Humans look to nature for sustenance and nourishment — food, water, energy, transportation, culture, tradition, adventure and so on. With the population of the United States now exceeding 340 million, humans are demanding more of the natural world than ever before. To understand the consequences, researchers set an ambitious goal: a wellness check on nature.
Nature is a sweeping category that includes everything from massive mountains to tiny urban gardens. Its health can’t be summarized in just a few words. In fact, it took researchers 868 pages, split into 13 chapters, to report the condition of lands, waters, wildlife, and biodiversity and describe links to human health and safety, culture, economy, and national security.
“We built this to be useful, and the only way it becomes truly useful is if people engage with it — question it, add to it, and help shape what comes next.”
The new report, The Nature Record, is available for public comment and scientific review until May 30.
“The Nature Record tells an honest story,” said Phil Levin, director of The Nature Record and interim executive director of the UW’s EarthLab. “It does not shy away from the scale of change we are seeing in nature — but it also shows that our choices matter, and that there are real, tangible ways to restore and sustain the systems we depend on.”
The preliminary findings are a mixed bag. On one hand, the report details a long history of resource extraction and habitat loss that will be difficult to reverse. At the same time, it shows how restoration and Indigenous stewardship approaches can help turn things around.
For example, the report states that approximately 50% of U.S. land is used for agriculture. This means farmers and ranchers must be involved in efforts to protect ecosystems and preserve biodiversity, Levin said.
The U.S. has millions of miles of rivers, which are fragmented by tens of thousands of large dams and as many as 2 million small dams and culverts.
Damming rivers disrupts fish migration and degrades ecosystem health. Ecological concerns have spurred hundreds of dam removals in the past decade, after which rivers quickly rebounded. In some places, fish have returned to spawning grounds that were inaccessible for generations.
“The assessment documents many examples where ecosystems and communities are recovering together,” Levin said. “These success stories show that change is possible when science, policy and communities align.”
The project began in 2022 following an executive order calling for an assessment of nature. Levin, selected to lead the effort, assembled a national team of experts to work on what was then called the National Nature Assessment.
Then, in January 2025, just weeks before the team was due to deliver a first draft, the effort came to a screeching halt when the federal government canceled the effort.
Undeterred, the team, including more than 170 scientists and experts, decided to continue working independently. They published a draft of The Nature Record in March.
“We built this to be useful,” Levin said. “And the only way it becomes truly useful is if people engage with it — question it, add to it, and help shape what comes next.”
He encourages people of all backgrounds to engage with the report and share feedback on the clarity, relevance and thoroughness, including representation of diverse perspectives.
In addition to documenting how humans are changing nature, the record provides important insights into how nature influences quality of life. Access to nature varies widely across the U.S. — the benefits of nature are not equally shared, nor is the burden of going without. Social and historical factors often determine whether communities enjoy greenspaces and clean drinking water, among other essentials.
“This assessment reflects not just the state of nature, but the relationships people have with it,” said deputy director Tessa Francis, principal research scientist at the UW’s EarthLab. “We want people to see themselves in this work — whether through their communities, their values, or the places they care about — and to help shape how it evolves.”
For more information, contact Levin at pslevin@uw.edu.