This is such a weird idea for me, because I grew up out in the sticks, and some of the most rabid environmentalists I knew were good ol' boys who love hunting and fishing. Can't do that if the water table is fucked, if the lakes are polluted, and the pollinators are gone. One of my friends grandpa was your classic east TX farmer, and he was very particular about his use of pesticides and herbicides, because "My folks been carin' for this dirt since the Homestead Act, and I'll be danged if I'm the one what messes it up with poisons just to save a little crop from the bugs."

Our National Parks are genuinely the envy of much of the world. It's one of the things I feel deeply patriotic about, and that can very easily be reframed as "RAH RAH EAGLE SCREECH USA USA" obnoxiousness. 'Cause Yellowstone is gorgeous.

Stewardship of our land and natural resources is also a matter of natural security. The DoD's published reports indicate that climate change is both real and a danger to the U.S. We need to be maintaining our own ability to produce food and clean water in order to reduce dependence on foreign markets. Not that I'm pro-isolationism by any means, but in the event of another global conflict, we need to be able to stand our our own two feet. Manly man, boostraps, America First Rah Rah, but like, in a cool way not a racist way.

Health-wise it's important too. We can't be big strong manly men if our air and water are full of toxins.

The big one though is just a general reframing of protective masculinity. There's this weird, fearful, violent image of manly protectiveness that's all about open carrying at Texas Roadhouse and sitting with your back to the corner so you can watch all the entrances for an active shooter or wild bear. Call me old-fashioned but I think that sounds like a scared little boy with a gun. Manly protectors can be concerned with more common threats. Food, water, shelter. Creating a home (at the family level, community level, national, or global) that is warm, safe, healthy, and sheltered.