ConservAmerica, formerly known as Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), is a national nonprofit organization formed in 1995. REP's stated purpose is to strengthen the Republican Party's stance on environmental issues and support efforts to conserve natural resources and protect human and

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

. Incorporated in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, its headquarters are in

Sturgis, Michigan Sturgis is a city in St. Joseph County, Michigan, St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 11,082 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located at the northeast corner of Sturgis Township, Michigan ...

. On March 30, 2012, REP President Rob Sisson and Chairwoman Tina Beattie announced that the organization would be changing its name to ConservAmerica. ConservAmerica had been the name of REP's sister

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

organization; that nonprofit is now called the Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship.

History

REP was founded in 1995 by three women, Martha Marks, who at the time was a member of the

Lake County, Illinois Lake County is a County (United States), county located in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it has a population of 714,342, making it th ...

, Board of County Commissioners; Kim O'Keefe-Wilkins; and Aurie Kryzuda. They met at an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

conference in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...

. As lifelong Republicans, they were concerned that the new Republican majority in the 104th Congress was seeking to weaken the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

and other

environmental law Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...

s. In April 2012, ConservAmerica became a separate organization from REP led by Rob Sisson. The new group named itself "ConservAmerica", a name that it said represented "the inherent connection between conservation and conservatism".

Mission

"ConservAmerica's mission is to educate the public and elected officials on conservative approaches to today's environmental, energy, and conservation challenges." ConservAmerica's slogan, "Conservation is Conservative," is based on the traditional conservative philosophy of writers and thinkers such as British statesman

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...

, President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, and authors Russell Kirk, author of '' The Conservative Mind'', and Richard Weaver, author of ''Ideas Have Consequences''. ConservAmerica argues in its literature that conservation and responsible environmental stewardship are core conservative values that necessarily extend from concepts such as prudence, personal responsibility, thrift and Burke's view that society is a partnership among past, present and future generations. ConservAmerica cites the conservation achievements of Republican leaders, including

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

's initial protection of

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...

and pioneering conservationist president,

's establishment of national forests, monuments, parks, and wildlife refuges. Other Republican leaders often cited by REP for their conservation records include Presidents

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

, and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, Senators

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

John Chafee John Lester Hubbard Chafee ( ; October 22, 1922 – October 24, 1999) was an American politician and officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 66th Governor o ...

William Roth William Victor Roth Jr. (July 22, 1921 – December 13, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware. He was a veteran of World War II and a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republi ...

and

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

, Congressman John Saylor, and California Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

Issue advocacy

ConservAmerica advocates for conservation and environmental protection on a wide variety of environment and energy-related issues. The organization favors retention of environmental laws that were adopted with bipartisan support, such as the

Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () is a federal land management statute meant to protect U.S. Wilderness Area, federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness. It was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Socie ...

, Clean Air Act,

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

, the

National Environmental Policy Act The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law designed to promote the enhancement of the environment. It created new laws requiring U.S. federal government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of ...

(NEPA) and the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. Since 2018, ConservAmerica has focused on advocating for market-oriented approaches to addressing energy and climate issues. '' Jim Hansen's Conservative Climate Plan'' October 11, 2010 ConservAmerica advocates for reduced U.S. dependence on oil and other fossil fuels through more energy efficiency, and more use of renewable and

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...

. ConservAmerica's environmental policy positions are covered in the organization's website under the Issues tab and detailed in a variety of ConservAmerica policy papers.

References

External links

Official website
(formerly at http://www.rep.org/)
"The Green Conservative: An Interview with Jim DiPeso"
{{Republican Party (United States) Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Republican Party (United States) organizations Conservative organizations in the United States