A little more than a minute tonight, but it is worth it.

The Voyager 1 Spacecraft was launched in 1977 to take pictures of Jupiter, Saturn and Titan.  As it was leaving our inner Solar System in 1990, (at the request of Carl Sagan) NASA had it turn around and take a photo of earth from this great distance.  The photo you have in your hand is a small print of this photo.

And yes, that tiny light blue smudge is Earth.

Sagan shared the image during a public lecture at Cornell University in 1994, and gave a speech sharing his reflections on the image.

For the last Earth Day-ish meeting, let’s listen to the short speech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5khU_6o7lc

Earth Day is this weekend, and we are helping in a local lake cleanup on that day.  This is great timing, I hope as many of you to make out as possible.

So, this is the 3^rd week of quotes from conservationist.  Tonight’s is from William Temple Hornaday.

William Temple Hornaday, was an American zoologist, conservationist, taxidermist, and author. He served as the first director of the New York Zoological Park, known today as the Bronx Zoo, and he was a pioneer in the early wildlife conservation movement in the United States.  His efforts are credited with saving the American Bison (or buffalo) from extinction.

“The wild things of this earth are not ours to do with as we please. They have been given to us in trust, and we must account for them to the generation which will come after us and audit our accounts.” 

I encourage you all to learn more about Mr Hornaday, what he did for this country, and the scouting awards named for him.

For the second week in April, our second quote on conservation.

Tonight, President Theodore Roosevelt.

Of all Roosevelt’s achievements, he was proudest of his work in conservation, and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. Roosevelt worked closely with Interior Secretary James Garfield to enact a series of conservation programs.  Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, he also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests

 The area of the United States that he placed under public protection totals approximately 230 million acres.

 “Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.”

Something to think about as we are reminded that as Scouts, we are stewards of the Earth.

Earth Day is in April, so all month, I’m sharing quotes that I like that are at least somewhat related.

Tonight, I have a quote from John Muir:

If you haven’t heard of Muir, he was a naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, an early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States, and he is the founder of the Sierra Club.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

Who can tell me why ____________________ is SPL?

………………………..

Right, you elected him. Where did he come from? Can we order SPL’s on Amazon? Did aliens beam him down to lead the troop? Did we find him with a ‘will SPL for food sign? Where was he before he was SPL?

……………………………………….

Exactly, he was a scout just like you. For the past  few  years ___________________ , has been doing several jobs in the troop and has been working through his ranks. He’s been working on leadership skills, and has been learning a lot..

But __________________________ is a Scout just like you, and, before you know it, some of you will be up here, trying to get the rest of the troop to pay attention. Treat __________________ the way you want to be treated, because the job is easier when we all work together.  Keep that in mind now, instead of waiting until then.