On Wednesday, May 28, Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper stood alongside state congressman John Neguse near the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The two lawmakers spoke about the ongoing fight to protect public lands and the federal agencies that oversee them.

Neguse, 41, recently introduced two bills鈥攃alled Protect Our Parks and Save Our Forests respectively鈥攖hat would reinstate the thousands of employees of the National Forest Service and National Park Service who were fired by the Trump Administration earlier this year.听Hickenlooper, 73, also introduced legislation this spring that would block the White House from selling public lands to decrease the national deficit.

Hickenlooper plans to speak at the in Denver, Colorado later on May 30. We recently caught up with him to discuss the current fight to protect public lands.

OUTSIDE: The American public has been told that protecting federal lands is preventing our country from achieving energy independence, blocking lucrative extraction industries, and preventing the creation of high-paying jobs for Americans.
Hickenlooper: There’s this notion that we need more real estate to drill on, and that our extraction industries are landlocked. They say there is an energy emergency. But if you look over the past six years鈥攁nd if you remove coal energy鈥攚e’ve produced more energy than any other country on the planet, and I’m not talking about per-capita, I’m talking total. We’re certainly not in an energy emergency. I have a fierce sense of urgency around climate change, but I also know that in some areas we do need more mines. I believe in protecting the public’s right to see what, exactly, is going to happen to a piece of land that’s going to be mined. Is there a mineral there that is going to help us create electric vehicles or build the electrical grid in a way that is going to address climate change? Well, maybe we do have to find a way to mine on that land? But with all that said, there are many lands鈥攁nd I include our National Parks here鈥攖hat, no matter how valuable that real estate could be for a mine, the scenic beauty and historic value to the American people is just too great for it to be dug up. I have a hard time seeing any place where public land should be treated as an asset to be bought and sold at the whims of the White House. It just doesn’t make sense.

Americans have been told that public land agencies like the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Forest Service are overstaffed, bloated, and inefficient.听
I really do believe that there are places in the federal government that are fat and inefficient, and when I ran for the mayor of Denver, that was my campaign message. I thought that nobody ever took the time to make a city function as efficiently as a small business. I wanted Denver to use less water, share our water rights and tax base with the suburban communities, and people said I’d never get elected by sharing the wealth of the voters in Denver. That was my whole pitch, and I won, I got two-thirds of the vote. We didn’t lay anybody off, though we did have a hiring freeze for a few years. But we used technology to compensate for fewer people, and I think you can argue that we provided more services for our citizens. That’s what DOGE should have done. But the notion that you’re going to cut 3,000 people from the Forest Service and thousands more from the Park Service and BLM, and somehow the country is going to be better off is just lunacy. The argument that you’ll lay everybody off at first and then look for what is broken and try to fix that is not the way government should work. For so many people who work for these agencies, this is ruining their lives. I’ve talked to government employees who were laid off, some have been rehired, they have little kids and had just moved to Colorado to work in the Forest Service. They’re asking me, “What are we going to do?” Why put people through that?

Recently, the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives succeeded in removing a plan to sell 500,000 acres of public land in Nevada and Utah from the 2025 Reconciliation spending bill. What can those who believe in protecting public lands learn from this?
Public feedback matters, and in this case it led to a widespread adoption of action. People who care about public lands used social media in a way they hadn’t done before. It wasn’t just the nonprofits and advocacy groups, it was grassroots dialogue that generated new points of view and new points of contention on the plan to sell off land. I read one online post that, and I’m paraphrasing, said 鈥淲here do we draw the line? If we start selling public lands and allow that constitutional violation to occur, then what’s next?鈥� I’ve now heard Republicans and Democrats talking about that point. We need to count on the grassroots commentary to generate those points and that language that people are going to repeat.

What political strategies will work in the fight to preserve public lands?
This is an all out war. I’m not someone who sits back and says, 鈥淲ell, let’s see what they do next.鈥� They’re doing it. It’s happening. So the most important thing we can do is let people know what is happening to public lands. Americans by and large support public lands. said that 75 percent of all Americans in the Mountain West region think that the government should not sell public lands to pay down the deficit. Yes, there are some places in mountain towns where small amounts of BLM land exist, and it could allow towns to build affordable housing for Park Service employees or firefighters or municipal employees. Those exceptions can go through the correct process. But the notion that we’re going to sell 500,000 acres of public land should make every person who loves public lands shudder. People who feel that way should get out there and show up at every town hall meeting, every public roundtable, and make yourself heard. We’re going to fight, we may be beaten, but we will rise and fight again. We’re going to lose a bunch of battles on this thing, but I think that if we rise and fight again, we are going to win.

This interview was edited for space听and clarity.

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On February 14, 2025, the National Park Service around 1,000 probationary employees in conjunction with a White House effort to reduce the federal workforce. Although a spate of eventually reversed many of the layoffs and reinstated probationary employees to their jobs, roughly five weeks elapsed between the initial firing and eventual rehiring mandate. Those intervening weeks were chaotic for many NPS employees, who wondered what they would do for their livelihoods.

At the same time, Ali Murphy, a former marketing executive and the founder of , a new travel platform focused on creating expert-guided custom itineraries for active travelers, was in the middle of preparing to launch her company. When she heard the news of the layoffs, she quickly recognized a chance to pair individuals with deep, location-specific expertise with travelers looking for guidance on their next adventure. On Facebook, Murphy offered former rangers the chance to put their skill set to use at her fledgling company.

On February 20, 2025, a week after the initial layoffs, Murphy put out a call to all those affected: 鈥淭his is devastating,鈥� she wrote in her post. 鈥淏ut your knowledge is still incredibly valuable鈥� If you want to keep sharing what you know, we鈥檇 love to have you.鈥�

Right now, you can book a call with an Outdoorable expert for $60, and Murphy told me the experts themselves take home $45 of that. That鈥檚 a pretty sizable cut. While there are other adventure and gear concierge services out there鈥攍ike 鈥檚 trip-planning service, or Backcountry鈥檚 popular 鈥擮utdoorable seems to fill a pretty distinct niche when it comes to trip planning and prep.

