On August 25th, take a moment to say “happy birthday” to the National Parks Service. It’s turning 100 years old. And my, how some things have changed in that century. Take, for example, how the parks deal with bears. Today, the Park Service characterizes the possibility of seeing live bears – black, grizzly or polar in dozens of parks across the...
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Epping Forest is a heavily regulated place. First designated as a royal hunting ground by Henry II in the twelfth century, with severe penalties imposed on commoners for poaching, it has since 1878 been managed by the City of London Corporation, which governs behavior within its bounds using forty-eight bylaws. The forest is today almost completely contained within the...
Learn MoreResearchers from Harvard and Colorado State have found that Americans would be willing to pay 30 times more than the current annual appropriation in order to preserve and maintain the US National Park system. According to the study, the US public would pay more than $90 billion a year to sustain and protect America’s iconic places. Yet the US National Park system...
Learn MoreThe Komi Republic in northern Russia is renowned for its many lakes, but sites contaminated by oil are almost just as easy to find in the Usinsk oilfields. From pumps dripping oil and huge ponds of black sludge to dying trees and undergrowth — a likely sign of an underground pipeline leak — these spills are relatively small and rarely garner media attention. But they add...
Learn MoreWhat would happen if the federal government ended its subsidies to companies that drill for oil and gas? The American oil and gas industry has argued that such a move would leave the United States more dependent on foreign energy. Many environmental activists counter that ending subsidies could move the United States toward a future free of fossil fuels — helping it...
Learn MoreGreat Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced the temporary closure of the Ramsey Cascades Trail due to a damaged foot log caused by a fallen tree that is blocking access along the route. The foot log spans a section of Ramsey Prong which is too swift and deep to allow hikers to safely rock-hop across river. The popular, four-mile trail is located in the...
Learn MoreHikers and bikers beware. Police officials say there’s a sicko out there who is setting booby traps trying to injure people in a popular Northern New Jersey park. Wayne Police are asking everyone to look very closely at the more than 11 miles of trails in High Mountain Park Preserve because someone has been placing booby traps in the dirt path, specifically barbed...
Learn MoreThe Great Smoky Mountains National Park has partnered with the University of Tennessee to create a new web application that locates more than 1,800 plant and animal species according to their suitable habitats. Everyone from park managers to school groups are expected to benefit from the new biodiversity web application. The “Species Mapper” uses locations...
Learn MoreWith cicadas buzzing above their heads and a splash of a nearby stream providing the metronome to their march, two men document the details of a section of the Appalachian Trail in Craig County, VA in hopes of earning the recognition they say it deserves. They wake up early, prepare for a long day of hiking through the woods and traipse through a different stretch of the...
Learn More“The rapid adoption of LEDs in lighting marks one of the fastest technology shifts in human history,” Goldman Sachs stated in a new report. The accelerated deployment of light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs is on track to save U.S. consumers and businesses $20 billion a year in electricity costs within a decade, which would lower U.S. CO2 emissions by some 100 million metric...
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Conservation Trust for North Carolina is the host organization for AmeriCorps, a ten-month national service program in environmental education and outreach. The program is currently accepting applications for the 2017 service year, which will start on October 4, 2016 and end on July 21, 2017. AmeriCorps members will be stationed at host organizations around the state....
Learn MoreNorth Carolina’s top public health official acted unethically and possibly illegally by telling residents living near Duke Energy coal ash pits that their well water is safe to drink when it’s contaminated with a chemical known to cause cancer, a state toxicologist said in sworn testimony. The Associated Press obtained a full copy of the 220-page deposition...
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Dogs are awesome. Dogs that can hang in the mountains are somehow even more awesome. Behind each of our favorite mountain pups is a loving and supportive owner making sure their quadrapedal compadre is happy and healthy. Unfortunately, so many outdoorsy dog owners don’t take the time to properly prepare and train their animal, resulting in campsite chaos, unnecessary...
Learn MoreThere’s a popular refrain among National Park Service employees, one that doubles as a reminder, of sorts, after a long, wearisome day: “We get paid in sunrises and sunsets.” For many park employees, the pay is seasonal and not great. The hours are long. The question is usually the same (“Where’s the bathroom?”). And no matter how many...
