Some places do more than inspire us. They shape us.
They connect us to those who came before, remind us that we are part of a story larger than ourselves, and challenge us to consider what we will leave behind for those who come next.
Drawing from America’s public lands, the legacy of John Muir, and the continuing work to protect and restore our shared natural heritage, Robert Hanna will explore “sense of place” as something more than our connection to a landscape. It's also a responsibility—one passed from generation to generation.
At a time when Americans can seem divided by almost everything, our public lands offer something increasingly rare: common ground. They remind us that some things belong not to one party, one community, or even one generation, but to all of us.
The question, then, is not simply what these places mean to us today. It is what our stewardship of them will say about us tomorrow.
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The Places That Shape Us
Robert Hanna is a public lands advocate and longtime leader in efforts to protect, restore, and expand access to America’s natural heritage. The great-great-grandson of legendary conservationist John Muir, Hanna has worked to carry forward a conservation ethic rooted not simply in preserving the past, but in imagining what is possible for future generations.
His work has contributed to numerous legislative successes protecting public lands and natural resources and includes ongoing advocacy for the restoration of Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley. At the heart of his work is a broader mission: bringing people together around the shared values of conservation, restoration, stewardship, and greater access to America’s public lands.
Hanna believes public lands can provide common ground in an increasingly divided nation - and that each generation carries a responsibility to protect these extraordinary places and leave them better than it found them.
