Former Jimmy Carter staff member and Alachua County resident Paul Pritchard’s new book, “Voyage of a Conservationist: A Memoir,” chronicles two decades of serving in various environmental leadership roles during Carter’s governor and presidential offices and with the National Park Conservancy.

Having served as deputy director for the U.S. Department of the Interior, special assistant for Public Lands and founding chairman of The Climate Institute, Pritchard is considered a “world recognized conservationist, historic preservationist, and community leader” by Sarah Leatherman, a Florida International University professor. 

“There were days when I started and ended my work before the sun rose and after the sun set,” Pritchard said in a press release. “Carter had great expectations for himself and his staff.” 

In his book, published this fall, Pritchard shares stories from the “Golden Age of the Environment,” when Congress passed over 15 environmental laws, including clean air, clean water, and endangered species laws, while providing guidance for future conservancy efforts. 

“It was the 1980s. The impact of global warming was being felt in the environment,” Pritchard said. “But it was not understood by most Washington politicians. Carter put solar panels on the White House…newly elected President Reagan took them down.” 

The book also covers Pritchard’s tenure as the executive director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, CEO of the National Parks and Conservation Association and founder of the National Park Trust.  

His work with Carter on the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act doubled the size of the state’s park system, before more legislation prohibited hunting in national parks and established Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas and Great Basin National Park in Nevada. Officials named the highest point in Tallgrass Pritchard’s Point in his honor. 

“Voyage of a Conservationist: A Memoir” can be found on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble and local bookstores.