America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, a project implemented by President Obama in April, seeks to develop a modern conservation agenda to inform Americans of current environmental issues. Included in this agenda are country-wide public listening forums to allow citizens a voice in plans for conservation.

President Obama Signing Memorandum on America's Great Outdoors InitiativeAccording to Scenic Hudson, two of the upcoming discussions will be in the Hudson Valley. These two sessions will be on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Home in Hyde Park and the Marist College Student Center in Poughkeepsie, respectively. Thursday's gathering will be a "Youth Listening Session"and Friday's will be a "Public Listening Session and Discussion."

These sessions are public and free and to sign up go to the America's Great Outdoors website.

This is a great opportunity for all those living in and around Hudson Valley to have their voices heard, and NYLCV highly recommends participating!