Let's protect the oceans like national parks

So, of all my childhood memories,

there is one that stands above the rest.

And that is the time that my brave parents

rented an RV, packed it
with me and my brothers,

and drove west
from our house in Minneapolis,

out to Yellowstone National Park.

We saw all the sights, like the geysers,
we stopped at the Badlands,

but more than any of the places,
I remember this as an adventure.

This was my introduction to the Wild West.

But it wasn't until I got older

and I learned more about
the National Park System,

that I realized just how lucky I was.

One, to have that experience,

but also that, hundreds of years ago,
people had the foresight

to set aside the very best places,

the very best ecosystems
in the country, for everyone.

And for future generations.

And to really appreciate
just how prescient that idea was,

you have to go back and
you have to look at the history

of the National Parks Service.

So, a lot of people know, the first
National Park was Yellowstone in 1872.

A lot of people think of John Muir,
the poet, naturalist,

who was such a visionary

and getting people inspired
by the idea of conservation,

that we need to take
the best places and protect them.

He had audience in very high places,

so there's a great story
of Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir

going hiking, in Yosemite.

During his presidency, four days,
completely off the grid,

just the two of them.

Can you imagine a president

actually just going completely
off the grid for four days?

(Laughter)

No tweeting.

(Laughter) (Applause)

Like that idea.

But he had a great impact
on Theodore Roosevelt.

And he created dozens of national parks,
hundreds of thousands of square acres

of national wildlife refuges.

It was an important administration,
but it wasn't a done deal.

Even less than 10 years after
he created all of those new places,

the future of those places
was very much in doubt.

And it wasn't until this guy,
Stephen Mather,

a businessman from Chicago,

wrote an angry letter to
the Department of the Interior, saying,

"You guys aren't doing a good enough job
protecting and preserving these places."

Than something was done about it.

The Department of the Interior
wrote him back,

"Mr Mather, if you care
so much about this,

why don't you come to Washington
and do it yourself?"

And he did.

He took a job at the
Department of the Interior,

but more importantly,
he started a campaign.

He actually had a meeting
two blocks from here in 1914,

in California Hall,

and he brought together the Park
superintendents and a few other people

who cared about this idea of conservation.

And they put together a plan,
they hatched a campaign,

that eventually led to the
National Park Service in 1916.

And that's really important.

Because it went from an idea
that we should protect these places,

to an actual plan,

a way for people to enlist
and carry that idea forward

for future generations,

so little kids like me can go
and have these amazing experiences.

That is the history of the
National Parks on land.

The ocean, what I want
to talk to you about today,

is a completely different story.

And we are almost,
precisely 100 years behind.

So, the first marine
sanctuary was in 1972,

after the oil spill in Santa Barbara,

people got interested
in taking that concept

and applying it to
underwater environments.

We've had our own John Muir,
who's Dr. Sylvia Earle,

who's been a tireless advocate

for creating these marine
protected areas around the world.

So, I know there's a lot
of bad news about the ocean,

there's plastic pollution,
coral bleaching, over-fishing --

it's hard to take it all in sometimes.

But this idea of setting aside
places for nature is working.

Science tells us, that if you
set these places aside,

nature will come back
and we can keep the oceans healthy.

So we know this idea works.

And Dr. Sylvia Earl
has been influential, like John Muir,

with administrations --

George W. Bush and Obama
were both fantastic ocean presidents,

creating marine protected areas
all around the country.

This is not a conservative idea
or a liberal idea,

it's not even an American idea,

it's just a good idea.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

But --

(Applause)

Here we are, a few years later.

And now the administration is proposing
to roll back a lot of the progress

we've made in the past 20 years.

So, so, don't mourn -- organize.

We need to do what
Stephen Mather did 100 years ago.

We need to start a campaign
to get people engaged with this idea.

And I think we need a league
of citizen scientists for the ocean.

And I've seen glimpses of this future
and I know that it's possible.

My friend Erik and I started building
underwater robots,

these little swimming cameras
with lights that you can see underwater.

We started building these
in his garage, five years ago

and we've watched that grow

into this community of thousands
of people around the world,

who believe that everybody
should have access to these places.

We all deserve the tools
to go and explore.

There's stories like Laura James,
who used her robot

to find out that sea stars
in her area were dying.

And she started this whole
citizen science campaign,

collected data and drove awareness
for sea star wasting syndrome,

to try and figure out
what was happening there.

There are stories of fishermen in Mexico,

who used the robot to create
marine protected areas

where Nassau grouper were spawning,
to protect the future of this species.

It's really amazing stuff.

We found that if you
give people the tools,

they'll do the right thing.

