Iowans gathered at the Iowa Capitol Thursday to celebrate the parks, trails and outdoor spaces across the state.

The gathering was also intended to serve as a reminder to lawmakers that Iowans care about the outdoors and about preserving access to trails and public lands.

Joe McGovern, president of Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, encouraged attendees to think of the creek, park trail or family farm that was special to them and to bring those feelings into the crowded rotunda.

“Today, we want to choose joy,” McGovern said. “We want to celebrate Iowa’s outdoors and for all the great things that it brings to us.”

Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, said the outdoors gives Iowans a sense of commonality, which he said is “sometimes sorely missing” at the State Capitol.

“Because we’re Iowans, and we step out and look at the great sky above us, smell the air, feel the breeze, look at the trees, and that is where we feel at peace,” Baeth said.

Baeth said the outdoors can’t be taken for granted, and pointed at urban sprawl as a major contributor to Iowa’s loss of prairie, wetland and forest habitats.

“If we don’t do something and put our foot down, we’re going to pave over this entire planet,” Baeth said.