On Common Ground aims to restore the vital dynamism of our democracy by rebalancing the narratives of freedom and equality.  We believe the most compelling framework for this restoration is the literal common ground we all share as Americans – our national and local parks, forests, refuges, battlefields, rivers, wetlands, and monuments — the physical manifestations of both freedom and equality. 

America was founded on the existence of common ground, yet this remarkable inheritance faces the same existential threats as our core democratic values. The two are inextricably linked — the warp and weft of a belief system that posits that we, the people, are better together.

To achieve this aim, OCG will catalyze a new narrative in culture that features common ground as central to our American identity and as an embodiment of our collective hope for a free and equal future. 

On Common Ground tells the authentic stories of individuals whose lives have been shaped by our public lands. Taken together, these stories remind us of all that we stand to lose if we sell, pollute, privatize or otherwise destroy the literal common ground we share as Americans.

As go our public lands, so goes our democracy. Today, both stand imperiled.