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...
Does the Forest Service hate the President?
Last week, the U.S. Forest Service trumpeted the news that it would be offering four fee-free days in 2013. This is dandy, but not as dandy as it sounds, for two reasons. First, “fees are not charged on 98 percent of national forests and grasslands, and approximately two-thirds of developed recreation sites in national...
Nature shower with a friend in 2013
Here’s a New Year’s resolution you’ll want to follow through on: take more nature showers, ideally with a friend. Or friends. As is usually the case with good ideas, there’s nothing new about this except the way we talk about it. “Taking a nature shower” is just another way of saying you should walk in...
A Curious Obsession
In early March of 1979, Ranger Steve and I were traveling Highway 2 from East Glacier, Montana to Kalispell. Having just reviewed an epic production of Barefoot in the Park by the East Glacier Players, we were headed west to do a little alpine sliding. The entire area was besieged with slides and major avalanches...
Two more things on glamping
Everyone should self-impose a limit on the number of stories they write on glamping. Like one a month and maybe ten in a lifetime. So apologies, but two things have crossed my desk that demand to be relayed to anyone who has read this far: First, you need to see the array of products...
New glamping option looks like a Tylenol capsule. Or candy.
It’s hard to believe that the hotel industry is threatened by glamping. For two reasons: one, it feels like a fad, a flash in the pan. And two, even though the media finds it a catchy subject, not that many people are going to give up the Super 8 or Hyatt for a night in...
Love your car? Get a bike.
If you love your car, you need to ride a bike. I have a slightly complicated rationale for this position, so you to have to pay slightly more attention than usual for a Recreati story. It begins with Superstorm Sandy and our human need to know the cause of horrible things. If we have...
What would “more accountable” parks look like?
If we hated election season anymore, we would advocate for monarchy. We would trade this rancorous debate for no debate. We would replace distortions of political ads for the relative integrity of other ads. For chiropractors and mattress stores. But we aren’t there yet. We still pay grudging attention to what the sides are...
What happens after the parks reopen?
The first priority now, in the aftermath of Sandy, is to take care of the people who have lost their loved ones, homes and worldly goods. They need food and water and a jump-start. The complicated and interlaced systems that keep the East Coast hive functioning—all that needs to be drained, cleaned and in many...
Don’t jog in Beijing. Or bike. Or breathe deep.
For some time, people have noticed Bakersfield, California. Not as “the birthplace of the country music genre known worldwide as the Bakersfield Sound” or because it has more Basque restaurants than any other town in the country. Bakersfield gets a lot of unwanted attention because it is the most polluted city in the United States....
There will be dope-slapping
“Do you think God is going to come down here and save you for being stupid? He doesn’t save stupid people, Abel.” Those lines—from There Will Be Blood, a movie about an obsessed oil driller—came to mind reading the Center for American Progress’ recent report on oil and gas drilling within national parks. Surprising fact:...
Briefly, we rise from our political stupor
One reason why no one pays any attention to what a candidate says on the issues is that no one believes they say what they think. This is cynical. And accurate. If you don’t recognize a platform as a jumble of marketing phrases meant to cobble together enough votes to win, you are not paying...
