Roads and trails and buildings in our national parks are deteriorating, and adequate funding to fix that problem remains elusive. With so many competing demands for federal dollars, the National Parks Service is often a lower priority, especially for repair projects. The result is that despite user fees the backlog of projects at national parks nationwide is $11.49 billion, according to the agency – a staggering sum in an era when Congress is more willing to cut spending than to find ways to invest in infrastructure. This includes work on...
read moreA toxic chemical used in the controversial drilling practice known as fracking has been detected in the drinking-water supply of Pennsylvania homeowners, according to a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The chemical—2-Butoxyethanol or 2BE, known to have caused tumors in rodents—showed up as “white foam,” which one researcher “likened to dishwashing suds.” The PNAS study, Evaluating a groundwater supply contamination incident attributed to Marcellus Shale gas...
read moreThe 52-mile Lost Coast Trail runs about 255 miles north of San Francisco. It was named the Lost Coast because of depopulation in the area in the 1930s and because the terrain is too steep and rugged to build a road. If you look at a map, you can see how Highway 1 heads inland north of Fort Bragg. There are two distinct sections of the Lost Coast Trail. The northern section is a 24-mile relatively flat hike along the beach. The exciting aspect of the trail is that some of it disappears at high tide. The southern section is more in the...
read moreRangers in the San Bernardino National Forest call them “red trees.” Instead of the typical deep green color, large swaths of pine trees now don hues of death, their dehydrated needles turning brown and burnt-red because of the state’s worsening drought. “Unlike back East, where you have fall colors, here it’s because the trees are dying,” said John Miller, a spokesman for the San Bernardino National Forest. Years of extremely dry conditions are taking a heavy toll on forest lands across California and heightening the fire risk as summer...
read moreA coalition of big insurance companies, consumer groups, and environmental advocates are urging the United States to overhaul its disaster policies in the face of increasingly extreme weather due to human-caused climate change. According to a report released by the SmarterSafer coalition, the U.S. needs to increase how much it spends on pre-disaster mitigation efforts and infrastructure protection. That way, it asserts, the U.S. can stop wasting so much money on cleaning up after a disaster happens. “Our current natural disaster policy...
read moreBeginning in May, the Montana Wilderness Association is offering more than 150 free day hikes, field trips, trail building and maintenance projects, wildland inventory outings and backpacking adventures across some of the state’s most magnificent backcountry. Now in its 53rd season, MWA’s Wilderness Walks program continues to offer hikers of all ages and experience levels an opportunity to participate in traditional recreation opportunities while enjoying Montana’s quiet beauty and remaining wild places. All MWA outings are free and...
read moreCalifornia’s old-growth coastal redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth, and the old-timers thrive in the foggy, rainy territory between Mendocino and the Oregon line. For many locals, these trees don’t just dominate the landscape; they connect with matters of life and death — even now, years past the timber industry’s glory days. Bgin with the 32-mile Avenue of the Giants between Garberville and Fortuna, where the old growth of Humboldt Redwoods State Park alternates with roadside kitsch. Head into the park belt — a long,...
read moreBefore there were roads, there were only trails. Before there were wheels, there were only feet. Before the Norsemen and Columbus stumbled upon North America, the continent was crisscrossed by a trail system chiseled into the earth by animals large and small and the silent moccasins that followed them. Three hundred years ago, the southern Appalachians were home to the sovereign Cherokee Nation. Over sixty towns and settlements were connected by a well-worn system of foot trails, many of which later became bridle paths and wagon roads. This...
read moreUnlike its neighbor Yosemite, at Lassen Volcanic National Park there were no crowds at the entrance gate, in the parking lots or on the trails. Only 400,000 people will make their way to Lassen this year; nearly 4 million will visit Yosemite, most of them during the summer. “Not many people have discovered this park,” said Karen Haner, Lassen’s chief of interpretation and education. That makes the experience nicer for those of us who have discovered it. Lassen, about a three-hour drive north of Sacramento, features jagged...
read moreHiking trails have been identified as one of new niche tourism markets aimed at enhancing values of farms around the capital of Namibia that offer unique landscapes. New hiking trails are being promoted by the Namplace project, which is mandated to advocate and educate the public about landscape conservation in the identified pilot landscape conservation areas such as Sossusvlei Namib, Fish River Canyon, Waterberg, Mudumu and the Windhoek Green Belt. “These efforts are to make farms more sustainable and encourage farmers not to deplete...
