Trailspace Blog Environment

Are you tired of all the connectedness around you? Want to get away from it all? Unfortunately, truly getting away from civilization can be tough, even with the will and time to head off to an otherwise inaccessible spot.

An interesting map of connectedness published in New Scientist back in April factors in road, rail, river, and shipping networks, as well as terrain and access, to calculate how long it would take to travel to the nearest city of 50,000 or more people by land or water.

Just how hard it is to find a relatively inaccessible spot?

• Less than 10 percent of all land* is more than 48 hours from the nearest city via ground-based travel (according to the map, created by the European Commission's Joint Research Center and the World Bank).
• Many areas considered remote are not as far off the beaten track as we might think. In the Amazon, river networks and expanding road systems mean only 20 percent of land is more than two days from a city. That's about the same as Quebec province.
• So, where is the most remote spot? It's at an altitude of 5,200 meters on the Tibetan plateau (34.7°N, 85.7°E, to be precise), and is a three-week trip to the cities of Lhasa or Korla — one day by car and 20 on foot.

*Looking at the map above you may notice an arguably remote continent missing — Antarctica. Perhaps because it's already pretty far from "civilization," the mapmakers left that ice-covered land out of their calculations. Barring that entire continent, look for the darkest spots on the map above to find the most inaccessible spots. I've always wanted to go to Greenland.

New Scientist, via uncooped.com

Are the national parks primarily for preserving untouched wilderness, or for preserving the historic human imprint on the land, too?

A November 1st New York Times article examines this question in light of 70-year-old Drakes Bay oyster farm, which has been told by the National Park Service that it cannot renew its permit to farm oysters in a tidal estuary in California's Point Reyes National Seashore. The permit lapses in 2012.

The NPS bought the land from the previous owners in 1962 as part of the creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore and gave the owners the right to occupy and use it until 2012. In 1976 Congress designated the tidal bay as “potential wilderness.” The farm's current owner, Kevin Lunny, bought the farm’s lease in 2005 and is arguing and lobbying that the oyster operation is part of the historical working landscape of the area and that the NPS's scientific assertions are exaggerated.

The National Park Service says federal law requires it to return the area to wilderness by eliminating intrusive commercial activity and that oyster farming poses a risk to baby seals and flora in the estuary.

Read the full NYT article, "Debate Flares on Limits of Nature and Commerce in Parks"

Photographer Cindy Goedde's image above, of a young alpha male wolf in Yellowstone howling for his pack after feeding on elk, won the mountain flora/fauna category in the 2009 Banff Mountain Photography Competition. Other winning mountain photographs, including the grand prize winner, can be viewed onlne.

The Banff Centre also has competitions for mountain and adventure books (just announced) and films (festival happening now) and a mountain idol role model initiative. Workshops in adventure film and photography, as well as mountain writing are offered at the centre.

For more info: www.banffcentre.ca

White-tailed deer, courtesy of Wikipedia.

It’s time for your annual hunting season reminder.

First, find your state’s hunting season dates, so you know the exact dates and locations for firearms, archery, and muzzleloader seasons for various game (for example, here are Maine’s dates).

Next, break out the fluorescent orange vests and hats every time you take to the trails, woods, or even camp roads.

Below are a few safety reminders for hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, trail running, or any activity that gets you out in or around the woods this time of year. (I post these every year, but they bear repeating.)

Be Very Visible: Ideally you should wear blaze (fluorescent) orange clothing that can be seen from all sides, like a hat and a vest or jacket. Bright reds and yellows are also good color options (though on overcast days they can appear black, so use carefully). Think bright, even garish. Now’s a great time to go retro with that old hot pink jacket from the ’80s. Make sure your backpack has some bright orange on it too, like a large orange bandanna. Avoid any brown, tan, and especially white. You don’t want to look like the flash of a deer’s tail. And don’t forget to outfit your dog with its own blaze orange vest and collar.

Make Yourself Heard: Usually I opt for quiet on a hike or trail run, but during hunting season I’m far more likely to keep up a steady conversation with a partner, or avoid certain locations altogether. If you’re alone you can whistle or sing to make yourself heard, or consider a bell on you or your dog. Now is not the time to practice your stealth hiking moves.

Be Aware: Hunters are active from early dawn to dusk and in between. While you’re more likely to find hunters closer to any roads or trailheads and in valleys, expect that you can meet them anywhere at any time. Also, while bushwhacking can be a lot of fun, during the weeks of hunting season I stick to marked and maintained trails.