Here at 国产吃瓜黑料, we saw Murphy鈥檚 post and wondered: what happened next? Did NPS folks actually get in touch? We reached out to understand a little more about Outdoorable and its mission鈥攁nd what the response to her post has been like.

How Outdoorable Is Tapping Into Ranger Talent to Improve Outdoor Acesss

OUTSIDE: What happened when you put out that call to former NPS employees? What was the response like?

Murphy: I think I had 70 people apply to Outdoorable from that one post. I pretty much cried after every call. I was so jazzed because people were enthused, and it gave me the chance to tell them that what they know is valuable.

So, what exactly is Outdoorable? What makes it different from other travel sites or chatbots?

I think the travel industry largely ignores the people who are in need of the most guidance. We make false assumptions that people have networks or they know what to look for or they even know where to go. What if you could talk to a former national park ranger? Some people are going to AI for travel advice these days, but there are certain things AI cannot do. AI can’t look you in the eye and say, 鈥淗oney, you’re not crazy. You can do that hike.鈥� Or, 鈥淭alk to me about your knee. Are you better on uphill or downhill?鈥�

How does Outdoorable plan to address representation and access deficits that can make it harder for some folks to envision themselves in the outdoors?

At the start of this, I had an interesting conversation with James Edward Mills, who kind of wrote the book on inclusion spaces. I called him and told him that it’s really important to me that Outdoorable becomes a place where people of all backgrounds can go, and that they feel comfortable getting outside. That conversation was really illuminating because Mills said, 鈥淚t’s all about representation.鈥� For example, if you’re a queer traveler trying to do van life, you want to talk to a queer traveler if you can. And just seeing someone who looks like you or who has had a similar life path to you can help you envision yourself chasing that dream. We鈥檙e working on getting a diverse panel of experts on the platform so people can have that experience.

Okay, let鈥檚 say I鈥檓 a traveler. After I fill out the intake form and get paired with a guide on your website, what can I expect?

Your guide will read your form and know all about you before the call. They’re excited to talk to you. You can expect someone who has a wide range of knowledge to the extent that they can ask you questions you hadn’t thought of, almost like trip therapy. So you might be saying, 鈥淗ey, I’m doing a road trip around Utah’s national parks. I’m going to go to five parks in seven days.鈥� Your guide isn鈥檛 going to be afraid to push back if they need to. They鈥檒l say, 鈥淣o you鈥檙e not,鈥� or, 鈥淗ave you thought about this? Or looked at it this way? What are you actually trying to accomplish on this trip?鈥� Or, on the other hand, if you鈥檝e shared about a trip you鈥檙e uncertain about, they might reassure you that that trip is well within your ability. You can expect a real thought partner.

Sounds like Outdoorable is for everyone鈥攂ut who do you see using the platform most often?

I鈥檇 say the biggest use case we’ve seen so far has been for casual recreationists. They want to get out, they’re outdoorsy, they’d love to do a hike, but they’re not in the Reddit forums. They don’t own all the Osprey packs. The outdoor travel industry forgets about this segment of people, which is most people.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

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By now you’ve probably heard about the staffing crisis gripping Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the nation’s other national parks.

On February 14, the National Park Service (NPS) , or about five percent of its total workforce. The move generated headlines in and , and over the weekend, dozens of recently fired NPS workers penned heartfelt essays on social media about losing the jobs they loved.

“I am the toilet scrubber and soap dispenser,” a fired NPS ranger named Brian Gibbs . “I am the open trail hiked by people from all walks of life. I am the highlight of your child鈥檚 school day.”

国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to the NPS for comment, but did not hear back by the time this story published. The 听“The NPS is assessing our most critical staffing needs for park operations for the coming season and is working to hire key positions. The NPS is committed to protecting public lands, infrastructure, and communities while ensuring public access.鈥�

The workforce upheaval stems from the Trump Administration’s听, which in 2024 employed approximately 3 million people (not including the military). In January, the administration announced a hiring freeze on all federal agencies, and offered buyouts to government workers willing to resign. Since then, almost every wing of the U.S. government has been impacted by the belt tightening.

But the Park Service cuts are the ones that will impact the summer vacation plans of millions of Americans. 国产吃瓜黑料 spoke to NPS experts and former employees about the staff changes to see how they will impact daily life at America’s favorite vacation destinations. We asked these experts whether park visitors will be able to see a difference when they hike on trails, arrive at visitor centers, or use the restroom.

The answer? You bet.

“Expect fewer services, less help, and fewer projects like trails or construction getting fixed,” says Kristen Brengel, the senior vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA),听a non-profit advocacy group for the NPS. “You’ll need to lower your expectations.”

Which NPS Workers Were Cut?

Over the weekend, the NPCA tracked the layoffs and spoke to NPS staffers who lost their jobs. According to Brengel, the current cuts impacted all 63 U.S. national parks and all 433 areas managed by the Park Service. The cuts did not target specific jobs, she said, but were “indiscriminate.”

“We’ve heard from wildlife biologists, archaeologists, even wastewater treatment operators who were let go,” Brengel said. “We’re talking about people with incredible expertise losing jobs. It will throw some parks into a tailspin.”

Rather than target specific positions, the cuts impacted employees with “probationary” status, a designation given to federal employees for the first year of their employment in a position. the New York Times, the strategy was in-line with the Trump Administrations’ plan to dismiss the 200,000 or so federal workers with this designation.

The letter sent to laid-off employees read like a termination notice for low performance, according to the Times. 鈥淭he department determined that you have failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment because your subject matter knowledge, skills, and abilities do not meet the department鈥檚 current needs,鈥� read the letter distributed to some NPS staff.

Brengel points out that not every probationary worker is new or unqualified. Some veteran NPS workers were given the status after they were promoted to managerial positions; it was also given to seasonal NPS employees who had recently been hired to year-round positions.

“The ripple effect of these firings will be felt immediately,” she said. “It’s going to be a huge brain drain to lose a lot of these positions.”

