If you are looking to combine hiking with some citizen science, Jasper National Park in Canada, is offering an interesting option. The Park is seeking volunteers to help with the first year of a pilot project to sample and analyze the DNA of black and grizzly bears in the park. Samples are taken from bear […]

If you are a cyclist that knows a disabled person that would like to share the joy of cycling,  you should look into the Duet Wheelchair Bicycle Tandem.  When ready to cycle,  it’s basically an adult tricycle with a wheelchair set in front of the handle bars.  As shown in the inset above,  the wheelchair […]

The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) conducted an outdoor consumer segmentation study in 2014 to meet the following objectives: Understand how the general U.S. population defines ‘outdoor’ and how they engage in outdoor activities Quantify the outdoor consumer market in terms of size and spend Identify distinct segments of outdoor consumers in the marketplace OIA recently […]

Researchers John M. Zelenski, Raelyne L. Dopko and Colin A. Capaldi of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, recently published a study in The Journal of Environmental Psychology that tests the notion that modern lifestyles contribute to environmental destruction—not only via excessive consumption, but also by disconnecting people from nature.   The authors state: “Despite nature’s apparent benefits, most people […]

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 […]

Outdoor recreationists contribute a lot to keeping fish and wildlife populations healthy.  Special Federal excise taxes on sporting firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing equipment, electric boat motors, and taxes on motorboat fuel all contribute to fish and wildlife conservation and recreation projects across the U.S. “These funds are the cornerstone of state-based efforts that are critical to the […]

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 […]

What would you do? Take a look at the photo above.  Now imagine that those five people are nervous grizzly bears (or murderous zombies, if that would put some fear in your heart) and the four black bears are you, a human mother, with three small children.  Now imagine that there are eight more nervous […]

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 […]