‘Hike Like a Girl’ Toward Change
by Liz “Snorkel” Thomas Note: A version of this story, plus more, appears at www.eathomas.com. Last week, I wrote in the High Country News about why closing the gender gap in the outdoors is important and steps women can take to reclaim the outdoors. This...
‘Hike Like a Girl,’ May 14-15, to crush taboos for women hikers
by Liz “Snorkel” Thomas Women often wonder whether it is safe for them to hike solo. For me, the answer clearly is yes: I’ve hiked 8,000 miles by myself, pioneered routes in Utah and the Columbia River Gorge, and set an Appalachian Trail speed record....
Tribes Granted $9.8M
The National Park Service has awarded $9.8 million in grants to more than 160 tribes for cultural and heritage preservation projects on their tribal lands. Another $46.9 million was awarded by the NPS on Monday for historic preservation grants to every U.S. state, territory, and...
Diverse Groups Propose Action
A landmark coalition of diverse leaders from civil rights, environmental justice, conservation and community organizations, including Glenn Nelson, founder of The Trail Posse, today announced a set of recommended policies and called on President Obama to take critical steps toward an inclusive system of national...
Parks Week No Game Changer
Sitting in front of the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center last week, the iconic National Park Service ranger Shelton Johnson and I saw something that stopped our conversation in mid-sentence: a brown-skinned couple. The man wore dreadlocks, but both had their backs turned to us. We couldn’t...
No, National Parks Are Not America’s ‘Best Idea’
By Alan Spears When I was a boy, my family made annual summer pilgrimages to Gettysburg National Military Park, which ignited my lifelong passion for American history. As a high school student, I participated in my first park cleanup at Fort DuPont, a National Park...