Glenn Nelson
Based in Seattle, Wash., Glenn Nelson is the founder of The Trail Posse, which explores the intersection of race and the outdoors. He also is Community Director, leading antiracism activities for Birds Connect Seattle, where he also led the name change from Seattle "Audubon." Nelson has won several national awards for his writing, photography and Web publishing, including second place in 2020 from Best of the West for his columns on race for Crosscut and South Seattle Emerald, first-place honors from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 for his columns on race for Crosscut and South Seattle Emerald, and Outstanding Beat Reporting (Race, Inclusion and Environmental Justice) from the Society of Environmental Journalists. His photography is published in Bird Photographer of the Year and has been honored by North American Nature Photograhy Association, the Audubon Photography Awards, and Share the View.
Nelson also is a founding member of the Next 100 Coalition, a national alliance of civil rights, environmental and community groups advocating for more inclusive management of public lands, and a founding steering committee member of the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge, which advises outdoor brands on DEI work. A graduate of Seattle University and Columbia University, he was born in Japan and started his career at The Seattle Times. He later founded HoopGurlz (now at ESPN), which covered girlβs basketball and college prospects nationally, and helped found Scout.com, a network of sports websites. Nelson is the primary author of a teen book about the NBA, has been published in numerous magazines and book collections, had his photographic work appear at the Smithsonian, and has been profiled by NPR. He has served on the board of directors for several nonprofits, as well as the Washington Governor's advisory committee on outdoor recreation, the advisory committee for the Japanese American Remembrance Trail, and the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Task Force.
Lost in the Fires
I am haunted by a scene from about a week ago of young U.S. Forest Service firefighters taking a break at The Mazama Store, which I consider the best βhangβ in the Methow Valley, just across the Cascades in central Washington state. They were such...
More Wildfires?
(NOTE: This story, originally published on June 25, was updated on Aug. 12). by Glenn Nelson Many national parks in the West opened access and facilities much earlier than usual this year because of record-low snowpack, widely attributed to climate change. (NOTE: Clicking on an...
More History Preserved
One of the oldest, largest and best preserved bison cliff jump locations in North America and one of the earliest planned and most fully-realized urban renewal projects of the mid-twentieth century are two of four sites designated today as national historic landmarks. First Peoples Buffalo...
Washington II Washington
Please consider supporting the Washington II Washington outing, described below. The journey some 32 kids will be taking from inner-city Washington, D.C., Detroit and New Orleans to the outdoors for a sixth straight year started on a basketball court. Itβs no surprise to Davy Rothbart....
Civil Rights Courthouses
Three courthouses in the South that helped galvanize the civil rights movement after Brown v Board of Education began the dismantling of the Jim Crow era were designated as national historic landmarks this week. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals courthouses join more than 2,500...