This land is... your land? my land?
Defending our public lands.
Thoughtful reflections on our moderately sized year reveal that none of what Tyler and I accomplished would have been possible without the great national gift of our public lands. Over the course of the year, we camped on and hiked through 20 national parks and monuments and 37 national wildlife refuges. Combined with other national preserves and state, county and municipal parklands, the number of publicly supported locations we visited during the year racks up to over 200 sites (see the probably-not-quite-exhaustive list below!). As a 40th birthday gift, my mother bought me an annual America the Beautiful parks pass and we wore that thing out!
In the best of times, of course, there are vigorous debates to be had on how to run these public lands, both in aggregate and as individual sites. Locally, there are always discussions about appropriate usage. Should we prioritize recreation or preservation? How and what do we preserve? Pointedly, there is the specter of our national shame—that all of these vast tracts of land are also unceded territories of the indigenous peoples who were here before colonization. So, public lands are both a bounty that each of us citizens can enjoy if we choose to exercise our privilege, and an active question that we need to continue to discuss and solve.
An ongoing legitimate question for public consideration: how do we fund, staff and manage our public lands?
Reflecting on our long tour of the country, Tyler and I are both filled with awe and wonder at the land itself: the vistas, the ecosystems, the plants and animals and microflora. But equally important to the story of our time was the expertise and guidance of the park staff who greeted us at so many sites. Tyler delighted one ranger with a question about the minutiae of the flora on Mount San Jacinto. “Yes! That's mountain mahogany! Gosh, I’m so happy to be asked about something other than directions to the bathroom.” At Carlsbad Caverns, we talked with a ranger who proudly shared that the day we encountered her on the trail was one of her first thirty in the park, having finally secured her first full-time post after a gauntlet of seasonal stints at other locations. Despite being relatively new to her post, she was able to answer all of our fauna questions thoroughly and confidently. At Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, a federal wildlife officer took time away from her administrative tasks to answer questions for us about the cicadas hatching on the porch and to give us a generously detailed description of possible birdwatching during a time of high spring flooding in the refuge when most trails on the map were underwater. The copious evidence from all of our onsite experience reiterates that our public lands are staffed by people who care enormously about the places they are protecting, and who harbor a vast knowledge of the ecosystems, history and local conditions in the places they are deployed. Suffice it to say that their absence would have left enormous holes in our trip: trails uncleared, questions unanswered, bathrooms uncleaned.
For all their expertise, though, we found that these important public servants were often not given an enormous amount of support for the work they were asked to implement. Teams were small, often skeleton-sized. Many park entrance kiosks were closed, signs posted with honor boxes standing in for the ranger who would once have greeted visitors. Perhaps in the comparably quiet off-season this makes sense. But how to explain these staff shortages in the high season, when campsites and trailheads are full? At Ozette Lake in Olympic National Park, Tyler and I snagged one of two remaining campsites and dutifully searched for a pay box. Instead of the traditional envelopes for cash payment, we found a QR code directing us to pay online through the website. The only catch: Ozette Lake is outside of cell service for most carriers. Hmmm… that seems… problematic? Presumably, a short-sited attempt to save money on staffing a ranger to collect funds in person has led to a situation where earnest campers struggle to pay in the first place.
At Hart’s Pass Campground in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, a small team of forest service staff asked us to move the Blazer for a few minutes while they felled a dead tree that was hanging over the campsite we had chosen. We watched as they cut a V in the base of the tree with a chainsaw and successfully directed the tree to fall across the roadway instead of onto our tent. Moments before, we had been blithely enjoying the shade below that very tree, facing the view down the valley, unaware that the limbs providing that shade branched upward from the spongey, rotten stump we could now see was hardly fit to support a sapling.
“How often do you survey the campgrounds for the conditions of the trees?” we asked, remembering other nights in our thin-walled tent under wind-blown boughs.
“Oh, well, we try to get to it seasonally, but to be honest we’re pretty behind schedule,” the forester answered candidly. “We had some staff cuts this season, so it’s not likely we’ll get to all the sites we want to survey this year, which means we’ll likely start next season with a backlog.”
These are only a couple brief sketches from our year. I could fill a book with examples of what I personally owe to the dedication of the employees of our public lands, both last year and throughout my life. So it was with a very heavy heart that I read headlines of the indiscriminate slashing of staff from the national park service. This AP News headline brings me some wary sense of hope that maybe some of the damage will be reversed, but I am still deeply concerned. As usual, the national parks get all the headlines; unfortunately, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U. S. Forest Service are also undergoing mass layoffs.
