RSVP for State Parks: Valuing the Invaluable in a Time of Austerity

media release: The Arboretum’s long-running Winter Enrichment series offers engaging talks and conversation for naturalists, volunteers, friends, and community members.  

The 2026 lectures will take place on Thursday mornings in January and February, in person at the Visitor Center. Registration is now open.

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for social time and bookstore browsing. Lectures run from 10 to 11:30 a.m. (They will not be streamed or recorded.) Lectures are $10 each and advance registration is required.

Students can register for free using the student registration form (link opens in new tab).

Thursday, Feb. 26

Steven Davis, professor of political science and environmental studies, Edgewood University

Davis’s new book, The Other Public Lands, is the first comprehensive account of the natural resource lands owned and managed by the fifty states. Davis will explore how policymakers underestimate or ignore the spectacular real value found in our state parks in favor of a strategy of neglect and austerity. Fee: $10. Register by February 22.