The National Nature Assessment was dropped by the federal government after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The project’s authors took that as an opportunity to share the effort with the wider community.

The Nature Record, formerly the National Nature Assessment, is the first holistic assessment of the state of nature in the United States. It was initiated by then-President Joe Biden in 2022 and canceled weeks before the first draft deadline in 2025. But scientists pursued it independently and released the draft of the 868-page report for public feedback last month.

On March 24, the Nature Record held the first public engagement session at the Schuylkill Center of Environmental Education in Upper Roxborough. It kicked off a series of virtual and in-person sessions across the country. The authors will use feedback from the sessions and from the online portal to create the final draft. Comments can be submitted at naturerecord.org.

“We authentically want to hear from you,” Phillip Levin, the project’s director, told the room full of scientists, students, horticulturalists and other members of the public on the 24th. “Your voice matters. This project is national in scope, but it’s meant to be useful and resonate with folks locally.”

University of Pennsylvania adjunct professor Julie Carol Ellis and her colleagues are studying wildlife in Philadelphia through the Accessing Urban Nature Initiative, a system of trail cameras. AUNI hosted Levin for a seminar at Penn on March 23 and connected him with the Schuylkill Center, a partner of the initiative.

For the session, the Nature Record set up different stations for attendees to write comments and exchange ideas with one another. Attendees were instructed to react to the key ideas and data visuals, as well as submit questions they want to see discussed in the report. One station had a map of Philadelphia, where attendees could star places in the city that are important to them.

The report details grim findings about the condition of nature and how it impacts peoples’ daily lives. But it takes an optimistic approach as well, describing current and potential solutions for preserving it. The 13 chapters each focus on an environmental phenomenon, such as the state of terrestrial ecosystems, environmental justice, the role of climate change and nature’s impact on the economy.

“The changes are not abstract. They are happening in places that we work in [and] that we live in,” Levin told the audience.

Nature isn’t just scenery, he said. It supports our health, national security, livelihoods and jobs. It is “ultimately essential,” Levin added.

Attendee Chase Kelsey has an interest in environmental humanities, which examines the relationship between humans and the natural world. He works in sales now but is gearing up to study architecture, another field highly impacted by nature.

“I’m really excited [about the report]. I want to get back to writing and reading more and talking about nature to people. It’s also really cool to have such a comprehensive study at this scope and this capacity,” he told the Local.

History of the Nature Record

The story of the report begins on Earth Day 2022, when Biden signed an executive order initiating the project. Trump revoked the directive — and a string of other Biden-era environmental orders — after assuming office in January 2025.

Levin remembers notifying the team from his van in Mt. Shasta, California. At that point, the authors had volunteered thousands of hours of work for the project. In the same sitting, Levin sent them another email from a separate account.

“This work is too important to die,” he wrote.

The Nature Record, consisting of 170 authors and an advisory board, raised more than $3 million from foundations and other contributors to continue the project. That involved rehiring administrative staff and paying for the scientific review. Levin said the team received thousands of emails from people offering donations and other forms of support.

“It was the most amazing thing,” he told the Local.

The team gathered diverse perspectives from rural groups like ranchers, farmers, hunters and fishers, and in urban environments, they met with entrepreneurs and groups focused on environmental justice. They consulted tribal groups to incorporate indigenous knowledge into the report.

Following scientific review by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the final draft is expected to be released online in the fall and printed in the MIT Press in 2027. The public can comment on the draft through May 30.

The Nature Record hopes the assessment will guide decision-making at all levels and will be used as a resource by business leaders, educators and other fields.

“That’s the dream — that people can look at what actions they want to take in their communities, and the assessment can support those,” Tessa Francis, deputy director of the Nature Record, told the Local at the session.

The only response Levin’s seen from the White House is a statement spokesman Kush Desai emailed the New York Times for a March 5 article. “The Trump administration’s efforts to slash taxpayer funding of waste, fraud and abuse in grant spending — including for ideological pet projects — are only strengthening what’s driven America’s dominance in research and development,” the statement reads.

But Levin says he doesn’t want federal politics to distract people from the important findings in the report, especially as environmentalism becomes a partisan issue. The work of the Nature Record is relevant to everyone, he said.

“Because nature really is nonpartisan,” he said.

The local impact

The report should resonate with Northwest Philadelphians in various ways, Ellis said.

It highlights the importance of protecting local water sources and the role urban green spaces play in improving air quality and public health. The authors describe the significance of partnerships across different groups and agencies to preserve those ecosystems.

“Northwest Philadelphia is fortunate to have Wissahickon Valley Park and other incredible green spaces at our doorstep; the Nature Record helps illustrate how to overcome obstacles and ensure all residents have access to these places and feel safe and welcome in them,” she said in an email.

The Nature Record offers nature-based solutions for mitigating the effects of heatwaves, flooding and other extreme events Philadelphia is experiencing due to climate change, she said.

The report highlighted the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s work to green 12,000 vacant lots in Philadelphia, most of which are in underserved communities. Residents living by renovated lots experienced less crime, better mental health and more outdoor socialization compared to those living near unrenovated lots, according to the report.

Kelsey saw this first hand when living in West Philadelphia. A vacant lot near his home was converted into a small urban garden and he would buy tomatoes and other produce grown there.

“Abandoned lots are a humongous component of assessing urban nature,” he said.

Abby Weiss is an environmental reporter for the Local and a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at abby@chestnuthilllocal.com.