More States Call for Landback (Not the Good Kind)
plus, haunted hikes, trail dogs, a celebration of civil disobedience, tech breakthroughs, and OMG VOTE PLZ.
A few weeks back, I wrote about the State of Utah’s … let’s be generous here … legally bone-headed attempt to take over 18.5 million acres of federally managed lands for reasons. Well, now the state legislatures of Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska, and Arizona filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, which is basically saying “hey, us, too!” Wyoming went a bit further, saying that they could extend their claims to “all former federal territorial lands now held by the United States, (including) parks, monuments, wilderness, etc.”
Don’t be fooled—this is
just the modern, boring version of the Sagebrush Rebellion movement, which you may remember had a flashier uptick back in 2016 when a bunch of yahoos forcibly took over a wildlife refuge in Oregon because they were mad their sweetheart ranching deal on federal land wasn’t sweet enough for their bootstrap-pulling forearms.
OK, this is a little opinionated here. You’ll have to forgive me a bit of frustration with this topic. Because not only is the concept of public land important for everyone who likes to recreate in the outdoors, but also the self-proclaimed patriots involved in this movement want to take these places from us and for themselveswhen they are already the beneficiaries of enormous amounts of government largesse in the form of subsidized farms, massive taxpayer-paid irrigation and electrical networks, and of course the seizure of the land from its original inhabitants.
ANYWAY. Since Election Day is coming up—and at least in modern times that is arguably a much more anxiety-inducing day than Halloween ever has been—now’s a great time to note that the Republican playbook Project 2025 not only calls for more reduction and elimination of existing National Monuments, but also the abolition of the Antiquities Act of 1906 (a widely popular law that allows presidents to proclaim new national monuments without Congress in certain circumstances, creating the foundations for many of our beloved National Parks), along with reductions in limitations on recreations (more crowds, more trash) and increased focus on extractive industries (more mines, more oil derricks). And, I guess, turning the Pacific Northwest into “a very large faucet” for California.
So, you know … find your polling place. And also feel free to check the status of your mail or absentee ballot, too.
Also:
Modern Hiking
Good stuff from the Modern Hiker site
Well, since this newsletter is hitting your inbox on Halloween, I would be extremely remiss if I didn’t include this fun little roundup of seven haunted trails in and around the city of Los Angeles. ::cue lightning and thunderclap, distant wolf howl:: Now, I will leave to you to determine whether or not these places are actually haunted, or have attracted bad vibrations, or perhaps are just due to bad urban planning in the region ::cue sound of bike lane being removed, paved freeway rolling through a city park, some dumb gondola getting stuck:: But whatever conclusion you end up coming to, I hope you have a great holiday. And yes, these trails will still be around (and still spooky) if your Halloween plans take you elsewhere this evening ::cue surge pricing on rideshare apps::
Your Parks
Your Places
Celebrate Alabama Gates
It’s time to mark a new holiday on your calendar, especially if you’re a fan of the Eastern Sierra and a big-time history nerd like me. Alabama Gates 2024 celebrates the time in 1924 when Owens Valley residents non-violently took control of the gates of the Los Angeles Aquedect just north of the city of Lone Pine and diverted the water back into the historic river channel toward Owens Lake. The occupation eventually evolved into a multi-day picnic as over 700 Owens Valley residents joined the Aqueduct occupiers for four days.
Alabama Gates 2024 celebrates the 100th anniversary of this occupation, and will consist of several days of free events in and around Lone Pine. Most events require a reservation, so be sure to check the schedule.
Alabama Gates Day 2024 runs from November 15-17.
More Love for Urban Trails
You probably know I have a special place in my heart for urban trail systems. I’ve written about the movement to build out trail networks in cities for a while now, I had a great time hiking San Francisco’s Crosstown Trail, and of course I wrote a whole book on one of the nation’s largest and most visited urban parks. My friend Miles Howard has contributed a terrific piece to Outside, detailing the rising movement in American cities as well as a list of some of the best existing and under-construction trail networks, which is a good a reason as any to visit one of these cities.
Miles also has a great Substack on this stuff for any fellow New Englanders out there…
Forest Service Cutbacks
Earlier this month, a fiscal bill passed by the House of Representatives cut the budget of the Forest Service by half a billion dollars, and the Service has responded by announcing that most seasonal employees for the agency will not be hired in the coming year. The hiring freeze also applies to most permanent positions, which will now only be filled by current permanent employees.
The budget cut is devastating for the many thousands of seasonal Forest Service employees, who not only are a source of new long-term staff for the agencies but also do a significant amount of scientific and visitor-facing work in the high seasons. Visitors to Forest Service areas may expect closed trails or facilities and less maintenance overall. Which is a bummer.
The hiring freeze does not apply to seasonal firefighting workers.
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
Very Good Trail Dog
Well you know if I come across a story about a great experience with a trail dog—especially a random trail dog someone just happened to meet on their trek—I’m gonna talk about it.
A TikTokker known as El Guero Ingles recently posted from a backpacking trek he made back in 2022 in western Peru. Near the highest point on the four-day trip, he was approached by a dog near Punta Union—about 15,583 feet above sea level. The pup lead him on the trail to a viewpoint and seemingly waited for him to arrive, then two other dogs joined and slept with the trekking group as they wrapped up their trip.
The hiker’s trail guide said the dogs were from the villages at either end of the trail and liked to join groups as they made their way in either direction … which, honestly, seems like the best way to get your walkies in, doesn’t it?
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Mountain Lion Party
Look, the vast majority of us are not going to see a mountain lion in the wild. Personally, I have only ever encountered tracks and that’s TOTALLY FINE WITH ME. I don’t know the math on this, but I’d bet the odds of seeing not just one, but four mountain lions all together has got to be up there with “winning the lottery” and “getting a permit to Mount Whitney on your preferred date on the first try.”
Well, here’s someone who had just such a thing happen and managed to catch it all on video, too:
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
There’s a bit of doom and gloom in this newsletter, so I wanted to end on a potentially exciting piece of science news that could have some huge repercussions. Chemists at UC Berkeley have developed a new substance that absorbs and captures carbon dioxide from the ambient air. A half pound of the substance known as COF-999, can pull as much CO2 from the air as a tree does in a full calendar year.
COF-999 is the most efficient CO2-capture substance developed to date, and is also made from common, inexpensive ingredients that can be cleaned and reused with little energy. They’re hoping to scale up production for commercial availability within two years, which is pretty great news!
Have fun tonight and stay sane next week(s?). And don’t forget to get some nature time in.
Happy Trails,
Thanks for highlighting the ridiculous lawsuit. Their ridiculous "rebellion" never ceases to amaze me. It's really an attempted land grab of epic proportions. These federal lands were never the States to begin with.