Learn MoreA much-anticipated Bureau of Land Management decision to move forward with plans to cancel 25 previously issued but never-developed oil and gas leases in the Thompson Divide region met with the usual praise from conservation groups and industry criticism. The BLM formally released its final environmental impact statement for its review of 65 existing leases on the White...
Learn MoreTravelers heading east on I-26 in North Carolina have surely shaken their heads a bit after passing exit 49. In fact, it might inspire a flashback to a classic TV show about a dynamic duo. The exit, like it says, leads to Bat Cave, but people hoping to catch a glimpse of Batman might instead have to settle for the community’s dynamic setting with...
Learn MoreWith its sweeping views and endless landscape, big sky and desert rock, Capitol Reef National Park claims scenery just as spectacular as other famous parks; Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands and Arches. But Capitol Reef is less crowded – a beautiful thing for hikers. Capitol Reef National Park surrounds Fruita, a little oasis settlement. The first view of Fruita is a sudden,...
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After decades of protecting North Carolina’s natural resources as well as its economy, over the past six years the North Carolina General Assembly and executive branch have begun to systematically dismantle the longstanding, sensible policies that make North Carolina a great place to visit, live, and do business. Attacks on our environment include: Slashing by 40% the...
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In order to be recognized as one of the high peaks, an Adirondack mountain must stand above 4,000 feet. There’s 46 of them. Hikers come from all over the world to reach the summits of these coveted peaks. Stop two different hikers on the trail, and chances are they will give two different sets of reasons why they’re out in the wilderness. Drive between Saranac Lake and...
Learn MoreThe first of two trail bridges on the Catawba Falls Trail on the Grandfather Ranger District is complete. In partnership with McDowell County, North Carolina State Parks, and a federal Recreational Trails Program grant, the Pisgah National Forest has rerouted the Catawba Falls trail and installed a trail bridge crossing the Catawba River. The Forest Service will be...
Learn MoreCan the largest river restoration project in history serve as a template for other waterways across the country? “A river is never silent…Reservoirs stilled my song.” Narrated from the point of view of Washington’s Elwha River, a new documentary about the largest dam removal project in U.S. history starts off on a somber tone before building toward the best...
Learn MoreThe wildflowers are bursting into bloom in the meadows high above Taos, New Mexico. Now is the perfect time to head up to the peaks above Taos Ski Valley to experience the beautiful and challenging hikes that begin there. The summit of Gold Hill is one of the most scenic destinations. This hike takes you through the forests, along streams and up into high-altitude...
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Good news for Smokies lovers. A 16-mile section of the Foothills Parkway in Blount and Sevier counties in Tennessee is a big step closer to final funding thanks to a $10 million federal transportation grant. The unfinished section includes the “Missing Link,” an infamous 1.65-mile stretch that will require nine bridges to span a series of ravines along the...
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It’s been four years since it was first announced. And years remain before it is to be completed. But momentum continues to build for one of the most ambitious trail projects in the mid-Hudson Valley, a potential 9-mile pathway linking Beacon and Cold Spring, New York. The Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail will provide hikers and bikers safe passage through the towns of...
Learn MoreThe National Park Service invites visitors of all ages to join in the celebration of its 100th birthday throughout the month of August. With special events across the country, and free admission to all 412 national parks from August 25 through August 28, 2016, the NPS is encouraging everyone to #FindYourPark / #EncuentraTuParque for the centennial. “August – our birthday...
Learn MoreOregon is no stranger to National Parks. Since 1902, the state has been home to Crater Lake National Park, and over the last century four other spots have won lesser designations from the National Park Service. But in the mid-20th century, Oregon’s scenic beauty was prized by the park service, which proposed several sprawling national parks around the state. Three...
Learn MoreIn the deep stillness of a forest in winter, the sound of footsteps on a carpet of leaves died away. Peter Wohlleben had found what he was looking for: a pair of towering beeches. “These trees are friends,” he said, craning his neck to look at the leafless crowns, black against a gray sky. “You see how the thick branches point away from each other? That’s so they don’t...
Learn MoreWildflowers are all over the Rocky Mountains right now, but some places in Summit County, COlorado are better than others if you want to get your flower fix this season. Mid- to late July is usually the best time to see blooms in all of the High Country areas. In forests, look for wild roses, yellow arnica and fairy slipper orchids, and in wet areas find tall chiming...
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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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