Know the Rules: If possible hike on trails in areas where no hunting is allowed or on days of the week (like Sunday here in Maine) when there’s no hunting. While deer rifle season typically brings the most hunters out into the woods, a variety of hunting seasons can extend the activity year-round. Know the hunting season dates and rules for your state and local areas.

Above all use common sense and do your part to share the woods safely.

If you have suggestions for safe hiking or backpacking during hunting season, please share them below.

A grizzly bear fishes for salmon at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, in another great shot from The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Ken Burns’s upcoming documentary debuts September 27 on PBS.

The above photo is by Craig Mellish of Florentine Films. You can download it and other inspiring images to use as wallpaper on the PBS site.

Ken Burns’s new documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, debuts September 27 on PBS. In the meantime you can preview video clips or download stunning images for your computer like the one of Yosemite Valley in winter above.

Trailspace article: The National Parks: America's Best Idea

PBS site: www.pbs.org/nationalparks

A 2008 SIGG bottle

Many people are feeling misled, angry, betrayed, and confused after it was confirmed in an article by outdoor industry publication snews.net this month that popular SIGG bottles made before August of 2008 included BPA in their proprietary liners.

SIGG and Laken now both admit that their aluminum water bottles manufactured before August 2008 contained the much-maligned endocrine disruptor Bisphenol A (BPA) in the liner. All bottles now produced by SIGG and Laken use a new liner that is certified BPA- and phthalate-free.

It’s important to note that every manufacturer of aluminum water bottles had BPA in their epoxy liners until last year, when SIGG and Laken began using a new BPA-free liner (stainless steel bottles have none). One presumes that aluminum bottles sold by all other companies still contain BPA.

So, unless you’re sure you’ve bought a new version of a SIGG or Laken assume your aluminum bottles have BPA (so do the cans in your pantry, by the way). Since both versions of the Laken and SIGG bottles were available for sale past August 2008, refer to this info for help identifying your bottle.

SIGG never claimed to be BPA-free in their materials, but instead very carefully positioned their bottles and liner as a non-toxic, water-based, non-leaching, and healthy, “green” alternative to polycarbonate plastic bottles. Many inferred that the bottles were BPA-free, even when they were not, which the company knew as early as 2006. Many others were suspicious of the company’s unwillingness to divulge its “proprietary” materials when asked point-blank if the bottles contained BPA.

Regardless, in 2007 and 2008 SIGG knowingly sold a record number of pricey aluminum water bottles containing BPA to a BPA-in-polycarbonate-plastic-scared public.

There’s still much disagreement about the safety of BPA, but personally, I’m tired of all the dodging and confusion. I’m sticking with stainless steel.

For more information:

"Is Your Aluminum Bottle BPA-Free?"

SNEWS's "Aluminum bottles you are selling may NOT be BPA-free" (subscription required)

Total solar eclipse in France, 1999. (Credit: Luc Viatour)

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, and on Wednesday, July 22, the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century will occur. You’ll need to be in the Eastern hemisphere to see it.

The eclipse’s totality path (the track of the Moon’s umbral shadow across Earth, where the eclipse is total) will pass through India, Tibet, China and some of Japan’s southern small islands; but will miss Hong Kong and the Korean peninsula. Greatest eclipse will be in the Pacific Ocean and will last 6 minutes, 39 seconds. Partial eclipses will be visible across India, Asia, Micronesia, and the Pacific Islands. Hawaii will experience a minimal partial eclipse in the late afternoon on the 21st.

If you’ve forgotten your grade school science, solar eclipses occur when the Moon, in new moon phase, passes between the Earth and Sun, fully or partially covering the Sun. A total solar eclipse is rare. Two to five solar eclipses can occur each year (typically about two occur); zero to two of those can be total eclipses (but they average one every year or two).

NASA Eclipse website: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html

via Clark Planetarium

In the Scottish Highlands, the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team recently has been called out twice to investigate what reportedly sounded like emergency whistles being blown by walkers. But, after two fruitless searches the noise is suspected to be the shrill whistling of Sika deer.

Sika stags make a whistling sound as a warning and during mating season. According to the BBC article, they can also make “raspberry noises.”

You can read the article on the BBC website — and listen to an audio clip of Sika stags that, while odd, does not prompt me to call my local search-and-rescue group. Maybe whistles sound different in the Highlands.

via Outdoors Magic

The following comes from the BBC:

An image of Death Valley - the lowest, driest, and hottest location in North America - composed of a simulated natural color image overlayed with digital topography data from the ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model.

The most complete terrain map of the Earth’s surface has been published.

The data, comprising 1.3 million images, come from a collaboration between the US space agency NASA and the Japanese trade ministry. The images were taken by Japan's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (Aster) aboard the Terra satellite.