read more1934 was a big year for conservation in the southern Appalachians. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in June, and in October, on a roadside somewhere outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, The Wilderness Society was born. The story of The Wilderness Society’s conception has been told different ways, but all versions involve a heated roadside discussion centered on the novel idea of protecting wild places from the growing threat of “recreational motoring” and its associated roads. In Bernard and Miriam Frank’s car on that...
read moreThe hiking trail guides in Idaho adore the mountains to the north and south but ignore most of the Snake River Plain. That big, empty swath of sagebrush and lava is the high desert, and hiking authors largely direct their readers elsewhere. That doesn’t stop folks from poking around in the desert with maps. You’ll find lovely native wildflowers. And sculpted basalt. And absolutely gorgeous silence. But there’s been a lot of disappointment in the exploration, too: Roads that appear on maps but seem nonexistent on the ground. Long,...
read moreLate in the day the trucks reached their destination and the four men stepped out into the backcountry of western Arizona. In the back of the trucks, they had enough gear for a few nights of camping — cases of beer, baling wire and tools for repairs, shovels for digging. And they had a body bag, full of dry ice and the corpse of Edward Abbey. The day was sunny, but it had been a rough week. The men spotted a mesa with a nice view, gathered some tools and walked to the top. When they got there, two of the men, Jack Loeffler and Doug Peacock,...
read moreMost of the best-known wilderness areas are out west, but states east of the Mississippi River still contain millions of acres of stunning land protected under the 50-year-old Wilderness Act. Befitting a pioneer nation, many of our most revered natural landscapes, from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite, are in the west. However, the roots of American conservation lie firmly in the eastern half of the country, as do many pieces of extraordinary designated wilderness. The Wilderness Act of 1964, was authored by Howard Zahniser, an easterner whose...
read moreA small herd of about two dozen bison could be grazing on restored grassland south of Chicago as soon as this fall. Officials plan to introduce a mix of young and mature bison at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, where the U.S. Forest Service and other groups have been trying to restore grassland at a site that was used as a U.S. Army ammunition plant for many years. The 1,200-acre area could eventually be home to about 100 bison. Bison are an important part of prairie ecosystems, and they will help restore the site’s native grass...
read moreOn the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, President Barack Obama looked out on the tall grasses of the Florida Everglades Wednesday and declared that the sweeping wetlands illustrate the dangers posed by climate change. “This is a problem now,” he said. Obama visited the South Florida landmark to warn of the damage a warming planet is already inflicting on the nation’s environmental treasures – and announced more financing for conservation efforts. In addition to the $2.2 billion investment in Everglades restoration, the...
read moreThe Green Mountain Club, maintainer and protector of Vermont’s Long Trail, is asking hikers to take extra care from now until Memorial Day. It’s mud season, and hiking trails are especially prone to erosion at this time of year. Hikers walking on saturated soils or on the sides of trails cause irreversible erosion and damage vegetation. Vermont officially closes state-owned trails at high elevations from April 15 through the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, including Camel’s Hump State Park, Coolidge State Forest, Mansfield State Forest, Long...
read moreShorty’s Well to Telescope Peak is regarded by some as the hardest hike in North America. It starts below sea level, and climbs to over 11,000 feet. Distances vary from hiker-to-hiker, and for us it was nearly a 40 mile round trip hike without reaching the summit of Telescope Peak. Aside from the washed out road that makes up the first eight miles, there is no trail. Route finding is difficult, and the climbs are often straight vertical. Story by David Wherry I tried to stand, but I was overcome with dizziness. I simultaneously needed to...
read moreIt took more than a year, but crews at Joshua Tree National Park, aided by professional conservators from the University of New Mexico, have largely “erased” graffiti scratched into the Barker Dam, a historic site inside the California park. Barker Dam is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The year-and-a-half partnership culminated with a weeklong project in March, where architectural conservators from the University of New Mexico volunteered their skills to effectively mitigate the visual impacts of scratched...
read moreIf, after the long, snowy and cold winter, you’re ready for some colorful spring wildflowers, consider heading to New River Gorge National River in West Virginia this weekend, April 24-26, 2015, for the 12th Annual New River Gorge Wildflower Weekend. This three-day event showcases the biologically diverse southern Appalachian forest at New River Gorge National River, Tamarack, and the state parks of Babcock, Hawks Nest, Little Beaver, Pipestem Resort, and Twin Falls Resort. According to park staff, the New River Gorge area has the most...