Gibbs, 41, is one such employee. Prior to taking a full-time position at Iowa’s Effigy Mounds National Monument, which is managed by the NPS, he had spent four years working as a seasonal interpretive ranger at Glacier National Park. Interpretive rangers help visitors understand the cultural significance of an area.

Gibbs took that expertise to his job at Effigy Mounds, where he managed educational programs for kids, among other jobs. “At such a small monument I wore many hats,” he told 国产吃瓜黑料. “On the day I got fired I was creating a program to take kids snowshoeing in the park.”

What Services Will Be Lost?

It may take several weeks to determine which services will be eliminated at each park. Brengel and others have told visitors to expect to encounter long lines, overflowing trash cans, unkempt bathrooms, and other drop-offs in service caused by a lack of manpower. One anonymous NPS employee told Politico to . Brengel said that major construction projects started in 2024, such as trail maintenance or road paving, are likely to be left unfinished.

In the days since the layoffs, fired NPS employees have shared their stories鈥攁nd the jobs the NPS is losing鈥攚ith local and national media.

A worker named Olek Chmura told that he’d no longer pick up trash and scoop up feces at Yosemite National Park.

The New York Times interviewed multiple NPS workers impacted by the cuts, among them Helen Dhue, a park guide at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park in Brownsville, Texas, and Stacy Ramsey, a river ranger in Arkansas’ Buffalo National River. that she writes warnings for the general public when parts of the river are dangerous. 鈥淚f no one is there to educate, it increases the risk of someone getting hurt on the river,鈥� Ramsey told the Times.

an anonymous NPS ranger in California who wrote about his termination on Facebook. “I honestly can’t imagine how the parks will operate without my position,” he said. “I am the only EMT at my park and the first responder for any emergency.”

, 16 of the 17 supervisor positions at Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park were axed. At Shenandoah National Park, trail maintenance workers and fee collectors lost their jobs.

Gibbs’s job at Effigy Mounds was focused on education. He developed classroom programs, took schools on tours of the area when they arrived on field trips, and also visited local schools to discuss the cultural significance of the park.

Effigy Mounds preserves 200 or so prehistoric earthworks that were built by pre-Columbian people. Some of the mounds are in the shapes of birds and bears.

Gibbs was one of two employees at Effigy Mounds to be let go. Just seven rangers remain, he said.

“Educating kids about the cultural resources at Effigy Mounds will come to a stop, and schools visiting will have to self-guide at the park,” Gibbs told 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别.听“Kids and families are the ones who are going to lose out.”

What About the NPS Hiring Freeze?

Not all of the NPS news on Friday was bad. The Trump Administration published a memo from the federal hiring freeze to bring back some seasonal workers for the spring and summer.

The move allows the NPS to hire back 5,000 or so seasonal employees, whose jobs were rescinded in January when the freeze was announced across all federal agencies.听Most parks rely heavily on seasonal workers, and each year the NPS hires between 7,000 and 8,000 of them to help during the busiest periods.

The reaction to the news was mixed.

鈥淓xempting National Park Service seasonal staff from the federal hiring freeze means parks can fill some visitor services positions,鈥� said Theresa Pierno, CEO of the NPCA, in a statement. 鈥淏ut with peak season just weeks away, the decision to slash 1,000 permanent, full-time jobs from national parks is reckless and could have serious public safety and health consequences.鈥�

The timeline for hiring back seasonal workers has not been made public. According to Politico, had been granted exemptions as of February 18.

Brengal pointed out that seasonal workers might not be able to replace the full-time NPS employees who were lost in the layoffs. Some of the cut NPS workers who spoke to the NPCA were coordinators of seasonal labor, she said. For example, the 16 managers who lost their jobs at Grand Teton National Park help oversee seasonal workers.

“Seasonal workers can’t replace full-time positions,” she said.

Which Parks Have Been Hit the Hardest?

It may take until the busy summer months to assess the true impact of by Friday’s cuts on individual national parks and monuments. Brengel said that small parks with tiny staffs may suffer the worst, and that cuts there would force remaining employees to make tough choices.

“They may have to choose between keeping the visitor center open and the campground open,” she said. “These are the choices that smaller parks are going to have to make.”

But other parks are already feeling the pinch caused by the hiring freeze, layoffs, and other policy changes. , Yosemite National Park will abandon its reservation system, which was made permanent earlier this year.听Sources told the outlet that the park tabled the plan after the Trump Administration asked to review it.

What鈥檚 the Human Cost?

Like all mass-layoffs, the NPS cuts have upended lives and forced thousands to seek new livelihoods. Ramsey told the听Times that she lost her job after spending three years working a contract position with the NPS just to get her foot in the door.

Gibbs echoed this sentiment when he spoke to听翱耻迟蝉颈诲别.听He called his position at Effigy Mounds National Monument a “dream job,” and said that losing the position has forced his family into a dire financial situation. “We’re sad and frightened, and feel like we’ve had the rug pulled out from under us,” he said. Gibbs and his wife have a four-year-old son, and they are expecting a second child this year.听Gibbs said that his wife had to skip a monitoring appointment with her doctor after the family’s health insurance was terminated. “We feel frozen about what our next steps are,” he said.

The cuts have prompted action in some communities. Over the weekend, at Joshua Tree and Yosemite National Parks. On Tuesday, February 18, NPS workers and their friends and families just outside Rocky Mountain National Park, to protest.

Should You Visit a National Park this Summer?

The sources we spoke to still encouraged Americans to听visit National Parks this summer, despite the cuts. Yes, trails may be closed, parking lots may be messy, and lines may be longer than normal.

Instead, Gibbs said NPS visitors should do advanced homework before traveling to see which trails closed, and which services are limited. Reconsider trips deep into the backcountry, since manpower for lifesaving or rescues may be diminished. And stay on the trails.

“Know that there’s probably going to be a disruption in safety and resource protection,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs and Brengel urged visitors to have patience and understanding with the NPS employees who are manning the parks. Brengel said visitors should consider saying “thank you” to NPS rangers.

