Clint Eastwood – Take pride in America 1987 campaign

I wanted to add something to the Archive on Clint's involvement with the Take pride in America campaign which took place in the late 80s - here is an original piece and an original 60 second PSA spot delivered by Clint and loosely using his Dirty Harry persona in order to get the message across.

Oscar winning director, actor and California State Parks Commissioner, Clint Eastwood recently took time from his busy production schedule to repeat his role as National Spokesman for 'Take Pride in America,' urging all Americans to get involved as volunteers on public lands. The 'Take Pride' program is releasing a set of Clint Eastwood public service announcements.

Eastwood's first 'Take Pride' messages in 1987 involved a "Dirty Harry" style message of "Bad Guys Abuse Public Lands, Good Guys Save It." Eastwood's current message of "It's Your Land, Lend a Hand" encourages Americans to care for public lands, whether in their own neighbourhoods or in national parks and forests.

"I am very happy to help further the mission of 'Take Pride in America'. It was a cause I supported when it was first launched 20 years ago, and the message of caring for our public land is one that I continue to support," said Eastwood.

The 30, 15 and 10 second spots heighten public awareness that Americans share a special legacy of public lands covering one out of every three acres of the nation. From city parks to beaches and byways, citizen stewardship begins with responsible use of these lands and extends to volunteer efforts such as trail maintenance, litter clean ups, wetlands and habitat restoration, visitor centre hosting and many more activities.

Besides the campaign's TV and radio spots, print PSAs will be available for magazines and newspapers nationwide.

The PSA production was done in Carmel, California, where Eastwood and Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and 'Take Pride in America' Executive Director Marti Allbright joined students from Carmel River School in a wetlands restoration project. That school was named the first 'Take Pride in America' School following its agreement to participate in public land projects several times annually. The wetlands restoration project also involved the California State Parks staff and the California Conservation Corps.

'Take Pride in America'®, part of the Department of the Interior, is a national partnership program that encourages, supports and recognizes volunteers who work to improve our public parks, forests, grasslands, reservoirs, wildlife refuges, cultural and historic sites, local playgrounds and other recreation areas. With more than 100 Charter Partners, 'Take Pride' involves Federal, state and local governments; conservation, youth and recreation groups; and top national corporations and organizations. Together, we protect and enhance the special legacy all Americans share - our public lands that cover more than one in every three acres across the Nation.

Above: Clint, still taking pride in 2005