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One is a former governor of Missouri.

The other is a metro columnist who often criticized the governor.

There鈥檚 no punch line. It鈥檚 just what happened the other day. I walked into Starbucks to meet somebody else, and there was former Gov. Jay Nixon, looking fit and trim, and, as always, ready to talk about public policy in Missouri.

Nixon鈥檚 been in the news lately because some folks that he might run for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Roy Blunt. Personally, I鈥檓 not buying the speculation. Nixon seems too happy engaging in the practice of law, offering the occasional guest sermon at his church, and enjoying the natural beauty of the state he loves to put himself back through the political wringer in a post-Trumpian world where facts take a back seat to conspiracy theories.

This is one of the things I have always appreciated about Nixon. We found ourselves on the same side of issues, and on opposite sides, over the years, but as we discussed various matters of public policy, we relied on facts in our debates, not over-heated rhetoric.

Idle speculation about a Senate race is not what we talked about in the coffee shop. Nixon wanted me to know about the amicus brief he had filed on behalf of a passel of conservation-minded groups in Missouri 鈥� those with a liberal and a conservative bent 鈥� who are trying to stop an Oregon County circuit judge from forcing the state to sell 4,200 acres the Department of Natural Resources purchased for a park while Nixon was governor.

The brief is worth reading, Nixon proudly told me. It starts with Henry David Thoreau and ends with not one, but two Roosevelts. And, indeed, it does. He emailed it to me the next day.

鈥淟eave it as it is,鈥� former President Theodore Roosevelt said when he gazed upon the vast beauty of the Grand Canyon. Nixon鈥檚 clients ask the Missouri Court of Appeals to do the same thing with Eleven Point State Park.

鈥淲e stand with one voice to honor wild lands and rivers, to preserve the natural outdoor world that binds us together, and to enforce the laws that codify Missouri鈥檚 longstanding commitment to conservation,鈥� the brief reads, which was filed on behalf of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, the Missouri Parks Association, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, the Sierra Club, and several other organizations. 鈥淲e ask this Court to provide guidance with strong, clear law.鈥�

The brief supports an appeal filed by Attorney General Eric Schmitt on behalf of DNR, and it goes into great detail about why Oregon County Circuit Court Judge Steven Privette鈥檚 ruling could potentially be so devastating for the state. The judge said that because the river running through the park is protected by a federal easement, the state couldn鈥檛 buy it for a park. But such a ruling misses the point: the federal easement, meant to protect the river from over-development, makes it perfect for a state park, which is one reason why the federal government supported the purchase.

If the judge鈥檚 ruling were to stand, many parks in Missouri would be in jeopardy, the brief argues.

鈥淚n the end, the Circuit Court鈥檚 judgment is more than legal error. It threatens core Missouri values of preservation, conservation, and use of our world-class natural resources. More than nearly any other issue, Missourians are united in their support for their state parks,鈥� the brief reads. It goes on to point out that the protection of parks is not only embedded in Missouri law, but has been upheld by the courts numerous times.

One of those times was just last month, when Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker re-affirmed the political independence of the state Conservation Commission, and its ability to purchase land without the interference of some of the same Missouri Republicans who are trying to overturn the purchase of the land in Oregon County.

鈥淭he voters did not intend to leave in the hands of the General Assembly the ability to dictate whether, how much, and for what the Conservation Commission could spend from the Conservation Fund,鈥� Walker wrote.

Ironically, Schmitt (who is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate) is on both sides of the issue, fighting to protect the ability of DNR to keep the Eleven Point park land in one case, and defending the Legislature鈥檚 ability to meddle in the affairs of the Conservation Commission in the other one.

But the law 鈥� and historic Missouri public opinion 鈥� is clearly on the side of preservation, protecting public lands in this state for future generations.

鈥淭he parks belong to all the people; any action to diminish their existence is an affront to the purpose and history of parks and conservation,鈥� wrote Nixon, whose legacy as governor is clearly tied to this concept. 鈥淭he courts of our state have been clear, consistent, and strong following the clarion call of generations of Missourians to preserve and enjoy our public lands and waters.鈥