What If I’m Not White?
During my previous life as a sportswriter, an NBA player once made me wait for an arranged interview while he horsed around with ball boys in front of his locker. After a long spell of this, he grew bored and finally turned to me. βI...
Let’s Lay Some Words to Rest
During a recent Q&A session with a distinguished Black author and speaker, a woman from the South tripped so badly over race-based terms, she barely could spit out her danged question. β β¦ Black β¦ ah β¦ African-American β¦ ,β she sputtered β and not...
Race & Gender: Intersection at Oppression & Microaggression
Back when the Womenβs Outdoor Summit for Empowerment was morphing from idea to reality, event mastermind Teresa Baker told me that she was being asked whether race would enter into the equation. It was an understandable question because Baker is known for her organizing around...
‘Recalcitrant’ on Diversity
Green 2.0 Releases ‘Transparency Card’ on NGOs,Rebukes Oceana, Pew for Refusing to Participate The latest breakdown of the racial and ethnic composition of the top 40 non-governmental environmental organizations was delivered by Green 2.0 on Thursday with a rebuke of two leading institutions, Oceana and...
Alliance of the Oppressed
Powerful bloc in defense of monuments The Trump administration is well advised to gauge the political blowback as it contemplates an assault β disguised as a review β on the Antiquities Act, as well as two decades of amplifying diverse and inclusive stories in this...
Next 100 Letter to Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. β The Next 100 Coalition of more than 50 civil rights, environmental justice, conservation, and community organizations on Monday sent a letter to the president expressing concern with the ambiguous guidance and lack of transparency in the Executive Order Review of Designations Under...
Women’s Outdoor Summit
Teresa Baker is a national parks junkie. She is so enamored with the units and mission of the National Park Service, she created the African American National Park Event, an annual June weekend dedicated to getting blacks and other people of color to visit. So...
Next 100 Coalition Urges Review for Missing Monuments
Note: The following is a statement from the Next 100 Coalition, of which The Trail Posse is a member. Washington, D.C. β Today, the President signed an Executive Order directing the administration to review national monuments over 100,000 acres designated after 1996 under the Antiquities...
Sluggish Start for Parks
March of last year was when the national parks started picking up momentum toward another record-smashing year for visitation. But this year is a different story, with the big units showing signs of a centennial hangover. Celebrating its 100th birthday, the National Park Service had...
Taggart-Bradley Lakes (WY)
The Taggart & Bradley Lakes Download Highlights: Great views of the Tetons for moderate effort, two glacial lakes, wildlife. Travel Time (from Urban Centers to Park/Trailhead): Twenty-five minutes from Jackson, Wy. Nearby Supplies and Gas: Moose (2.8 miles). Difficulty: There is some moderate climbing, via...
Bierstadt Lake (CO)
The Bierstadt Lake Download Highlights: Peeks of peaks, view of Sprague Lake & Continental Divide, beautiful glacial lake, some wildlife. Travel Time (from Urban Centers to Park/Trailhead): Slightly under two hours from Denver. Nearby Supplies and Gas: Estes Park (10 miles northeast). Difficulty: There is...
A Sense of Belonging
An intern finds her identity celebrated in the National Park Service When I first applied for an internship with the In My Backyard program in the National Park Service, it seemed almost impossible for someone like me to join. As a young woman born and...
