National Public Lands Day, Saturday September 23rd

 Always the fourth Saturday of September.

-- Last year's blog entry

Entrance to national parks is free.  Many parks, at all levels: national; state; and local, have events.  More should.

Federal shutdown.  Interesting that the federal government is on the verge of shutting down ("US government shutdown: What is it and who would be affected?," Reuters), which means that parks and open lands close too.  Although states and localities can step in with interim funding to keep them open.  From the article:

NATIONAL PARKS AND NATURAL RESOURCES It's not clear how the United States' 63 national parks would be affected. They remained open during the 2018-2019 shutdown, through restrooms and information desks were closed and waste disposal was halted. They were closed during a 2013 shutdown. 

 Wildfire fighting efforts would continue, though timber sales on national forest lands would be curtailed and fewer recreation permits would be issued.

Congress has tried to keep parks open, to ward off animus by the public.

Austerity impact on parks and open space.  This paper is about the UK, and how communities have given up on public spaces through privatization, because of a lack of money to maintain them.

-- "Austerity urbanism in England: The ‘regressive redistribution’ of local government services and the impact on the poor and marginalised," Environment and Planning A (2017)

Conservation as a legitimate use for public lands.  Republicans are up in arms that the Biden Administration wants to make "conservation" a legitimate land use for the leasing of public lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management ("House Republicans aim to block a BLM land management proposal," Roll Call).

Trails access, mountain and electric bikes.  Is a big issue on Forest Service lands especially but parks and open spaces more generally ("New Mexico trail clash echoes culture war across US West," Reuters, "Major Proposed Oregon Mountain Bike Network Withdrawn from Consideration," Singletrack, "An electric bike rode into the backcountry. Now there's a nationwide turf war," USA Today, "On Orange County beaches, proliferation of e-bikes brings battle to the boardwalk," Los Angeles Times, "E-bikes are an environmental dream — except out in nature," San Jose Mercury News, "On beautiful country trails, fights over e-bikes can get ugly," Washington Post).

Wilderness.  There is tension in the federal laws on parks and public lands, between access and protection, including keeping some lands natural, or wilderness.  I'm not saying this is a scintillating article, but I read it at the doctor's office, "What does it mean to be ‘wild’? Inside the Gila Wilderness area," National Geographic.

Building bridges instead of barriers.  Really great article about the group "Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz" and how they've developed into a major force, with a real focus on partnership and volunteerism, in expanding the trails network, using trails as a way to "add eyes on the street," their success in advocacy etc. ("How Mountain Bikers Beat Heroin Hill," Good Times).

Security planning for trails.  Using new cameras and license plate readers to crack down on thefts. ("New security measures in place after thieves target hiking trails along Chattahoochee River," WSB-TV). 

At the trailhead for the Decalibron Loop, hikers hoping to reach four of Colorado's 14,000-foot mountains are instead told to stay away. Photo: Rachel Woolf for The Washington Post.  

Sometimes you just have to buy the land.  In the vein of BTMFBA, sometimes to get access to open space, you have to buy it ("14,000 feet up, liability fears block access to iconic Colorado peaks," , "The Conservation Fund Solves Colorado “Fourteener” Closure by Securing Land and Permanent Public Access for Mount Democrat," Morning AgClips).

Some landowners provided access to open space, but changes in interpretation of legal liability in Colorado led some to dial back.  In this case, the Conservation Fund bought the property.