The Mountaineers Mountain Workshops are for kids. The Mountaineers take kids outdoors for a variety of experiences that will challenge them while teaching them to get out and enjoy the wonders of the outdoors. The program fosters teamwork, perseverance, resilience, friendships, fun, courage, confidence, respect and awe. The following video shows how they accomplish all […]

Geocaching Banned The Arizona State Trust Land Department takes a dim view of geocaching, banning the activity on the lands they manage. Arizona Sonora News recently quoted Bill Boyd a policy administrator for the trust as saying: “By policy, one of the things you can’t do is leave things on trust land and by its very […]

REI and the National Parks REI, the nation’s largest consumer co-op, recently announced its support of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016 through a multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership with the National Park Foundation. The partnership kicked off with the launch of Find Your Park, a public awareness and education campaign that […]

Technology for Competitive Hikers Whistler Blackcomb in Whistler BC, Canada began using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) technology last  winter.  Skiers  buy a pass that includes an antenna and their identifying information.  As they approach a chair lift, the gate reads the card and automatically opens to allow access. The same technology has created a new […]

Countryside Initiative Program The National Park Service has created a Countryside Initiative program in partnership with Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy.  The program is designed to preserve and protect the rural landscape in Cuyahoga Valley National Park by providing farmers with long-term leases in exchange for farming the land.  Farmers must compete for a lease  of a proposed site including providing […]

We have mentioned the work of Latino Outdoors to “connect cultura with the outdoors.” Current African American culture also discourages the outdoor connection.  Outdoor Journalist James Wells realized decades ago that very few people of color, besides himself, were spending time outdoors.  He says, “I still find myself being one of the very few people of […]

Save Money at Federal Lands With fees rising at most of the National Parks and more people traveling this summer due to lower gasoline prices, it’s time to get your Federal Recreational Lands Pass to save a lot of money on park entrance fees and other costs. There are five agencies that participate so you […]

Around the World with Teens Ever wonder what it would be like to drop everything and take your family on an around the  world trip while living from backpacks for more than a year?  Mike and Catrell Cooney did more than wonder.  They wanted to give their kids a world-wide education, but they had limited financial […]

Students and Teacher Killed in Japanese Attack Seventy years ago, May 5, 1945,  six U.S. civilians were killed in Oregon by a Japanese attack.  They were the only mainland victims of enemy action during World War II.  Killed were five kids ages 11 to 14 and their Sunday School teacher, Elsie Mitchell.  They were on […]

Topographic Maps Explorers need maps.  The U.S. Geological Survey has been creating and updating these maps since its inception in 1879.  If you need a current map for your explorations,  you can download them for free or order them on paper using the “Map Locater & Downloader” at store.usgs.gov. Beyond current maps,  the U.S.G.S. now has […]