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 […]

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 […]

Flying drones is outdoor recreation.  Yet this activity often intersects with other outdoor recreation pursuits.  So much so that the National Park Service has banned drones in the National Parks since June of 2014.  That doesn’t stop people from flying them in the Parks and one fellow was recently tasered by a Park Ranger while […]

According to the U.S. Forest Service: “A campground host is a volunteer who agrees to spend part or all of the year in a National Forest campground. A host helps other campers by answering questions, providing information about the local area, and acts as the “eyes and ears” for identifying problems when Forest Service employees […]

 Earth Day Facts and History Earth Day marks its 45th Anniversary in 2015.  What began in the USA on March 22, 1970 as an environmental education initiative, supported by Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.) and Congressman Paul McCloskey (R-Calif.), is now celebrated in nearly 200 countries around the world.  In many places it has expanded to Earth Week and […]

Edward O. Wilson defined biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”.  He suggested that people are born with an instinctive bond with other living systems.  Most kids love animals – Wilson says that’s instinctive.  We like to think of biophilia as finding the joy in nature – ‘affiliating with other forms of life’ sounds […]

The term ‘wildways’ is used in its broadest sense by the Wildlands Network in its efforts to build interconnecting habitats for the benefit of migrating wildlife.  The concept, however, is not new. For decades the U.S. Forest Service has been developing land use plans around the notion of core habitats with connecting wildlife corridors.   […]

Tread Lightly In an earlier post we mentioned how the U.S. Forest Service’s Leave No Trace program for non-motorized recreationists was later complimented with the Tread Lightly program aimed at motorized recreationists.  The Forest Service started the program in 1985 to address impacts associated with off-road and sometimes on-road motor vehicle use. In many areas within […]

What happens when you leave trash at your campsite? Just don’t!