“Think about what a difficult time it must be for them, knowing that they may be next on the chopping block,” Brengel said. “They are going to be stretched thin, but they are the heroes for sticking it out.”

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The Eureka Valley Sand Dunes on first mention听in Death Valley National Park are a photographer’s playground. The golden mounds that rise 600 feet from the valley floor are framed by the red-and-white stratified sandstone of the Last Chance Mountains. Green lumps of prickly shrubs, called Eureka dunegrass, sprout up from the sand.

“People are in we the first time they see them,” says , a guide who leads photography hikes within the park. “They are downright incredible to photograph. It’s not an experience that’s easily forgotten.”

But the remote dunes are currently crisscrossed by a series of scars, the unmistakable marks of automobile tires. On Monday, January 13, the National Park Service revealed that a motorist had illegally driven onto the dunes sometime in late December or early January. A photograph distributed by the NPS showed the tire marks starting near the parking lot before going through a patch of dunegrass and then higher onto the sand.

In the news release, Death Valley superintendent Mike Reynolds asked the public to help rangers identify the culprit.

鈥淚 urge the public to come forward with any information that could help identify those responsible for driving on Eureka Dunes,鈥� said Superintendent Mike Reynolds. 鈥淚鈥檓 saddened that someone would disregard the survival of a rare species for a few minutes of joyriding.”

The park expressly forbids anyone from driving off marked roads. It also prevents visitors from sliding down the Eureka Sand Dunes on sandboards or sleds鈥攑opular activities at other dunes like White Sands and Great Sand Dunes national parks. That’s because the sand is the only known habitat of the Eureka dunegrass, which is listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. According to the NPS, the driver damaged or destroyed听eight different Eureka dunegrass plants.

Gordon, 56, was at his home in Long Beach, California, when he saw the news. “It’s frustrating, maddening, angering,” he said. “There’s no way to claim ignorance because there are signs everywhere.”

Like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, Death Valley National Park must occasionally grapple with vandals and visitors who break the rules. On May 13, an irresponsible driver destroyed a 113-year old salt tram tower in Saline Valley while attempting to free his vehicle from mud.

In 2016, two and fences guarding Devils Hole, a water-filled cavern that is off-limits to visitors. One man proceeded to swim in the water.

Gordon first visited the Eureka Dunes in the late eighties, and he began leading guided photography tours inside the park two decades ago. These days, he takes small groups to snap shots of the park’s iconic salt flats and red rocks from mid-October until the temperatures begin soaring in April.

Many visitors stop and see the popular sand dunes at Mesquite Flat, which is located right off of Highway听190, the main road inside the park. But few ever venture to the park’s northwestern corner to see the Eureka dunes.

“I used to be able to show up and not even see another person,” Gordon says. “Still, just a fraction of visitors ever go to Eureka Dunes because the dirt road keeps them away.”

But Gordon has seen more signs of bad behavior at Eureka in recent years: people playing in the dunes with plastic toys, and the occasional tire marks in the sane. “I’ve chastised people and tried to educate them about the rules,” he says. “There’s a clear sign next to the bathroom explaining what they can and can’t do.”

Even more maddening, Gordon says, is the relatively close proximity of sand dunes that do allow off-road access. Nevada’s Big Dune Recreation Area, which does allow vehicles to drive on sand dunes, is located just 62 miles from Death Valley’s Furnace Creek Visitor Center.

The tire tracks in the Eureka Dunes will quickly disappear amid the shifting sands, and within a few weeks the golden mounts are likely to appear as they did before. But Gordon says he will continue to call out bad behavior when he sees it in the sand.

“Those of us who spend a lot of time in the park take it personally. It’s like you’re damaging my park,”听he says.

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On May 13, the National Park Service issued disclosing that a historic 113-year-old salt tram tower in Death Valley National Park had been pulled down by an irresponsible driver. Now, there鈥檚 video that may show the incident鈥檚 aftermath.

鈥淭he National Park Service (NPS) seeks information about recent damage to a historic salt tram tower in Saline Valley,鈥� reads the release. 鈥淚t appears the 113-year-old tower was pulled over while a person used a winch to extract their vehicle out of deep mud. The damage happened sometime between April 1 and April 24, 2024.鈥�

A video uploaded to YouTube on April 27鈥攕hortly after the incident took place鈥攁ppears to show the immediate aftermath of the event, and may identify the alleged perpetrators.听That video was taken down on May 15, but 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别听reviewed it in the days prior.

The National Park Service confirmed that they have seen and downloaded the video.

鈥淲hile we don’t comment on ongoing investigations, the response to this incident from the off-road community has been humbling,鈥� an NPS spokesperson told 国产吃瓜黑料. “We’ve received an overwhelming amount of information attempting to help identify the individuals responsible and help repair the damage. We will notify people of potential volunteer opportunities at the appropriate time.”

The video appears to have been recorded on a dash cam. At the two-and-a-half minute mark of the original 11-minute video, the the driver is narrating his encounter with a person wearing 鈥渄aisy dukes and a halter top.鈥�

The location of the tram tower is about 40 miles into Saline Valley Road鈥攁 rough 4×4 route鈥攆ar听from the nearest pavement at Highway 190. It鈥檚 an area I鈥檝e traveled through many times, and am very familiar with.

The historic tram towers were constructed in 1911 to ferry salt from the remote Saline Valley, over the rugged Inyo Mountains, and into Owens Valley, 13 miles away, in a straight line.

鈥淭he tramway climbed over 7,000 vertical feet at steep grades up to 40 degrees,鈥� stated an NPS official in a release. 鈥淪aline Valley Salt Tram is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is considered nationally significant because of its age, length, steepness, preservation, and scenic setting.鈥�

鈥淭ram tower #1 is the tower closest to Saline Valley lakebed,鈥� the release continued. 鈥淣earby tracks show that a vehicle drove a short distance off the legal roadway and got stuck in mud. Park rangers believe that someone used the nearby tower as an anchor to pull their vehicle out of the mud. The tower toppled over, pulling its concrete footings out of the ground.鈥�

鈥淲e need a winch,鈥� the woman tells the filming driver at the original 2:35 time stamp. 鈥淲e went a little too far into the mud, and there鈥檚 nothing to press the winch onto. See that last tower? Honestly, you guys can get into maybe like 20 feet easily, we just need something to latch onto, we鈥檝e got nothing.鈥�

The driver then pulls down the access road that runs along the old tram line, and pulls into the turn around at the end of the road. The delineation between terrain that can safely be driven and impossibly deep mud is, in my experience, very clear at that point. But visible is a truck stuck up to its axles, about 20 feet beyond that point.