The resulting Global Digital Elevation Map covers 99% of the Earth's surface, and will be free to download and use.

The Terra satellite, dedicated to Earth monitoring missions, has shed light on issues ranging from algal blooms to volcano eruptions.

For the Aster measurements, local elevation was mapped with each point just 30m apart.

"This is the most complete, consistent global digital elevation data yet made available to the world," said Woody Turner, Nasa programme scientist on the Aster mission.

"This unique global set of data will serve users and researchers from a wide array of disciplines that need elevation and terrain information."

Previously, the most complete such topographic map was Nasa's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, covering 80% of the Earth's surface. However, the mission's results were less accurate in steep terrain and in some deserts.

Nasa is now working to combine those data with the new Aster observations to further improve on the global map.

For more info: http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gdem.asp

Via Wend

June is Great Outdoors Month, and here's the latest effort to get people outside and active:

The second annual National Get Outdoors Day will be held this Saturday, June 13, with events across the country. Events are open to all, but especially target urban families and youth who rarely engage in outdoor activities, and other first-time visitors to public lands and waters.

Families and kids can try activities like orienteering with a map and compass, geocaching, casting, pitching a tent, and testing sleeping bags. Participants will be invited to follow-up events this summer, including wildlife hikes with rangers, introductions to mountain biking and fly-fishing, and kayaking and rafting. Any equipment needed will be provided.

National Get Outdoors Day event sites are located across the country, including metropolitan city parks, where access by public transportation and walking is widely available.

Information about volunteerism on public lands and job opportunities through AmeriCorps and Forest Service hot-shot fire crews also will be available.

For more information: www.nationalgetoutdoorsday.org

Today—Saturday, June 6—is National Trails Day.

Find local events, like the one below, at the American Hiking Society’s website.

Cranberry Glades Naturalist Hike
Richwood, West Virgina

The event will consist of a nature hike on the Cow Pasture trail which borders the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area and the Cranberry Wilderness.

The 7.8 mile Cow Pasture trail loop is of moderate difficulty and the terrain is characterized by birch and hemlock forest, old pasture, and river crossings. There will be a brief history about the glades, and while hiking we will do some easy trail maintenance (removing limbs and brush from the trail). (U.S. Forest Service)

For more info and events: www.americanhiking.org/NTD.aspx

Saturday, June 6, is National Trails Day.

Find local events, like the one below, at the American Hiking Society’s website.

Dawn and Dusk Trail Walks
Cerrillos Hills, New Mexico

Two cool guided trail walks. The first will be an early morning trail hike, concentrating on the beautiful flora that grace the hills, but also watching for early birds and late moths.

Then join us for a twilight-to-night walk in the hills. We'll 'listen' for bats with a special device and use our five senses to discover the nightlife in the hills and the heavens above. (New Mexico State Parks)

For more info and events: www.americanhiking.org/NTD.aspx

First there was the book (Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv). Then came the movement to get more kids outdoors. Now there's the bill—the No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 2054/S.866)—recently introduced to Congress.

From the No Child Left Inside Coalition's press release:

Citing the critical need to improve environmental education across the country, The No Child Left Inside Coalition today applauded Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) for introducing the Senate and House versions of the historic No Child Left Inside Act (NCLI) on Earth Day 2009. The bi-partisan legislation, if passed, would mark the first environmental education legislation to pass Congress in more than 25 years.

“Passing the No Child Left Inside Act is a key step in improving the quality of our children’s education and preparing them for the complex challenges of the future workforce,” Senator Reed said.

Research shows that when environmental education is integrated into the curriculum, student achievement increases in core academic areas including science, math, and reading. Additional research finds that schools that teach the core subjects using the environment as an integrating context also demonstrate reduced discipline and classroom management problems; increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning; and greater student pride and ownership in accomplishments.

The bill authorizes new funding for states to provide high-quality, environmental instruction. Funds would support outdoor learning activities both at school and in non-formal environmental education centers, teacher professional development, and the creation of state environmental literacy plans.

• For more info visit the No Child Left Inside Coalition's website.
• If you want to support the bill, send a message to your members of Congress. You can do so directly from the NCLI Coaltion or National Wildlife Federation's websites.

You can celebrate National Park Week April 18-26 at a national park, historic site, or monument across the country. Events include Junior Ranger Day activities for children and families, ranger-guided hikes and presentations, bird watching, history talks, trailside scavenger hunts, and trail work.

Visit the National Park Service’s Schedule of Events to learn more about what’s happening at a national park near you: www.nps.gov/npweek/sched.htm