Necessity

"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself."

— Edward Abbey (Desert Solitaire)

Dream Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park - Photo by B. Lawhon

"We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope."

- Wallace Stegner, the Wilderness Letter

Beauty and isolation? Check out these favorites this summer

Need a reason to get out this summer? Look no further. Yahoo travel has a couple quick hits on their 5 top Wilderness areas for beauty and isolation.

Or check Wilderness.net for the Wilderness closest to you. And if you want a challenge without leaving your computer, see if you can guess how many Wilderness Areas are in your state before clicking on your state listing . I was way off...

Do you know who's land you're on?

Sounds like a simple question but the answer is not always obvious. With so many different land management agencies - National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers, countless state parks, hundreds of local municipalities, etc. - it can be very confusing for the average outdoor enthusiasts. Not to mention the dozens of different land designations - Wilderness, national park, wild and scenic river, national monument, - just to name a few.

One must ask - why does it even matter who's land I'm on? Well, it does matter, and in some cases it matters a great deal. There are things you can do on USDA Forest Service lands (hunting for example) that you can't do in many National Parks. You can mountain bike on lots of land that the Bureau of Land Management manages but you can't mountain bike in federally designated Wilderness. What it boils down to is that recreationists need to know what is and isn't allowed on the lands where they hope to spend time.

Land management agencies have different classifications of land in order to manage for one thing or another. Whether it's solitude, resource extraction, water resources or recreation, land managers do their best to ensure that we properly steward public lands in the U.S.

The first principle of Leave No Trace, Plan Ahead and Prepare, encourages outdoor enthusiasts to do some research to find out about what is an isn't allowed on the lands they intend to visit. This seemingly simple step is critical for a quality recreational experience, and is very important for protecting the limited recreational resources we have to share.

Wilderness War

An interesting article in the Salt Lake Tribune regarding issues stemming from recreational access to Wilderness Study Areas in Utah. http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12312057 The crux of the issue appears to be whether or not motorized recreation is compatible with the idea of federally designated Wilderness. 

Leave No Trace 2008 PowerPoint Available Online!

The slideshow is available for download here!

National Get Outdoors Day - Denver, CO

JUNE 14, 2008: DENVER COLORADO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2008

Contact: [Susan Alden-Weingardt, Partnership Coordinator, USFS, Rocky Mountain Region and Co-Chair of June 14 event, 303-275-5401, salden@fs.fed.us]

Fun in the sun at Sloan’s Lake Park on National Get Outdoors Day

DENVER, Colorado, (May 21, 2008) – Governor Bill Ritter has declared June Great Outdoors Month in Colorado and President Bush has proclaimed June 14 as National Get Outdoors Day. Denver’s celebration will be a signature event highlighting the importance of enjoying our amazing outdoor recreation opportunities.

Avid4 Adventure, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Parks and Recreation, Outward Bound, REI, The US Forest Service, The National Park Service, Vail Resorts, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado and many more sponsors will host the inaugural National Get Outdoors Day on Saturday, June 14, 2008, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Sloan’s Lake Park in Denver. Designed to become an annual summer event, National Get Outdoors Day encourages healthy, active outdoor fun. Participating partners will offer opportunities for families across the United States to experience traditional and non-traditional types of outdoor activities.

This exciting, unique event is designed to reach first-time visitors to public lands and to reconnect our youth to the great outdoors. Booths and outdoor stations will offer a variety of fun activities such as a mountain bike course, rock climbing and geocaching.

National Get Outdoors Day is an outgrowth of the Get Outdoors USA! campaign, which encourages everyone, especially our youth, to seek out healthy, active outdoor lives and embrace our parks, forests, refuges and other public lands and waters.

For more information visit www.nationalgetoutdoorsday.org. To reserve space for a booth call Bill Kight at 970-948-1894 or email bkight@fs.fed.us.

Cell Phones Everywhere!

Cell phone use is on the rise in the United States and abroad. Today, more people have cell phones than fixed telephone lines both in the U.S. and internationally. There are more than one billion cell phone users worldwide. In the U.S. alone, there are 205 million wireless subscribers.

What does all this have to do with the outdoors?

Historically, people went outside to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A local trail was a way to get relief, if only temporary, from fax machines, phones, voice mail, email – technology in general. However, due to the substantial rise in cell phone use, our wildlands are more “wired” than ever. No longer is the top of the mountain, the base of the crag or the trail by the creek a place of solitude and escape. It is, in many areas, just as connected via technology as anywhere. More and more people are carrying and using their cell phones in the out of doors. Cell phones can be a useful tool in the event of an emergency but can also be a significant detriment to ones outdoor experience.

In order to help those who carry and use cell phones in the out of doors do so in a way that minimizes the social impacts on others, the Center for Outdoor Ethics has developed the following cell phone use guidance:

• It is recognized that many outdoor recreationists carry cell phones for safety and emergencies. Be considerate of other visitors: carry and use cell phones out-of-sight and sound of other people. Keep them turned off until needed or left in a pocket on the “vibrate” or “silent” ringer setting.

• Be self reliant, whether carrying cell phones or not. Don’t leave ill-prepared or engage in risky actions just because you have a cell phone to call for rescue. Remember that in many remote areas cell phone coverage is limited or non-existent.

• Many people go to the out-of-doors to get away from technology. Please respect their desire for solitude and be considerate when using a cell phone.

On your next outing, please be mindful of how using cell phones (for non-emergency calls) can affect someone else’s outdoor experience.