At this point in the video, the tram tower is already toppled. We have no way of knowing if this is the vehicle or the drivers who pulled it down. But, at 3:45 in the original video, we can see someone disconnect the truck鈥檚 winch cable from the damaged tower, and drag it back to the truck.

A close up shortly after shows the vehicle in detail. It鈥檚 a white Toyota Tundra, of the generation made between 2006 and 2021. It appears to be extensively modified with a Topo Toppers Mesa camper,听a roof rack, a high clearance front bumper, and a winch.

The driver of the dash cam-equipped vehicle then goes onto attempt a straight winch pull. Vehicles stuck in deep mud can create resistance equivalent to two to three-times the weight of the vehicle itself, and that Tundra鈥檚 gross vehicle weight rating is 7,200 pounds. So it鈥檚 no surprise that attempt fails. Most winches on mid-size 4x4s are rated for a capacity of 12,000 pounds, or less.

At 5:30 in the original video, we can see the drivers attempt to attach a second winch line from another vehicle. The drivers then reposition the winch lines to separate recovery points, and attach a third line, which eventually frees the stuck Tundra. At no point are pulleys or dampers involved, which could have respectively reduced forces, and reduced the risk created by a broken line, shackle, or attachment point. The forces here must have been huge鈥攁t least 20,000 pounds鈥攕o any equipment failure would have resulted in potentially deadly consequences.

At 10:10 in the source video, the truck is eventually pulled to dry ground. Judging by the amount of phones seen in the video, this is likely not the only video or photos of the incident.

鈥淭he NPS already had a salt tram stabilization project planned before this damage happened, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act,鈥� concluded the NPS. 鈥淭he project manager has not determined if that funding can be used to re-anchor tower #1.鈥�

鈥淧ark rangers ask that anyone with information on this incident contact the NPS-wide tip line at 888-653-0009 or听.”

鈥淚 hope the person responsible for this damage will contact us so we can discuss restitution,鈥� says Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds.

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Climate change, overcrowding, Pierce Brosnan鈥攖he list of existential crises facing our beloved national parks seems to expand every day.

Alas, the threat generating headlines this week is not new but is equally vexing. The menace? Dudes seemingly just for the heck of it.

This situation played out at Nevada’s Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Sunday, April 7, and video of the incident made the rounds on social media a few days later. A park visitor shot video of two men destroying sandstone outcrops along the popular Redstone Dune Trail, a short hiking loop on the western edge of the lake. The clip shows the two guys using their legs and arms to push sizable red boulders off of a cliff鈥攁 practice known as trundling. Each boulder slams into the rocks and explodes into 200-million-year-old dust particles. A young girl standing behind the men can be heard screaming听“Daddy don’t fall!” in the video.

You can watch the whole thing below:

Federal authorities are looking for two men who were caught on video damaging protected rock formations at Lake Mead National Recreation Area last weekend.

Who knows these asshats?

— Las Vegas Locally (@LasVegasLocally)

The clip caused buzz online, and on Saturday, April 13, the Park Service asking the general public to help identify the men in the video. Nobody knows yet who the men are, or what type of punishment they face if they are caught.听John Haynes, a spokesman for Lake Mead, told local media that the men’s听action “almost feels like a personal attack.”

鈥淲hy on earth would you do this to this area that鈥檚 so beautiful? It鈥檚 one of my favorite places in the park and they鈥檙e up there just destroying it. I don鈥檛 understand that,鈥� Haynes .

鈥淚t’s pretty appalling, it is kind of disgusting,” he added.

NPS officials across the country regularly听deal with vandalism, and in recent years areas of Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and even Acadia National Park have been tagged by graffiti. In January 2022, someone over ancient petroglyphs at Big Bend National Park.

But the intentional destruction of geologic formations鈥攄one in broad daylight, nonetheless鈥攕purs a different type of anger, especially when you see it with your very eyes. You can paint over graffiti or sandblast it from a wall; you cannot glue a sandstone boulder back together. And I think everyone watching the video clip can relate to the operator of the camera, who at one point utters “But why?” After all, the whole point of encircling these cliffs in the protective barrier of public land is to prevent their destruction.

Alas, I have no answer to why these guys were smashing rocks, and it’s tough to assume a motive since the men in question are staying quiet. To me, this does not look like preventative trundling, which is the act of knocking down choss from a precipitous perch in order to prevent deadly rockfall. Plus, I’d rather have a Park Service employee go on rock patrol, and not two dudes in jeans.

No, this trundling looks purely recreational鈥攃asual rock throwing done for the oooh, ahhh, SMASH! of it all. I will absolutely cop to having done this in my past. When I was 13 I once spent an afternoon rolling boulders down the butte near my childhood home with two buddies. Our fun was interrupted by a passing hiker who recognized the danger and destruction of our actions and sternly threatened to phone our parents. Yeah, it was a total buzzkill, but the guy’s anger did cause me to stop and ponder my actions, and I never did that again. Like most kids, I eventually grew out of that life phase in which setting fires and smashing stuff tickled every neuron in my brain.

I also read about the deadly outcomes of recreational rock tossing.听In 2007 国产吃瓜黑料 published a feature on the death of legendary climber Pete Absolon, who was struck in the head by a boulder while climbing in the Wind River range. The rock thrower, a man named Luke Rodolph, had been tossing boulders off of the cliff and gleefully watching them descend. I think the final nail in the coffin for my own trundling desire occurred a decade ago when video circulated of two Boy Scout leaders hootin’ and hollerin’ as they in Utah’s Goblin State Park. After the video sparked national outrage, the men claimed they were toppling the rocks to prevent someone from being hurt, presumably by accidentally toppling over a rock. It was a curious explanation, since most visitors at Goblin State Park are there to specifically witness the majesty of these precariously perched rocks. Those two eventually served a year of probation and paid a hefty fine.

