Global warming, clean water, and growing global population are some of today’s most pressing environmental issues. That list should be updated, it seems, as noise and light pollution have become major global concerns. Both noise pollution and light pollution have actually been pressing issues for a while, though they haven’t received the attention of other environmental causes. That may change, however, with a set of new studies and reports on background noise and light from cars, airplanes, and other sources both in parks and...
read moreFor outdoorsmen, the term “private lands” typically means acres of fish and wildlife habitat, and trails closed to public use. That term has taken on new meaning in recent months as members of Congress have signed on to support the call by special interests to sell off public property to states and private industries. But there is another story to private lands that benefits fish, wildlife, and outdoorsmen. And there is actually a bi-partisan initiative underway in Congress that will strengthen it. This is the private land trust...
read moreThere are many great routes for walking and hiking in the countryside of Spain and Cuenca province has several really fascinating trails to follow, including “Los Callejones de Las Majadas,” or the Alleys of Stone. Located within the Serrania de Cuenca Nature Reserve, this fascinating route is around three miles from the village of Las Majadas in the province of Cuenca in Castile-la Mancha, central Spain. “Los Callejones de Las Majadas” is a wonderland of fascinating and curious shapes, which can be seen in the...
read moreOn June 6th, 1765, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon placed an oak post at the point on their survey where the West or Mason-Dixon Line (northern boundary of Maryland) intersected with the North Line that formed the boundary between Maryland and the three lower counties of Pennsylvania (later to become Delaware). The survey divided the lands of the Calverts (Maryland) and the lands controlled by William Penn (Pennsylvania), settling a long running dispute of the two colonies. A crown stone was placed at this location by Mason and Dixon on June...
read moreThe White House used the FY2016 budget request to outline plans to keep parks relevant to an increasingly urban and diverse nation and to invite all Americans to help support their parks. The requests include $20 million annually to transport over a million urban youth to national parks and public lands, with dedicated youth coordinators to welcome them and their families, and a significant increase in the National Park Service (NPS) Centennial Challenge program, which leverages federal spending at least 1:1 with contributions and partner...
read moreMarine scientists have long known that plastic pollution in the ocean is a huge problem. The most visible sign of it is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an accumulation of waste (actually spanning several distinct patches) floating in the ocean. It’s at least twice the size of Texas and can be seen from space. This pollution has an incalculably lethal effect on everything from plankton to whales. So just how much plastic is there? A study in Science put out some pretty horrifying numbers: In 2010, the study finds, between 4.8 and 12.7 million...
read moreA recent report by the U.S. Forest Service shows that for over 19 million people in the South – roughly the population of Florida – clean water begins in the region’s national forests. The report provides information at a level not previously available on the amount of surface drinking water national forest lands provide to communities in the South. The Forest Service Southern Region and Southern Research Station (SRS) worked together to produce the report’s analysis, tables, and maps, which include detailed data on public water system...
read moreHigh atop Lookout Mountain, just south of the Tennessee-Georgia line, Rock Creek cuts a valley into the mountaintop. As it prepares to drop off the mountain, the creek flows through Lula Lake (actually more like a pond) and over the impressive Lula Falls. In the wild and woolly days more than a half century ago, Lula Lake was basically a no man’s land where all sorts of characters hung out and scary things happened. The surrounding land had been degraded through mining, clear cutting and garbage dumping. Today, it’s quite a different scene....
read moreNext time you go hiking through the forest keep an eye out for some pretty strangely-shaped trees. These trees are quite unique in that they bend in very unnatural angles. Sure, some trees are just weirdly-shaped, but there’s something special about these bent trees. Native Americans would bend trees in order to create trail markers that formed an early routing system, which served multiple purposes. From indicating that water and food was nearby, to warning travelers of rough country ahead, these landmarks were important features in...
read moreWhen you think of hiking, you may envision traversing up and over rolling Appalachian or Rocky Mountains, braving the cold, sleet and snow. But while Florida may be popular for its amusement parks and beaches, there is a side of it off the beaten path that many have yet to discover: the more than 5,000 miles of diverse hiking trails throughout the state. February marks Florida Hiking Trails Month, established first in 2013, to recognize the importance of hiking trails and encourage people to protect and preserve them. Experts say the prime...
read moreApple CEO Tim Cook announced during a White House summit on cybersecurity that Apple Pay is partnering with the federal government for some financial transactions. While reaffirming that Apple does not track Apple Pay data, Cook said the service will be available for many government-related transactions starting in September. This includes paying for admission into national parks, receiving benefits like Social Security payments and expenses for government employees. Cook also pledged to work more closely with the White House to protect...
