133 Conservation + Nature
U.S. Public Lands: Use, Protection + Management
Climbing in Yosemite. Hiking the PCT. Paddling the Everglades. Trekking Alaska. Riding the San Juan Huts. Certain adventures insert themselves into our psyche, stoke our imagination and lure us to exotic locations. When we finally take that first step out of Campo, sort our rack at Tuolumne Meadows or paddle a loaded kayak into the Ten Thousand Islands, it’s incredible.
Adventure with Purpose
Growing up the child of a geologist, my interest in the outdoors pretty much goes without saying. Yet, I was also acutely aware that in some respects, outdoor adventure can be cost prohibitive, and at times even a bit elitist.
We believe good things come from people spending time outside. It’s about more than standing on the mountaintop. It’s about nourishment and learning. It’s about protecting what sustains us. It’s about building relationships with the outdoors and each other.
U.S. Public Lands: Use, Protection + Management
By the beginning of the 20th century, huge decreases in wading and migrating bird populations in America due to hunting and habitat loss were becoming impossible to ignore. The decline caused a public outcry, and it created demand for action by the government to put a halt to the devastation.
52 Week Adventure Challenge
If you have spent any amount of time outside in damp, forested places like the Pacific Northwest, you know that spotting an interesting fungi on a hike can sometimes be as exciting as seeing a rare wild animal. It was assumed for a very long time that fungi, a category that encompasses everything from mold to yeast to mushrooms, were just another funky type of plants.
Could your next travels help answer pressing scientific questions? With a new generation of polar expedition cruises, you can experience penguins, polar bears, and whales while actively being the scientist and contributing to citizen science efforts in remote destinations.
/This article is provided courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service./ Seabirds spend most of their lives in the open ocean and have special adaptations to survive this cold and wet environment.
/This story is provided courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service./ Every summer the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex conducts aerial surveys of breeding birds at seabird colonies along the Oregon coast. This project provides valuable data to both Migratory Bird and National Wildlife Refuge programs within the U.S.
If you’re ever exploring the streets of downtown Portland, Oregon, and find yourself wandering farther and farther north, it won’t take long for the rows of food trucks, book stores and indie boutiques to transform into rusty warehouses, tattered steel shipping containers, and endless lots full of cracked concrete and barbed wire. Although these streets have a ghostly feel to them these days,
Know Before You Go
Across the Western United States, high temperatures, dry weather, and thunderstorms create the perfect conditions for wildfires. Over the past 30 years, the number of wildfires that occur each year hasn't varied by much, but the number of acres consumed by these fires has increased steadily. Summer recreation often takes people into areas with high fire danger.
/In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks./ /—John Muir/ If you’re reading these words on Outdoor Project, you probably don’t need to be sold on the idea that spending time outside is essential for good health.
You know what’s great about Recreation.gov [1]? It’s just so dang pretty. It’s got those neat, friendly-looking calendars that let you see which campsites you can still reserve exactly 45 seconds after the permits became available and exactly 2 minutes before they’re all gone.