Hiking next to cool red sandstone is why tourists flock to the trails on the banks of Lake Mead. And I’m prepared to arch my eyebrow at whatever explanation these guys provide鈥攕hould park rangers ever track them down.

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Across the 429 parks, monuments and historic sites managed by the National Park Service, , or otherwise center women鈥檚 history. This is a problem, because women have鈥攁nd this should be obvious鈥攑layed vital roles not only in the preservation and study of nature, and our nation鈥檚 history, but also because women are essential to the operation听of the parks themselves. Last week, President Biden signed an executive order that will again to address that disparity.

will increase representation at sites managed by the National Park Service, and honor the history of women in America.

鈥淏y highlighting the role that women and girls have played in shaping the American story, we will tell a more complete account of American history and help create a more equal future,鈥� states the White House.

The executive order directs the Department of the Interior (of which NPS is a bureau) to begin by conducting a study aimed at assessing which existing sites are significant to women鈥檚 history, identifying new sites, and developing recommendations about how women鈥檚 history could better be included across the park system.

An additional study will be the first ever comprehensive review of women鈥檚 history ever conducted by NPS. Its aim will be to identify women who have played significant roles in American history, especially during the American revolution, abolition and suffrage movements, the world wars, and civil rights and women鈥檚 rights movements. The study will seek to include women from diverse backgrounds, reflecting the full breadth of, 鈥渞ace, ethnicity, religion, age, geography, income, socioeconomic status, and other factors鈥� in the American experience. Those results will then be used to determine which women may be recognized in new or existing historic sites.

The Executive Order also directs DOI to ask the NPS advisory board to develop recommendations from historians and other experts on opportunities to improve representation of women across NPS sites, materials and programs.

The action adds to the administration鈥檚 ongoing efforts to advance equality and representation across the country. Those efforts include the designation last year of both the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois, and the Baaj Nwaavjo I鈥橳ah Kukveni National Monument near the Grand Canyon, as well as naming Camp Amache鈥攁 site where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II鈥攁 National Historic Site. The administration has, to-date, invested $19 million in parks commemorating women.

鈥淧resident Biden鈥檚 Executive Order directs our team to think beyond the stories we currently tell to seek out the new and often untold stories of the women who have blazed a path for all of us,鈥� said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. 鈥淒oing this work means telling our country鈥檚 full and honest story, learning about the women across generations who have strengthened our nation and building a future where everyone can thrive.鈥�

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The celebrity trial of the century, this was not.

On Thursday March 14, a district judge in Wyoming named Stephanie A. Hambrick of Irish movie star Pierce Brosnan鈥攜es, he of James Bond fame. Brosnan, 70, was accused of breaking sacrosanct rules of decorum in听Yellowstone National Park during his visit there on November 1. The Park Service said that Brosnan while visiting the Mammoth Terraces hot springs and then snapped a selfie in front of the natural wonder鈥攄espite the presence of signs saying to stay on the trail. The authorities found out about the offense because, of course,听Brosnan uploaded a cool mid-crime photo to Instagram. Yes, according to the National Park Service, 007 himself acted like a bonafide .

The trial was short and sweet. Brosnan called in to the procedures by phone. After initially challenging the accusation, he pled guilty to one charge: walking in a restricted thermal area. The court dismissed the second charge: violating closures and use limits. Judge Hambrick ordered Brosnan to pay a $500 fine and make a $1,000 donation to Yellowstone Forever, a nonprofit group that works with the park. Case closed.

Brosnan apologized, releasing the following statement on social media: 鈥淎s an environmentalist, I have the utmost respect for and love of our natural world. I deeply regret my transgression and offer my heartfelt apologies to all for trespassing in this sensitive area.鈥�

The hammer of justice was swift. But was it just?

I pondered the question all weekend, and I still cannot decide. As you may know, acting like a dimwit seems to be the God-given right of every visitor to America’s oldest national park these days. Every week, another video surfaces of a tourist attempting to or or . By my estimation, Yellowstone idiocy represents one of the biggest threats to our country’s national security.听 . Even the .

Brosnan’s offense is minor when compared to what goes on at Yellowstone on a typical Wednesday in July. I scanned his Instagram page and saw zero images of him attempting to ride the megafauna. So, perhaps $1,500 and some humiliation in the press is punishment enough.

But Brosnan is a wealthy celeb, of course. Some members of society (hand raised) may feel the desire to make a public example out of him, to dissuade the throngs of would-be rule breakers from skipping off Yellowstone’s designated pathways to trample sensitive habitats. By our logic, a $1500 fine is a pretty meager punishment. Heck, that’s probably the value of the pink wingtips that match the suit he’s wearing in the above photo.

So, what is an appropriate sanction for the crime of walking off-trail at Yellowstone to check out Mammoth Terraces? If you’re Pierce Brosnan, then perhaps the following punishments are appropriate:

Penalty by Singing

Pierce Brosnan is no Marvin Gaye鈥�. Fans of the 2008 film adaptation of Mamma Mia may remember the auditory nightmare of him belting out a tunes. For anyone who requires proof, I have included the link below. Be forewarned: you may want to move Fido to an adjacent room, because Pierce can’t hit the high, low, or medium notes.

As punishment, the court asks Mr. Brosnan to belt out the musical鈥檚 hit song into the phone. A team of songwriters will analyze his performance, and asses $1,000 in damages for every blown note, forgotten lyric, or voice crackle.

GoldenEye Slap Fight

The court requires Mr. Brosnan to beat the Nintendo 64 game GoldenEye while . This ordeal may take weeks or months for Mr. Brosnan to complete.