Personally, I am furious, and devastated that these places I care for so deeply (and the ecosystems and creatures that rely on them) are in very real jeopardy. I am hoping that the workers who are losing their jobs will not lose their conviction and pride in the work they have done. I am hoping the workers who retain their posts don’t feel too discouraged that their own jobs will be harder with the reduction of staff. I am grateful to all of them, and I feel they deserve better.
While the question of how we should fund, staff and manage our public lands is a legitimate one, I would posit that a billionaire wielding a shiny prop chainsaw in the name of government austerity is not a legitimate answer. These ugly, uncouth men at the top of our national pyramid of power are wealth hoarders of the worst order, and I’m willing to bet they don’t know how to answer any of my questions about the bats at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, the trails and cicadas at Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, or the state of the trees in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Until they can demonstrate that they have taken a thoughtful survey of the actual work of the employees charged with managing our public lands, I will never believe that their funding cuts or layoffs are in the national interest. They boast we’re going to save so many billions of dollars, but what exactly are we going to gain?
If you can, please visit a public space near you and take a minute to meditate on its place in your life. What does it mean to have a green space in your city or town? How important is the forest on those distant hillsides? What places have you been to that you can summon in your mind’s eye, and where do you still dream of visiting? Denali, slumbering under the winter snow, so far away and distant in Alaska while I write this under pine trees in Maine, is nonetheless a palpable comfort to me. I close my eyes and picture it, reflected in Wonder Lake. My life would be lesser without it, and I owe it my love, my honor. For a start…
All the public lands we visited in 2024:
National Parks:
Joshua Tree National Park, CA Pinnacles National Park, CA
Death Valley National Park, CA Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
Hot Springs National Park, AR Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO Canyonlands National Park, UT Arches National Park, UT Rocky Mountain National Park, CO Grand Teton National Park, WY Yellowstone National Park, WY North Cascades National Park, WA Olympic National Park, WA Indiana Dunes National Park, IN Acadia National Park, ME
National Monuments:
Cabrillo National Monument, CA Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ Bears Ears National Monument, UT
Natural Bridges National Monument, UT Dinosaur National Monument, UT
National Recreation Areas, Conservation Areas or other National Sites:
Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV Kitt Peak National Observatory, AZ
Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, AZ Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, GA Rocky Springs Campground, Natchez Trace Parkway, MS Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, UT Jones Bay Campground, Lake Roosevelt, WA Cape Flattery, Olympic National Marine Sanctuary/Makah Reservation, WA Pawnee National Grasslands, CO Prince William Forest Park, VA Race Point Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore, MA
National Forests Sites:
Madera Canyon, Coronado National Forest, AZ Cave Creek, Coronado National Forest, AZ Blue Lake, Conecuh National Forest, AL Open Pond Recreation Area, Conecuh National Forest, AL Janice Landing, Brooklyn, MS Palisade Trail, Rio Grande National Forest, CO Fish Creek Falls, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, CO
St Vrain Trail and Rock Creek Trail, Arapaho National Forest, CO Lake Marie and Mirror Lake, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY Boulder Lake, Bridger-Teton National Forest, WY Cache Creek Canyon, Bridger-Teton National Forest, WY Upper Rainey Creek Rd, Caribou-Targhee National Forest, ID Rattlesnake Main Trail, Lolo National Forest, MT Deer Creek Campground, Lolo National Forest, MT Cutthroat Creek Trail, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, WA Hart's Pass Campground, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, WA Slate Peak, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, WA Pasayten Wilderness, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, WA Maple Pass Loop, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, WA Diamondfield Jack Campground, Sawtooth National Forest, ID
Bear Heaven Campground, Monongahela National Forest, WV
National Wildlife Refuges:
Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, CA Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, CA Desert National Wildlife Refuge, NV Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, AZ
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, TX Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, TX Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, TX Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, TX Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, MS
