Tell Us Your Story
Beth Warner

 

For More Stories

Visit Tell Us Your Story for more stories by members and staff about their favorite natural experiences. 

 

Return to the 50th Anniversary page

For me the journey with nature began with trips with my folks to state parks – McCormick’s Creek and Clifty Falls.  We stayed in rustic cabins and sometimes I could take a friend.  We would spend the day surrounding ourselves in the fall and sometimes spring beauty of the woods, water, and wildlife.  Hours would drift by without notice.  It was a simple yet all-consuming joy that stuck with me from my early teenage years through today.

As the years went by and other more worldly pursuits were chased, I still treasured any time I could spend in the outdoor world.  I began to realize I relied on nature to be both the physical as well as spiritual place I could always count on.  That was reason enough to be passionate about protecting natural areas for myself as well as my child.  How could I not?

Now that I’m lucky enough to work in the conservation world, I’ve come to understand nature more deeply on other levels.  Nature isn’t just a pretty, peaceful place, it’s the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the ground we walk on.  Our work to protect it is essential.  How could we not?

Today I still pursue natural places, conduct frog counts each spring, and revel even more in the incredible beauty and power nature holds over us all.  And it all began on a trail in the woods . . . . 

-- Beth Warner

About the Author

Beth Warner is the executive assistant at our Upper St. Joseph River Project Office in Angola, Indiana.