read moreApollo Trifan hiked more than 275 miles last year, but this year it might be hard to top that, as he’s currently learning to walk. Apollo is 20 months old and hiked all those miles last year with his parents as part of Hike It Baby, a group where moms and dads hit the trails with their newborns. The international group was started in Portland, OR in 2013, and a Vancouver branch was born last year with a hike at Salmon Creek Greenway. Three women lead hikes throughout Clark County, BC, and the group offers multiple hikes of varying...
read moreWhen Mary Melton went hiking through the Verdugo Mountains one weekend in January of last year, she was struck by the lack of signs to guide hikers through the trails. The editor-in-chief of Los Angeles magazine was actually scouting the area with her friends and son, who was 9 years old at the time, for the publication’s April hiking issue. Information available online or on-site detailing where to go and how to get there was scant — they even got lost a couple of times, relying on other hikers for directions. Late last month, the Glendale...
read moreGrueling pretty much sums up the Seven Summit Challenge. Avid hiker Kim Matelski, recently completed the challenge. “It involves hiking the (Phoenix) Valley’s seven urban summits, which is a total of more than 26 miles of trails and a climb of about 6,000 feet. Matelski completed the journey in just 11 hours. “We were prepared,” Matelski said. “We didn’t just decide to go out that day and do it.” Not being prepared or knowing your limitations are some of the biggest mistakes people make on the...
read moreThe Genetically Modified (GM) farming system has made exposure to Roundup herbicide a daily fact of our existence, and according to the latest US Geological Survey study its probably in the air you are breathing. It reveals that Roundup herbicide (aka glyphosate) and its still-toxic degradation byproduct AMPA were found in over 75% of the air and rain samples tested from Mississippi in 2007. The researchers pointed out that, “the 2007 weekly air concentration pattern for glyphosate was similar to those of other commonly detected herbicides in...
read moreThis spring, work crews will suit up and go to the rescue of eastern and Carolina Hemlock trees infested by the woolly adelgid, a tiny invasive insect striking down these majestic trees. Late last year, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation received a grant from the Hemlock Restoration Initiative to collaborate with the National Park Service to help save these disappearing trees which are native to North Carolina. The funding will allow the chemical treatment of trees near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Avery, Haywood, Transylvania, and Watauga...
read moreWhich national park will claim your attention this Presidents Day weekend? All 405 national parks will provide free admission to everyone February 14-16, 2015 to honor our nation’s leaders and their accomplishments. Visit one of the scores of national parks with a direct connection to a president, including birthplaces, homes, monuments, memorials, and historic sites. One national park, the White House, has been the residence of every United States president except George Washington. In addition to the 405 national parks, the National...
read moreIn 2010 Wyoming became the first state to require oil and gas companies to disclose chemicals used in fracking operations. Home to the petroleum-rich Powder River Basin, proponents saw the rule as a model for other drilling-dependent states to follow. The message they hoped the regulation would convey: We can be energy-friendly and environmentally friendly too. But the rule contained a trade secrets caveat, which allowed companies to skirt the disclosure requirement if they said the chemicals were confidential business information. That...
read moreLegions of hikers and state “highpointers” have had the vision for years that if you build an overlook on Sassafras Mountain, the curious will come. Now, it looks like the idea for an accessible observation platform straddling the North Carolina-South Carolina border is on its way, thanks to a $350,000 gift to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. The department will be able start drawing up plans and moving dirt for building a new observation platform at the summit of Sassafras Mountain, the highest peak in South Carolina....
read moreA late winter day in Oklahoma often is a great time to go hiking. There are no bugs or snakes to contend with and if a person dresses properly and plans for the weather, there are plenty of days when the temperature is very comfortable for a hike. There are a number of trails near Oklahoma City that can provide an enjoyable outdoor experience. Four of the best are the trails at Lake McMurtry, Lake Thunderbird, Sportsman Lake, and Roman Nose State Park. All are within a short drive from Oklahoma City and are good day hiking destinations. A...
read moreCongress, which in December passed legislation that created a number of new national park units, is now being asked to expand by 75,000 acres the Mojave National Preserve as well as Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks, while also being called upon to create two new national monuments. U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are working to build upon a landscape-level legacy for the California desert that began more than 20 years ago through their California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act. “This piece of legislation is...
