The roles of private land stewardship in conservation and government in facilitating energy development and protecting the environment will headline two conferences at 2022 EarthX Half-Earth Day®, Oct. 20-22 in Dallas.
Sid Miller, Texas Agriculture Commissioner, and Cam Sholly, Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, will be keynote speakers during Half-Earth Day’s® conference—The Role of Private Land Stewardship in Texas Conservation. Speakers will represent the Texas Agriculture Land Trust, Texas Produced Water Consortium, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, among others. Special focus will be on the management and prevention of forest fires.
The second conference is “The Roles of Private Governance and Government in Facilitating Energy Development and Protecting the Environment.” Major topics center on energy’s future and its impact on the environment, including energy options, barriers to development, effects on energy due to the federal Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Acts on energy, and the government’s role.
“Conservation is integral to stewardship over the land and our environment,” said Nathan Loftice, chief executive officer and executive director of EarthX, founded in 2011 by Dallas real estate developer Trammell S. Crow. “In Texas, more than 90 percent of the land is privately owned. This creates an imperative for private landowners to engage in a vigorous conversation about conserving for the future of the children and grandchildren in this state.”
Continuing extreme weather from fires to floods is the strongest evidence of climate change and cannot be ignored, added Loftice, whose family has been in Texas farming and ranching for six generations. Texas has long been known as a state where the weather can change at the drop of a hat, but the shifts are more severe now.
“Environmental scientists agree climate change has deepened drought, which has made us more vulnerable to the fires that have burned millions of acres across the United States just this year,” Loftice said. “What can property owners do through conservation to help? Plenty, and we hope people will join us at our events on Oct. 20 and 21 to learn.”
EarthX will also host a multidisciplinary performance called “The Way of Rain—Hope for Earth,” by the artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford; composer Tim Janis; and film artist Floyd Thomas McBee, with live narration by the actor, director, and producer Robert Redford, husband of Sibylle Szaggars Redford. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Julien Benichou. The performance is 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.
Visit earthx.org for more information and to register for the conferences and screening of “The Way of Rain.”
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
–Sid Miller, an eighth-generation farmer and rancher, is the 12th commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture. He has devoted his life to promoting Texas agriculture, rural communities, and his home state. A recognized community leader, Miller was elected the 12th Texas agriculture commissioner in 2014 and re-elected in 2018.
Within six months in office as commissioner, Miller eliminated a 2.5-year backlog in organic certifications and reshaped field operations to maximize efficiency, increasing the number of consumer protection inspections by as much as 183% while paring TDA inspectors’ travel by more than half a million miles annually.
–Cam Sholly became superintendent of Yellowstone National Park in October 2018. Yellowstone is one of the world’s largest national park operations, spanning 2.2 million acres and receiving over four million visitors each year. The park has more than 1,000 employees and volunteers and an annual budget of more than $60 million. Sholly is a third-generation park service manager and began his National Park Service career in 1990 in Yellowstone’s backcountry.
During his tenure, Sholly has worked with Yellowstone’s team to set new strategic priorities that focus on the Yellowstone workforce, strengthening the Yellowstone ecosystem, delivering a world-class visitor experience, investing in infrastructure, and building coalitions and partnerships.
Sholly oversaw the response and recovery to devastating floods in 2022, reopening 93% of the park within 20 days. The park is completing a $40 million employee housing improvement project, expanding bison conservation efforts, investing a record amount to combat non-native species, and developing a more focused approach to ecosystem management, sustainability, and future climate challenges.
ABOUT EARTHX
EarthX is a subsidiary brand of Earth Day Texas Inc., founded in 2011 as a 501(c)(3) to support Earth Day celebrations in Dallas. Since then, EarthX has grown into an international nonprofit and global environmental organization with a mission dedicated to environmental awareness, education, and inspiring passion in people and organizations to take action towards a more sustainable future. EarthX envisions becoming the leading global connector and environmental forum, using its three assets of Expo, Film and TV in moving forward.
The Expo is a major annual public event held around Earth Day in April that celebrates progress, hope, and innovation. It has grown to become the largest event in the world of its kind, bringing together environmental organizations, businesses, academic institutions, government agencies, interactive programming and subject matter experts along with music, art and food. EarthX creates a fun and engaging atmosphere for thought and experiential learning. At every Expo each year, EarthX puts its passion into over 10 areas, known as the Congress of Conferences presenting both environmental sustainability challenges and opportunities including but not limited to energy, conservation, youth, law and e-Capital.
If not for being canceled due to Covid, Earth Day’s 2020 event would have included 700 exhibits; 11 conferences; five public stages; 13 banquets and receptions; 450 speakers, and an expected 180,000 attendees based on 2019 numbers.
In 2017, EarthX launched a film festival that has now become a year-round environmental film movement out of Dallas, TX. Its annual festival occurs during Half Earth Day® in October and showcases 50 to 75 of the industry’s top environmental short and feature films. A weekend of screenings, panels with film guests and environmental experts, workshops and popular music, the festival draws both local and national audiences.
EarthX Media Inc. operates EarthxTV, a 24/7 linear television network dedicated to engaging and informing audiences globally. The company is headquartered in Dallas, TX.