Forced Ice Removal

Plowing the every spring is a major undertaking that requires dozens of staffers, heavy equipment, and long hours. Brosnan knows a thing or two about breaking ice, and in the curiously goofy 2002 James Bond chapter Die Another Day he fights a whole cadre of bad guys in silly frozen palace, and manages to completely destroy the whole thing. As punishment, the court requires Mr. Brosnan to report to Mammoth Hot Springs on April 1 with a shovel and an ice scraper and to start chipping away at the Grand Loop Road.

A Run-by Fruiting

This one is pretty self explanatory.

Late Addition: The Reverse-Selfie Heist

Hooboy do I love the finale of The Thomas Crown Affair, and I will argue its perfection with any cinephile. For those unfortunate readers who are unfamiliar: wealthy playboy and art thief Thomas Crown must sneak into the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and replace a priceless Monet that he had previously stolen. There are twists, turns, double-fake-outs, and lots of Pierce Brosnan.

The court demands that Mr. Brosnan somehow sneak past Yellowstone security into the Mammoth Terraces WITHOUT GOING OFF TRAIL and then un-take his illegal selfie.

The Punishment Is Not Enough

Rotten Tomatoes maintains an updated ranking of all 27 films in the James Bond oeuvre, and it lists the godawful 2002 chapter The World Is Not Enough as No. 24. In my opinion, this is way too high for a nonsensical movie with with massive plot holes, abysmal dialogue, and bad acting. Sorry, Pierce, not your best work. But perhaps it’s the focal point of a truly appropriate punishment for violating rules at Yellowstone.

The court demands that Mr. Brosnan watch all 128 minutes of听The World Is Not Enough.听The court recognizes that this punishment may be deemed to be cruel and unusual.

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At midnight Mountain Time on January 30, the public comment period closed for two proposals from the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) that would ban fixed anchors (bolts, pitons, snow pickets, slings) in America鈥檚 Designated Wilderness areas.

I鈥檝e written a lot about and around this subject; so if you want a full treatment, read But here are the three essential facts you need to know about the proposals and their implications:

1. Fixed anchors would be banned unless individually proven otherwise.听

By leaning into a clever bit of legalese, the NPS and USFS are trying to re-classify all 鈥渇ixed anchors鈥� as 鈥渋nstallations.鈥� Since 鈥渋nstallations鈥� are explicitly banned from wilderness areas unless deemed otherwise on a case-by-case basis, all fixed anchors would be banned too. This essentially inverts the formula that the NPS and USFS had previously used to manage fixed climbing hardware: Previously, climbing anchors were considered legal unless there was some reason (generally archeological or environmental) to disallow them; now climbing is illegal unless the park goes out of its way to decide otherwise.

As Erik Murdock, Interim Executive Director of Access Fund, told me several months ago: 鈥淚f this proposal passes, all fixed anchors will be considered illegal until they are provided an exception. The wilderness administrator can provide that exception. But they may not if they don鈥檛 want to.鈥�

2. This is not simply a problem for sport climbers.

The term 鈥渇ixed anchors,鈥� as defined by the Forest and Park Services, does not just apply to bolts. Instead, it includes all forms of permanent or left-behind protection. In addition to bolts and rap rings, it includes slung trees, stuck nuts, snow pickets, pitons, and any safety gear a climber happens to leave behind鈥攅ven in retreat. A ban on permanent gear would effectively ban getting down off of thousands of cliffs and mountains around the United States.

To look at the potential implications of this, just look at North Cascades National Park, where anchors are banned in order () to 鈥減reserve a wilderness experience that reflects a raw style of mountaineering in a range that has changed little since Fred Beckey made first ascents of now-popular peaks.鈥� What that means, however, is that descending climbers are generally forced to avoid rappelling clean rock faces and instead descend via steep, avalanche-prone couloirs鈥攁nd without the legal right to leave behind snow pickets as protection even if they deem it necessary.

3. Opposing the proposed ban does not mean supporting grid-bolting.听

The vast majority of climbers have historically been great advocates for wilderness spaces; indeed, climbers and climbing organizations almost uniformly agree that the placement of anchors鈥攅specially bolts鈥攊n wilderness ought to be overseen by land managers. But climbers think that anchors are compatible with the wilderness areas we have helped to create.

Lifelong rock climber and former Colorado Senator Mark Udall, for instance, helped bring federal wilderness protections to huge swaths of Colorado, including parts of Rocky Mountain National Park, and when he did so he considered climbing a legitimate use of that wilderness. For that reason, he has outspokenly opposed the NPS and USFS鈥檚 attempt to twist the language of the Wilderness Act to ban climbing.

In an article published by this past November, Udall wrote: 鈥淎s the primary sponsor of the Rocky Mountain National Park Wilderness and Indian Peaks Wilderness Expansion Act, I want to be absolutely clear: Nothing in those bills was intended to restrict sustainable and appropriate Wilderness climbing practices or prohibit the judicious and conditional placement of fixed anchors鈥攎any of which existed before the bills鈥� passage. I used fixed anchors to climb in these areas, and I want future climbers to safely experience profound adventures and thereby become Wilderness advocates themselves.鈥�

And there you have it: even the people who created these wilderness areas are opposed to the USFS and NPS鈥檚 attempt to manage them.

You can read Access Fund鈥檚 guidance on these issues .

Learn more about how you can support the Protecting America鈥檚 Rock Climbing (PARC) Act

NOTE: The deadline for public comment period has now passed. But you can still support wilderness climbing by supporting the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act, which is currently in congress and includes language overtly protecting wilderness climbing and fixed anchor use.

鈥擲teven Potter

The post The Park Service Wants to Ban All Rock Climbing in Designated Wilderness appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Climbers are taking aim at a controversial policy that would impact the permanent bolts, slings, and other safety anchors that are located on climbing routes inside designated wilderness.

Earlier in November, the National Park Service and National Forest Service released draft directives for approving and managing these fixed anchors鈥攂ut the plan calls for the climbing infrastructure to be reclassified as 鈥渋nstallations.鈥� This wording technically makes them illegal under the 1964 Wilderness Act, which protects huge swaths of backcountry. Under the proposed rules, local forest supervisors and park superintendents could then review and approve or deny each bolt after following a requirement analysis.听

The public has 60 days (from November 17) to comment on the proposals and .

