Watching the news this weekend was another exercise in political upheaval. I was grateful for a brief intermission on CBS with its “Sunday Moment in Nature.”

Seeing the beautiful mountain scenes and watching the birds up close was heartwarming — and much needed. But I needed more, so we hopped in the car and drove over to Rossville. I wanted to revisit one of my favorite places, the old log cabin that belonged to the Native American Chief John Ross. The surrounding ponds with their fountains are a gift, I hoped that they would still have birds flocking to them.

As we drove behind the Food City supermarket to get to the John Ross house, we found ourselves in the midst of dozens of orange and white traffic cones. We often call them “Tennessee flowers,” but they are definitely not flowers.

Some of the sidewalk around the main pond was cordoned off. A nearby parcel of land had been carved out and cranes, loaders and bulldozers sat in it, indicating new construction was in process. Speechless at first, we were able to drive around the cones and park near the pond.

At the smaller pond, a goose stood just inside the fence and stared at me. It didn’t move as I got closer.

Obviously my presence was of no interest, nor did it scare him off. I loved it and felt like I’d been deposited into one of those nature scenes on TV.

At the larger pond, it was a joy to watch the geese and ducks. There seemed fewer of them this time. Only one long-necked egret stood on a rock overlooking the water. He sensed my presence and waded into the water to safely merge with the other birds.

I stepped back. Again, the construction equipment got my attention. I doubted that it would affect the John Ross property, but nothing is guaranteed these days. Pondering that, I was moved to reread the writing on the John Ross tombstonelike memorials. Did you know that this house was built in 1797 and was restored and preserved in 1967 by the Educational and Historical Commission of the Grand Lodge of Georgia Freemasons? What an inspirational act!

Was it just chance that the next day I received a newsletter from

The Wilderness Society? The title of the front page of the newsletter was, “Conservation Game Changers.” It discussed how the new gamechanging Public Lands Rule of this administration will transform how 245 million acres of public land in the West are managed.

Much of this area is critical for communities to adapt to a changing climate. Conservation, restoration and protection of drinking water will be combined with more protection from development like mining and drilling. The policy also facilitates tribal nation stewardship of cultural lands.

The president of the Wilderness Society clearly outlines the initiative and our role in it: “The Public Lands Rule amounts to a generationdefining shift in how we manage our shared resources.

“It’s time we get to work implementing it, working closely with tribes and local communities to tackle crises like climate change, biodiversity loss and lack of outdoors.”

The Public Lands Rule focuses on the West but affects all of us. I spoke to the lone couple walking their dog around the John Ross pond. “Isn’t this beautiful?” The man responded, “Yes, but it’s getting too hot for this.”

Let’s get to work before it’s so hot that nature is lost to us. Hopefully, Chief John Ross will see us trying our best.