read moreMichigan’s recreational trails offer jaw-dropping glimpses of the Great Lakes stretching out against the horizon. They feature cliffs that look like they were squirted with giant tubes of fingerpaint. And miles of soft sand to trudge ‒ a scenic way to tighten the glutes. Wander off the public parks and more breath-taking vistas await (as well as the occasional trash-strewn shoreline, landfill or nuclear power plant). It’s the kind of journey that is an inspiration for the Next Big Idea for Michigan: A walking trail that traces the entire...
read moreToday is the fifth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, an event that triggered the nation’s worst-ever oil spill. The well leaked for three months and dumped over 200 million gallons of oil into the sea. The explosion itself killed eleven men; the resulting pollution killed a stupefying amount of wildlife, including 800,000 some birds. And despite billions paid out by BP in fines and restoration costs, the economic impact of the disaster remains wide-reaching and ongoing. But possibly even more...
read moreState Police are reporting a number of car breaks across the state at parks and hiking trailheads this week. “Last year there were numerous car breaks at various hiking access locations in Vermont. This is in part due to the ongoing heroin and opiate challenges the state currently faces,” police officials said. Addicts are searching for money and items to steal so they can purchase drugs, police said. There have been frequent car breaks in a variety of places including the Mount Philo State Park in Charlotte; Camel’s Hump...
read moreA 27-year-old female hiker died after falling 500 feet off the Makapuu Tom Tom Trail in East Oahu. The tragic accident is just one of many search and rescue attempts firefighters have responded to this year alone. Oahu hiking clubs fear the recent increase in accidents will cause landowners and the state to close down more trails. Landowners have already cracked down on websites featuring the popular trail. Two hiking clubs on Oahu say the over-exposure of these popular trails are leading to the trails “downfall.” Seasoned hikers within those...
read moreThe closing of Mount Ascutney Ski Resort five years ago left an economic and recreational void in the village of Brownsville, Vermont. Thanks to the Sport Trails of the Ascutney Basin (STAB) and its partnership with the town of West Windsor, the area has once again become a destination. The western base of Ascutney now features approximately 34 miles of non-motorized, multi-use recreational trails, the result of exhaustive and persistent efforts from volunteer STAB members over the last decade. Led by co-founders Jim Lyall and Erik Schutz,...
read moreWhile shoveling scoop after scoop filled with rocks, you wonder why anyone pays money to work out. If you want to do some heavy lifting, the good folks at the Washington Trails Association would be thrilled to have you. They’ll put you through the trail-work grinder for free — rain, cold or shine. Twenty-plus volunteers, from kids on up, arrived on a Sunday at Tiger Mountain in Issaquah to work on one of the most heavily used trails in the country. Everyone was a hiker interested in giving back to an organization that puts incredible time and...
read moreThe Appalachian Trail has put Wind Gap, PA on the map – a map of communities along the 2,180-mile trail, that is. Designation as an Appalachian Trail Community means Wind Gap will be highlighted in guidebooks and hiking maps, and the recognition could be a financial benefit to the borough. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy created the Appalachian Trail Community program to assist communities with sustainable economic development through tourism and outdoor recreation, while the communities, in turn, help preserve and protect the trail....
read moreA recent budget crisis in Alabama could force as many as 15 state parks to close their gates to the public. According to Alabama State Parks Director Greg Lein, those parks include Bladon Springs, Chickasaw, Bucks Pocket, Paul Grist, Florala, Blue Springs, Roland Cooper, Rickwood Caverns, Cheaha Park, Lake Lurleen, DeSoto, Lakepoint, Guntersville, Joe Wheeler, and Frank Jackson. If the plan goes through, not only would the parks turn away potential visitors, but they would lose critical funding earmarked for upkeep and maintenance. One of the...
read moreTrade winds snap at the bamboo and coconut palms. Two-hundred-and-fifty-year-old stone churches crumble into the hillsides. As you approach the shabby hot-springs mecca of Bath Fountain, a shirtless Rasta on horseback rides slowly down the center of the road, as if time still moves at an ancient, unmotorized pace. Up ahead, the gnarled, near-vertical peaks of the Blue Mountains rise out of the morning mist, majestic but also menacing. “Up here is hills and jungles and rivers — natural life,” says Eddie, who runs a coconut stand...
read moreThe nation is buzzing about National Park Week, America’s largest celebration of national heritage, April 18–26, 2015. It’s about making great connections, exploring amazing places, discovering open spaces, enjoying affordable vacations and enhancing America’s best idea—the national parks. It’s all happening in your national parks. The National Park Service is once again partnering with the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, to present National Park Week, a presidentially...
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I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, producer of this blog, and passionate about hiking. I live in Western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my door, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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