Opponents of the rule argue that these land managers are already under-resourced and short staffed, and the process for reviewing and then approving climbing anchors鈥攎any of which have been fixed to routes for decades鈥攃ould take years. Below is an explainer for why some in the climbing community feel the proposed policy misses the mark.

How it Works

Both the NPS and NFS directives explicitly acknowledge that climbing is a legitimate use of wilderness. But both of them go on to propose that 鈥渇ixed anchors鈥濃�攁 term which encompasses all forms of permanent or left-behind protection, including everything from bolts and rap rings to slung trees, stuck nuts, and snow pickets鈥攕hould be categorized as 鈥渋nstallations,鈥� a term historically used to describe objects like paved roads, fire towers, buildings, bridges, and landfills. According to the 1964 Wilderness Act, installations are ipso facto prohibited in wilderness, but they can be permitted on a case-by-case basis through a process called a minimum requirement analysis (MRA).

Controversial Wording

With the use of 鈥渋nstallations鈥� to define anchors, the NPS and NFS essentially propose a guilty until proven innocent structure for them. Instead of assuming that anchors are permitted but subject to approval, the directives assume that every fixed safety anchor in wilderness鈥攅ven those that pre-date the Wilderness Act鈥攊s illegal, and therefore subject to either removal or non-replacement, until the local land manager finds the time and budget to conduct an MRA and decide their final fate.听

While climbing organizations like Access Fund agree that the placement of anchors (particularly bolts) in wilderness should be overseen by land managers, they oppose the idea that anchors ought to be considered illegal unless proven otherwise. 鈥淚n the past, the way climbers have used anchors in wilderness has been allowable unless they鈥檙e causing [negative] impacts,鈥� says Erik Murdock, Interim Executive Director of Access Fund. 鈥淏ut this is flipped on its head. If this proposal passes, all fixed anchors will be considered illegal until they are provided an exception. The wilderness administrator can provide that exception. But they may not if they don鈥檛 want to.鈥�

Who Will Decide?

Both proposals note that climbing is a legitimate activity in wilderness, and that administrators ought to take this legitimacy into account when conducting their MRAs. This essentially means that officials would weigh climbing鈥檚 public value and historical relevance at any given crag against its perceived impacts on a climbing area鈥檚 鈥渨ilderness character.鈥� This subjective process could lead to significant inconsistency from year to year and wilderness area to wilderness area. The : yes. : no. Or vice versa.听

Will El Capitan Close in Two Months?

No. The directive explicitly states that climbing will continue to be allowed on existing anchors until those anchors can be subjected to an MRA.听

Clarity Still Needed

Given the fact that land managers are woefully understaffed and under-resourced, and given the fact that the process of proving a given anchor鈥檚 compatibility with wilderness will require significant time and resources from those land managers, it鈥檚 unclear how the NPS and NFS realistically expect to weigh in on the tens of thousands of routes that currently sit within the wilderness areas they administer. Will they wait until a climber or local climbing organization identifies an anchor that needs replacing, then conduct an MRA about the replacement and go from there? Or will they take a more active approach鈥攁s recommended by the NPS managers in Joshua Tree last year鈥攁nd actively search out routes and anchors they randomly deem non-compliant and chop them?听

Potential Lawsuits

Another implication is legal. Things defined as 鈥渋nstallations鈥� in a wilderness context are subject to lawsuits. Any user鈥攐r any anti-climbing wilderness organization鈥攃an point at an installation that has not undergone an MRA and sue for its removal. This same legal mechanism was used by Wilderness Watch in 2010 to condemn an 80-year-old fire tower in the Glacier Peak Wilderness in Washington. Despite the fact that the tower both pre-dated the Wilderness Act and had been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988, the tower was ultimately condemned by a federal judge and slated for removal鈥攐nly to be saved by an act of federal legislation (introduced by one of Washington鈥檚 senators and signed into law by President Obama) that superseded the judge鈥檚 ruling. If the installation definition were to be applied to bolts, slings, pitons, rap anchors, and so on, groups like Wilderness Watch could use the same mechanism to gradually strip necessary anchors from Yosemite, the Black Canyon, the Tetons, Acadia, and thousands of other federally administered wilderness crags around the country.听

Which brings us to another topic:听

A Better Solution

The Protecting America鈥檚 Rock Climb Act (PARC), which is explicitly designed to ensure sustainable climbing access in designated wilderness, enjoys significant bipartisan support. If passed, it would force both the NFS and NPS to explicitly allow the regulated use, placement, and maintenance of fixed anchors in wilderness areas, and would prohibit all federal land management agencies from fundamentally disallowing standard climbing practices and protection in wilderness. Want to support wilderness climbing? Write to your congressional representatives .

Who Wrote This?

The NFS鈥檚 , which is admittedly less fluent than the produced by the NPS, at one point notes that a 鈥淔orest Supervisor may authorize the placement or replacement of fixed anchors and fixed equipment in wilderness鈥� in areas where impacts on the rock face are occurring due to the use of rock hammers to chip hand holds or foot holds into the rock.鈥澨�

Italics mine because what in the nine circles of hell do they even mean?

Is the forest service really suggesting that the climbers鈥攁 largely self-policing and conservation-minded community whose constituents unanimously agree that chipping handholds and footholds is the opposite of what we want to see happening on our rock鈥攋ust need to start chipping in order to justify our rappel anchors? Or was this document written and edited by someone whose knowledge of climbing history and climbing ethics is so mediocre that they conflated the chipping controversies of the late 1980s with the clean climbing revolution that began with Yvon Chouinard, Tom Frost, and Doug Robinson in the early 1970s and has largely guided our wider community鈥檚 relationship to rock ever since? Either way, it鈥檚 pretty shoddy work on the part of the Forest Service. And it鈥檚 pretty frightening to think that these people are in charge of climbing鈥檚 past and its future.听

Steven Potter is the digital editor at Climbing.听

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