Blog

244,970 acres of new wilderness areas are now protected by Congress, as of a few days ago. Land conservation legislation has been a problem in Congress for the past five years, which has failed to pass any meaningful legislation that would impact the wilderness areas that are protected from industrialization and development.  With mounting pressure from President Obama and growing frustration from local communities impacted by encroachment, Congress has finally acted and supplied a package of dozens of land conservation bills to the President for signature.  The bills protect more than 1 million acres of national parks, wilderness areas and rivers.  Although the victory is slightly tainted in that these measures needed to be attached to the defense spending bill in order to pass, conservationists are taking the victory.  It is the first bit of substantial protection offered since 2009. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) stated “In addition to setting aside nearly a quarter million acres of wilderness in the American West, it also expands more than a dozen of our national parks to protect more of this country’s natural splendor for future generation.,” These bills include protections for 244,970 acres of new wilderness.  Some of the more significant additions were to the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana, the creation of the Columbine-Hondo Wilderness in New Mexico, the Pine Forest Range and Wovoka Wildernesses in Nevada, and the Hermosa Creek Wilderness in Colorado.  Additionally, the bills also designate 208,160 acres in Montana as the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Management Area, along with protection of 70,650 acres in Colorado as the Hermosa Creek Special Management Area.   More than 100 miles of rivers have additionally been added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. During his signing of a proclamation in May that used executive order to protect a national monument in

As a tour operator offering adventure tours from Las Vegas to national parks in the southwestern United States, Bindlestiff Tours is excited about any program that will get kids the chance to experience nature and the beauty of America's national parks first hand.  Too many kids in this day and age will only experience many things through their computer or phone screens, and this is hardly comparable to the experience of actually visiting the national parks that are protected by the government.  As part of a new initiative designed to get children outside and experiencing nature to a fuller extent, President Obama has put forth the "Every Kid In A Park" plan, which will allow for free admission for all fourth graders and their families to national parks for the next year.  The program is a lead-up to the National Park Service's 100 year anniversary next year, and is going further than just offering free admissions.  Through their website https://www.nationalparks.org/ook/every-kid-in-a-park they are crowdfunding additional aspects which will assist underpriveladged families at attaining the goal of visiting national parks. 80% of families are now living in urban areas, and the children raised in these environments spend as much as 7 hours per day staring at screens. Young people today are far more sedentary than in years past, and far more likely to spend the majority of their time indoors.  Studies of people raised to spend long periods of time indoors show increases in the instances of addictive behavior and depression. "Did you know that you own millions of acres of national parks, historic structures, cultural artifacts, ancient forests, snow-capped mountains, and clear blue lakes? Our public lands and waters belong to all Americans and are waiting for you to explore them!  Thanks to our public-private partnerships, we are able to open up a