Ever wondered how you can do more for public lands but you aren’t sure where to start? Outdoor Alliance’s Outdoor Allies series explores how other outdoor adventurers got their start and their advice for how you can harness your passion for the outdoors into protecting the places you love. Maricela Rosales (pronoun: she, her, ella) is from Los Angeles, CA, dedicated to advocating for diversity in outdoor recreation, equity, and access to public lands, while changing the ethos of conservation as the CA Program Associate Director for Conservation Lands Foundation. Her goal is to move towards cultural and social relevance as a framework to empower, organize, and support partners, colleagues, and the community. You can find her on Instagram.

Tell us about your relationship with the outdoors.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I didn’t have an upbringing with a traditional sense of outdoor recreation. My family would call me “monkey” as a child because I was constantly climbing something—I’d climb out of the window to the roof or up the palm tree in the backyard. Nature and the outdoors were laying in the hammock with my dad for a midday nap, saving snails from the sidewalk after it rained, and playing in the dirt in the backyard.

In college, I started climbing and worked at a climbing gym as a youth climbing coach before starting my role at Conservation Lands Foundation. Rock climbing still has my heart, but now I’ve been finding other ways to be connected, like hiking, trail running, and car camping.

Tell us a little about your work at Conservation Lands Foundation, especially around how you approach your work as a “people-to-people person.”

My dad was the people-to-people person in my family; he was rooted in connecting with people. Watching him listen, connect, and help others translated into my sense of identity. Now more than ever, I see that come out in the work I do at Conservation Lands Foundation.

As the California Program Associate Director at Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF), my role is to help protect, restore, and expand the National Conservation Lands System through education, advocacy, and partnerships. In addition to supporting CLF’s role as a funder to organizations that are part of our Friends Grassroots Network, I work collaboratively with regional and statewide conservation organizations, friends groups, and partners to build and enhance support for the Bureau of Land Management's conservation mission to protect National Conservation Lands. I bring together this rich blend of communities and constituencies to find common purpose in protecting valuable and vulnerable public lands in Southern California. My goal is to inspire and engage our partners to think about how we can bring other constituencies into the fold and bridge gaps in resources, engagement, and access—evolving the ethos of conservation the best I can, one day at a time.

We talked about helping people see themselves in conservation. This seems to be a theme for how you approach your work. Why it is important to help humanize conservation?

The urgency in the conservation movement is understandable, but sometimes conservationists work in a vacuum. We need to start by connecting people to places, and then we can get people to policy. The most instrumental piece of conservation is people. You can’t just protect lands; you must protect people. When you bring people in to understand them and take the time to support their needs, you’re creating a new kind of conservation movement.

June is Pride Month! Can you tell us about your experience as a queer conservationist and what it means to you?

I’m on my queer learning journey and have a lot to unpack and learn. I’ve become more comfortable owning my queerness in the last couple of years. It’s been an experience building relationships with folks who are part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and conservation. It’s helped create a space for me to discuss potential opportunities like building affinity spaces within the Friends Grassroots Network and other partners, and offering future in-person gatherings for the 2SLGBTQ+ community. It’s a journey I’m interested in!

What do you hope the future of conservation holds?

I hope, dream, and desire that we’re not looking at conservation with a rigid, black and white lens. We need to slow down to see conservation in its wholeness.

I’d love to see more diversity when it comes to who’s being hired and who we’re engaging with. This also applies to the communities we are working with—are we making information accessible and equitable? When we see conservation more holistically, we will see diversity's value. It’s necessary to look at all the rainbow colors, not just the black and white.

Tell us about your work with Outdoor Alliance.

My work with Outdoor Alliance is about building trust and relationships between recreation and conservation in different regions in Southern California. My dad told me, “Take people with you,” and I’m always reminded that it’s more powerful when we come together. I use my relationships and experiences to bridge barriers and bring different groups together, so there’s a space for all of us to be included and heard.

Lightning round (one or two word answers):

Favorite places to get outside: San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the California desert!

A destination you’re excited to explore: I’m excited to explore more of California, especially Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.

Favorite piece of gear right now: My Columbia Newton Ridge Waterproof Hiking Boots

Outdoor Allies: Maricela Rosales