Are We Harvesting the National Parks?
When a business executive looks at his or her product lines, it’s common to come across an offering that appears to be on its last legs. Maybe sales have stopped growing, or there’s a looming patent cliff or unstoppable competition. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t make sense to keep investing in it. Instead, the decision...
Parks without the traffic
Here’s a stunning statistical head-to-head: the population of the United States is 327 million; the number of visitors to America’s National Parks in 2018 was 318 million. In other words, statistically speaking, every able-bodied American…and some on crutches…took in a national park last year. Blame the hordes of...
No service, no sequester
You’ve got two weeks off, America, and there’s gas in the station wagon. The tent is packed, along with your camp stove and a jug of DEET. You were thinking of maybe Yellowstone or Yosemite. But now you’re anxious, which is exactly how you’re supposed to start your vacation. But this is a more acute...
Badlands glamping in Canada
Canada has badlands. I know. Big surprise. And they look pretty bad. Weirdly capped hoodoos and pointed hills and sharp banded walls where a river has cut through the landscape over the millennia. Also, scorching hot. Plus, as a bonus, Alberta’s badlands come with many, many huge dinosaur skeletons. (Some assembly required.) In...
Retired park rangers: Don’t drill, baby
U.S. Park Rangers are trained to work in extreme and dangerous environments, in deserts void of human touch and uncivilized wildernesses, among mindless beasts and insects. So they are prepared—or at least better prepared than most of us—to operate at the fearsome intersection of federal bureaucracy and the oil industry. A group of retired...
When 5% less means obliteration
You can probably cut your caloric intake by 5 percent and be just fine. (Maybe better.) Some other things you can easily cut by 5 percent: Time watching TV. Old t-shirts. Beer. Caffeine. Old books. Cut some other things by 5 percent and you’ll feel the bite, but you’ll survive: Time with loved ones....
Kiss your sweet pass goodbye
Do active old people—those who hike, bike, ski and get about outdoors—think of themselves as self-reliant, fiscal conservatives? Do they see themselves as people who are proud to pay their fair share? Probably not. Or they shouldn’t, if they do. We’re not talking about Social Security or Medicare here. (Yes, those programs do...
Travel notes: Do not try to leap over volcanic steam cracks
This ought to be an unnecessary warning, along with “Don’t pet the bison.” But it remains true that what is obvious to you and me might not be clear to someone else. In this case, a 15-year-old visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Said teen thought it would make an excellent story if he were to...
Jackson Hole fills gap, removes snow
The citizens Jackson Hole, Wyoming (population 9,710)—an almost-gateway to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and a pleasant tourist town in its own right, if you don’t mind the town square with its frankly creepy antler arches—has taken on the job that couldn’t be managed by government of the United States of America (population 313,914,040)....
That sharp pinching sensation? Might be the sequester
At first glance, the sequester seemed like nothing more than a Great Unpleasantness. Much bickering, many threats and accusations, many teeth gnashed by people who said the across-the-board cuts were irresponsible and idiotic. But there was no obvious sense of urgency, which is why your federal leaders declined to hammer out a deal. A...
>60 R2R2R
Darkest January. You have been indoors too much. You’ve counted the fireplace bricks. You know how many paces it is from wall to wall. The terrible and terrifying stories of cabin-fevered trappers suddenly seem plausible. You’re not capable of dismembering anyone. But you can understand how it could happen. Not should. Not yet....
Are we being teased about a new CCC?
We were as ecstatic as we get to read that the federal government is going to do something obvious and excellent, which is reconstitute the Civilian Conservation Corps. At a time when we have too many unemployed (and more to come, as the war in Afghanistan winds down), and crumbling national parks, and young...
