources on public lands are used for public education. According to some agency personnel, more time is now spent in "managing the people" than in "managing the resources." Interpretative discussions, workshops and displays teach traditional environmental and cultural topics, but interpretive education can also be used to tell visitors about the steps public lands are taking to preserve and conserve resources and point out ways visitors can help. Involving the public in pollution prevention on public lands can further create a link to pollution prevention in their own homes and communities.

It is also important to educate employees, contractors and concessionaires about the importance and practical ways to prevent pollution on public lands. Their participation is essential to successful pollution-free operations. Effective education of both visitors and workers is critical to public land protection and a powerful message for sustainable communities outside of public lands.

How to Send the Message Home

Currently, there are few online tools that specifically demonstrate the relationship between pollution prevention on public lands and how the same principles can be applied in homes and communities. This may be because visitor education is usually devoted to more traditional topics.

Public lands that seize the opportunity to demonstrate and educate the public about pollution prevention will maximize their impact if they can show the connection between public lands and visitors’ homes. Links presented in this section have been developed in various contexts to educate everyday people about everyday efforts to prevent pollution. Our intention is to provide a collection of links that will make it easier for agencies to develop educational tools and incorporate such messages as part of their overall educational effort. Suggestions for new links or examples of how and where this has been done are welcome by emailing us at: information@peakstoprairies.org.