If you could – without costing taxpayers a single dime – create a program that pumps more than $17 billion into the protection of land in every state, contributes support to more than 41,000 state and local park projects and improves access to the outdoors for millions of people, why wouldn’t you?

As Congress prepares to hear from Pope Francis, Latinos throughout the nation are calling on our elected officials to not just listen to his words, but also act on them.

In June, Pope Francis's encyclical letter focused on climate concerns, as well as the connection between human health and the environment. Much of what he outlined in this letter is expected to be part of this historical meeting - this will be the first time the head of the Roman Catholic Church has addressed the U.S. Congress.

For 50 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has enhanced our country and our culture through projects that have improved our communities and created beautiful places where our citizens can thrive.  It has protected our country's most precious natural resources, like the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the tallest sand dunes in North America and Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge that provides critical outdoor and educational opportunities to Latino communities in Bernalillo and Valencia Counties in New Mexico.  LWCF funding benefited nearly every county in America and stood the test of time in terms of being both popular and bipartisan.  

Its namesake is our state. The Colorado River starts near Rocky Mountain National Park, before flowing down from the mountains and into several other states. It also winds its way through the Hispanic roots of the American Southwest.

Up close the waters of the Colorado, the red-colored river, have no color. From afar, the river’s tones are many… Nor does it understand the nature of ethnicities and nationalities. All these human concepts are left behind when, as we go upstream on the Colorado, we arrive and find ourselves facing the vast panorama of the Grand Canyon. However, there is a population group in the United States, the Hispanics, who have claimed ownership of the cause for protecting this river. Are we really able to talk about this community’s special bond with the Colorado’s water? Is it true, as the surveys indicate, that Hispanics are showing greater concern for environmental issues?

Conspiracy theories abound about the end of the world possibly being near. Although they seem far-fetched to many, our planet does seem to have serious issues. Not only is global warming a potential threat to our survival, but pollution and rainforest destruction also are major ecological concerns.