The Kids in Montana Are Alright
Legally good news on climate, new trails in Santa Barbara and San Francisco, Permit price hikes, wolves head south, rebounding plants, camp cooking tips, and more
Howdy
In what is a potentially huge legal decision, a state court in Montana has ruled in favor of 16 young Montanans aged 5 to 22 who sued their state, alleging that Montana’s continued extraction of fossil fuels violated the Montana state constitution, which guarantees a right to “a clean and healthful environment.”
The plaintiffs argued that although its impact on global climate was small, the fact that Montana has never denied a permit for a fossil fuel project had undeniably damaged the state’s environment. The plaintiffs gave examples that we are, unfortunately, becoming more and more familiar with: days spent stuck inside due to wildfire smoke and excessive heat, dried up springs and streams devoid of fish for anglers, forests burned and trails closed, a smaller snowpack for skiing. The list goes on and on. The state argued that its impact on the planet’s climate was so small that it didn’t even make a difference—which is a really great way for nobody to take responsibility for anything, ever, you know?
The decision will likely be appealed in federal court and in all honesty, the direct effects of this case are likely to be small—not many states have an environmental protection provision like Montana’s. BUT … it also sets a precedent that could help compel companies and governments dragging their feet on doing even the bare minimum to combat climate change. Now, I guess we just need to hope that the speed of the legal system is as fast or faster than the compounding effects of the increased carbon in the atmosphere …
RELATED: Need an economic case for combating climate change? Heat alone is costing the US economy billions in lost productivity. via New York Times
Modern Hiking
Good stuff from the Modern Hiker site
Santa Barbara Bound
Summer is a great time to plan a road trip (or train ride) to Santa Barbara. Just don’t forget that in addition to the chill beaches and winery tasting rooms (be sure to check out ElkPen’s incredible artwork at The Valley Project!), the region has some stunning natural beauty to offer up as well. Cleo Egnal gave us a rundown of some of her favorites, including epic mountain hikes and easy strolls through nature preserves.
Bay Area To-Dos
I love visiting San Francisco for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest is the city’s unique geography. With all those rolling hills and microclimates and the water on three sides—and the rigid street grid that gives you great views no matter where you are—there’s always something beautiful to look at. This week, Melissa Ozbek used her extensive time hiking in and around the city to put together a great list for out-of-town guests. And yes, that can apply to guests visiting you if you live in SF, or you yourself if YOU happen to be the guest!
Welcome New Subscribers!
After the last newsletter went out, we’ve had 78 new subscribers join up! Wow! Hello all, and welcome! Extra special thanks to the three people who pledged support via a paid subscription.
Also thank you to Christina, who was kind enough to spot me a few coffees for upcoming writing.
Feel free to pitch in for coffee if you can spare a few bucks—and remember that paid subscribers are the folks who keep this project going!
Your Parks
Your Places
Zion Fees Going Up
Zion National Park is currently in the public comment phase of a new plan that would raise prices on campground reservations and hiking permits, which Outside warns you would “boost the cost for some hiking groups by more than 400 percent.”
Campground fees would go up $5-15 depending on the site, which doesn’t seem too bad. It’s the day use and overnight hiking permits that are having the big extra fees tacked on. Right now, the park charges a flat $5 for lottery or advance permit applications, plus a fee depending on group size. With the new proposal, you’d pay $6 for the application plus per-person fees. Outside notes the cost of a walk-up day use permit for a group of 12 is rising from $25 to $126.
Read more at Outside, and if you’ve got feelings about this, public comment is open until August 31, 2023.
Hot Hot Springs
We’re going through a bit of a heat wave up in Oregon right now, so you’re probably not super focused on finding places to get even warmer—but bank this list of the best hot springs in the state for later, OK? The compilation comes from the fine folks at Travel Oregon, and includes a good mix of hike-in springs and developed soaks, too.
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
Wolves Return
Coming from Los Angeles, I was intimately familiar with the once and future King of Griffith Park, mountain lion P-22. But now that I’m up in the northwest, I’ve been seeing a lot of signs and bumper stickers cheering on OR-7—a male gray wolf who migrated from the Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon into the southern Cascades of northern California. OR-7 passed away in 2020, but he was the first conformed wild wolf in Western Oregon since 1947 and the first wild wolf in California since 1924.
OR-7 may no longer be with us, but his progeny live on. A pack of gray wolves have recently been discovered in California’s Southern Sierra Nevada range, several hundred miles away from any other known population of gray wolves. DNA testing has revealed one of the females in the pack is a direct descendent of OR-7. There are now three known gray wolf packs in California—all of which are protected by state and federal law.
While a lot of hikers get understandably nervous having big predators like wolves and mountain lions around, apex predators are one of the signs of a healthy, functioning ecosystem, so it’s definitely worth celebrating!
Leafing Out
Plants!
Good News for the Green and Gold
Hey! We got some more good news over here from the state of Washington, which recently celebrated the de-listing of the golden paintbrush from the list of endangered species. The plant was federally listed in 1997, when there were 10 populations with fewer than 20,000 plants in the entire Pacific Northwest. Due to the efforts of countless conservation groups as well as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, and the US Forest Service, the golden paintbrush now has 48 established populations and more than 325,000 individuals. The plant is still listed as a threatened species in Washington and conservation efforts will continue, but still—we’ll take a win when we get one.
Also, be sure to check out the Washington DNR’s Instagram account, because it’s awesome.
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
There are a few things in the world of being outdoors that I consider myself halfway decent at. Camp cooking is absolutely not one of them. That’s why I appreciate that CNN Underscored asked some professional chefs about the best ways to cook food in the outdoors, whether you’re car camping with a tank of propane or you’ve just trekked a dozen miles to your backcountry camp.
Oh and hey, if you have any camp cooking tips of your own, feel free to share ‘em below!
Until next time, happy trails.
So the solution is to pave wild places with windmills? Stop using natural gas which is the cleanest burning fuel on the planet? Tell people in 3rd world countries that they cannot heat their homes with clean burning fuel but must rely on solar arrays or hydro which are either too expensive or destructive to the environment? Tell them they must drive electric cars which no one wants obviously since they must be charged every 300 miles, have no room in them, and are very environmentally unsound--needing to be charged often by coal fired plants? The climate hysteria that is being pushed by the Left makes no sense. In addition, no one is really considering nuclear power. If we were realistic at all, we would.
By the way, there IS a set metric which accounts for people who have frozen to death in their homes because they could not afford to turn on the furnace. You will see more of that unless energy bills stop escalating. The energy policies in California include measures which deny people the freedom to use clean burning gas appliances. As an example, Casey, have you ever tried to clear your driveway of 6 feet of snow with a corded electric snowblower, the only kind you were allowed to purchase in CA because gas powered blowers are “undeliverable” in California because they caused climate change? I have. It’s pretty much impossible.
Read Lomborg. We are already spending billions that would solve problems costing far more lives and costing less dollars than green agendas. If you are “not sure”, time to read his book. He is not a climate change denier. Did you use Google for your “cursory search”. Or another type of search engine that champions censorship? That might be a problem.