But we need to take it a step further.

And, actually, I think we can dust off
Stephen Mather's playbook.

So what did he do?

So, the first thing that he did
was he focused on infrastructure.

So 1914 wasn't just
the time for the parks,

it was also a time for the automobile,

the Model T was rolling off the line

and Stephen Mather understood

that this was going to be
an important part of American culture.

And so he partnered with Highway
associations around the country

to build big, beautiful highways
out to these parks.

And it worked, he's basically
invented car camping.

And he knew that if people
didn't go to these places,

that they wouldn’t fall in love with them
and they wouldn't care.

So that was a really insightful
idea that he had.

The second thing they did,

was they focused on
visionary philanthropy.

So, Stephen Mather was a successful
businessman from Chicago,

and anytime there was
a Parks Association that needed funding,

anytime there was a Highway
association that needed funding,

they'd step in, write
the checks, make it happen.

There's a great story
of his friend, William Kent,

who recognized there was a small patch
of redwoods left on the base of Mount Tam,

and so he quickly bough up the land and
donated it to this National Parks effort.

That's Muir Woods today,

it's one of the most popular
national parks in the whole country.

My parents are visiting here
from Minnesota,

and they don't really even
care about this talk,

all they're talking about
is going to Muir Woods.

(Laughter)

But the last thing is critical.

Is, Stephen Mather focused on engagement.

In one of the first meetings that they
had around this new system, he said,

"If you're a writer, I want you
to write about this.

If you're a business owner, I want you
to tell your clubs and your organizations.

If you work for the government,
I want you to pass regulation."

Everybody had a job.

"Each of you, all of you,
have a roll to play

in protecting these places
for future generations."

Each of you, all of you.

I love that.

That's the plan --
simple, three-point plan.

I think we can do the same.

So, this was the headline
when Obama created

the Papahanaumokuakea national monument:

"Lots to see, but good luck
trying to get there."

But like Mather, we should focus on
the technology of our time,

all of this new, amazing,
digital infrastructure can be built

to engage people with the oceans.

So, the National Marine Sanctuary

has created all these
wonderful VR 360 videos,

where you can actually go
and see what these places look like.

Our team is continuing to build new tools,

this is our latest, this is
the trident underwater drone,

it's a diving submarine, it's sleek,
you can fit it in a backpack,

and go down to 100 metres,
deeper than most divers can go.

They can see these environments,
that most people have never had access to.

New tools are coming
and we need even better tools.

We can also use more
visionary philanthropists.

So, when Erik and I started this,
we didn't have any money,

we were building this in his garage.

But we went to Kickstarter.

And we found over 1,800 people,

almost a million dollars
we've raised on Kickstarter,

finding other people who think,

"Yeah, that's a good idea.

I want to be a part of that."

We need more ways for people
to get engaged,

and become visionary
philanthropists themselves.

We've also had
traditional philanthropists,

who've stepped up to fund us

in the SEE initiative -- the Science
Education and Exploration,

who are going to help us get donated
units out to people on the frontlines,

people who are doing the science,
people who are telling the stories,

and inspiring communities.

You can go on to openexplorer.com
and see what people are doing,

it's hugely inspirational.

And it will also, hopefully,
spur you to get involved.

Because there is plenty of room
to get involved.

We want to hear what ideas you have
for telling these stories.

Because that's just it --
this is all about engagement.

There's all sorts of interesting,
new ways for people to participate

in the protection of these places.

And the understanding.

Like, Reef Check -- scuba divers
are going down and swimming,

[unclear] and counting
fish and biodiversity data.

They're getting the information we need
to protect these places.

If you're going down to the beach,
participate in MPA Watch.

Document what activities you see
going on in these different areas.

There is room for everybody
to participate here.

And that's just it, that's what we need.

We need to build a future
for our grandkids' grandkids.

Last month, I went out sailing,

and we got out to the Farallon Islands,
25 miles off the Gate

and most people think of this
as kind of a bird sanctuary,

but we took our robot and we sent it in.

And the people on the boat were astonished
at the life beneath the surface.

I mean, these are really,
really important ecosystems.

Really, and this is a whole
wild world we haven't yet explored.

And we have an opportunity right now,

just as they did 100 years ago,

to protect these places, to put in a plan,
to keep people engaged.

So last year, when the
executive order came out,

putting all of the progress we've made,

all of these new marine protected
areas under review

there were over 100,000 people
who commented online.

Almost all of these letter were saying,

"Don't do it; protecting these places
is the right thing to do."

My message to those 100,000 people,
those 100,000 letters is,

don't wait for Washington.

We can do this ourselves.

Thank you.

(Applause)