read moreA community close to the proposed Maine North Woods National Park has drafted a letter that outlines the requirements it would like to see met before it could support such a park. The letter drafted by the Town Manager of Millinocket to U.S. Sen. Angus King, Maine’s former governor, touches on a number of issues, from air quality and the eventual size of such a park to free access for Maine residents. In the letter, Town Manager Margaret Daigle said the town wants the park limited to 150,000 acres in size, a far cry from the 3.2...
read moreIn order to enhance the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) experience for thru-hikers and better manage this natural resource, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), in cooperation with its partners, has launched a new voluntary registration system for those attempting to hike the trail in one year. This registration system, available at the Conservancy website, exists to ease impacts from the increased number of hikers expected after the release of two hiking related films, “Wild” and “A Walk in the Woods.” In recent years, the A.T. thru-hike...
read moreThe Swiss are the inventors and exemplars of “hiking with options.” If you are eager to cut the day short after too many hours in an Alpine rain, you can board the cog railway back to town sooner than you’d planned. If your knees are sore after too many switchbacks up the side of a mountain, just take the gondola down. Not only are the Alps crisscrossed with well-marked Wanderwegen, or hiking trails, but they’ve also nearly all been conquered by one or more forms of transportation. The Swiss (and French) have dug tunnels, laid track and flown...
read moreAs morning light painted the far-reaching buttes of the Grand Canyon gold, Renae Yellowhorse stood at the edge of the canyon’s rim, looked out toward where the rivers met below her, and smiled. “It is my church, it is where I say my prayers. It is where I give my offerings. It’s where I commune with the holy ones, the gods that walk along the canyon,” said Yellowhorse, a member of the Navajo Nation. This place, called “the confluence,” is where the Colorado River meets the Little Colorado River on the...
read moreSkiers and snowboarders often overlook that most of the thrills and spills they have at a Colorado resort take place with publicly owned lands underfoot. So as tens of thousands of spectators converge on the White River National Forest for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Vail and Beaver Creek, the U.S. Forest Service thinks it’s a great time to raise the collective consciousness about the importance of keeping forests healthy. The year-long “It’s All Yours” campaign will kick off at the championships as a way to not only let...
read moreThe U.S Forest Service wants to hit the reset button on its planning process for Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests in North Carolina. The agency is planning a new series of public meetings, tentatively scheduled for April, regarding its ongoing forest plan revision, which will guide management of the two forests for at least a decade, said Kristin Bail, supervisor of North Carolina’s national forests. She said she hopes this next round of meetings will be marked by collaboration, rather than the controversy that has plagued the...
read moreCurtis Penix, a 46-year-old Michigan native with Kentucky roots, plans to hike the 200-mile trek marked by Daniel Boone almost 250 years ago. Penix will start his 16-day journey on March 10, 2015 at Long Island on the Holston River in Kingsport, TN — the site from which Daniel Boone and his party left in March 1775. Following ancient Indian and buffalo trails, Boone and his party of ax-wielding men blazed a pathway through the wilderness from Tennessee through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky. This pathway not only gave tens of...
read moreIn 2014 there was an agreement between the U.S. and Mexico that allowed for the release of water into the Colorado River Delta. Known as a pulse flow, it lasted from late March to mid-May last year. Scientists have now returned to the path of the historic pulse flow, a release of water designed to rejuvenate the delta that has been totally dry for decades. By all accounts, the pulse flow’s most important outcome is that it actually happened. For so long, the forces against it seemed overwhelming. With western water such a scarce commodity,...
read morePresident Obama’s budget request for fiscal year 2016 — the centennial year of the National Park Service — includes $3 billion for the bureau’s critical conservation, preservation, and recreation mission. The budget boosts the National Park Service’s essential programs and operational needs by $432.9 million. The president’s budget highlights the importance of investing in a historic effort to attract and host more visitors as well as leverage additional private philanthropy for the parks. “In 2016, the National Park Service will celebrate...
read moreBP will support a shareholder resolution calling on the company to release information about how climate change could affect its business. It’s the second big win for climate-conscious investors this year: Shell agreed to support a similar resolution last week. Both the Shell and BP resolutions were submitted by a coalition of activist investor groups representing more than 150 major shareholders in Europe and America. The resolution asked Shell and BP to reduce emissions, to invest in renewables, to provide transparency about bonuses that...
read more
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. 
Copyright © 2011-2023 Internet Brothers. All Rights Reserved. ISSN 2324-6057
Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by Wordpress | Logo by Design Aspirations