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, FL Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, FL J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, FL Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, SC Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, GA
Eufala National Wildlife Refuge, AL Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, AR
Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, OK Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, OK
Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, KS National Elk Refuge, WY Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, MT Lee Metcalfe National Wildlife Refuge, MT Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AK Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge, MT Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, WA McNary National Wildlife Refuge, WA Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge, OR Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge, ID Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, UT Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge, NE Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, NE Trempeleau National Wildlife Refuge, WI Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, WI Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, VA Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, VA
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, VA Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, MA
Bureau of Land Management Sites:
Short Canyon, Owens Peak Wilderness, CA
Standard Wash BLM Campground, Havasu, AZ Gunsight Wash, Why, AZ Sunset Reef Campground, NM Galbraith Lake Campground, North Slope, AK Valley of the Gods and Moki Dugway, UT Spring Recreation Area, Baker, OR
State Parks:
Mount San Jacinto State Park, CA Border Field State Park, CA Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, CA Andrew Molera State Park, CA Carmel River State Beach, CA Monterey State Beach, CA Moss Landing Wildlife Area, CA The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, CA Pescadero State Beach, CA Patagonia Lake State Parks, AZ Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area, AZ
City of Rocks State Park, NM Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM Lost Maples State Natural Area, TX Falcon State Park, TX Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, TX Resaca de la Palma State Park, TX Goose Island State Park, TX Manatee Springs State Park, FL
Weeki Wachee Spring State Park, FL Payne's Prairie State Park, FL Lakepoint Resort State Park, AL Gulf State Park, AL Fort Morgan State Historic Site, AL Lake Catherine State Park, AR Great Salt Plains State Park, OK Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, KS Cheyenne Bottoms Campground, KS Scott State Park, KS Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park, KS
Punished Woman Fork Battlesite, KS John Martin Reservoir State Park, CO Creamer's Field Migratory Wildlife Refuge, AK Kicking Horse Reservoir, MT Cave Lake, ID Steamboat Rock State Park, WA Pearrygin Lake State Park, WA Deception Pass State Park, WA Fort Ebey State Park, WA Fort Worden State Park, WA Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park, WA Antelope Island State Park, UT Wick/Beumee Wildlife Habitat Management Area, WY Oliver Resevoir State Recreation Area, NE Spring Park, Lake McConaughy, NE Smith Falls State Park, NE Flandrau State Park, MN Silver Creek Reservoir, MN Perrot State Park, WI Strouds Run State Park, OH Aquia Landing Park, VA Cape Henlopen State Park, DE Worthington State Park, NJ Scarborough Marsh, Portland, ME
County and Municipal Parks:
Robb Field, San Diego, CA Kate Sessions Neighborhood Park, CA Point La Jolla, La Jolla, CA Lindo Lake County Park, San Diego, CA Tijuana River Valley Regional Park Bird and Butterfly Garden, San Diego, CA Dos Picos County Park, Ramona, CA Demuth Park, Palm Springs, CA Elysian Park, Los Angeles, CA Laguna Grande Park, Seaside, CA Centennial Park, La Paz County, AZ San Antonio Riverine Park, San Antonio, NM Manzano Open Space Reserve, Albuquerque, NM J Kenneth Smith Bird Sanctuary, Roswell, NM Anzalduas Park, Mission, TX South Padre Island County Park, TX Sarita Rest Area, Kenedy County, TX Liberty Park, Matagordo, TX Davis Roadside Park, St. Martin, LA City Park, New Orleans, LA Cotton Lake, Escambia Wildlife Management District, FL
Newport Park, Wakulla, FL Serenova Tract, Starkey Wilderness Preserve, FL Lettuce Lake County Park, FL The Celery Fields, Sarasota, FL Deer Creek Prairie Preserve, Sarasota County, FL Fort De Soto Park, Pinellas County, FL Del Holmes Park, St. Petersburg, FL Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, St. Petersburg, FL Cypress Creek Preserve, Land 'o Lakes, FL Tom Petty Park, Gainesville, FL Savannah Botanical Gardens, GA Lake Tobesofkee Recreation Area, Bibb, GA Bayfront Park, Daphne, AL Petal River Park, Petal, MS Gore Landing, Sequoyah, OK Elinwood City Park, Elinwood, KS Lions Park, Moab, UT
LaBonte Park, Laramie, WY Emily Stevens Park, Teton, WY Rails to Trails State Park, Felt to Badger Creek, ID Heironymus Park, Hamilton, MT Tanana Lakes Recreation Area, Fairbanks, AK Toolik Lake Public Access, North Slope Borough, AK Tubbs Hill Park, Coeur d'Alene, ID Dakwas Park, Neah Bay, WA Kah-Tai Lagoon Nature Park, Port Townsend, WA Union Bay Natural Area, Seattle, WA Lincoln Park, Seattle, WA Vernita Bridge Boatlaunch, Grant County, WA Bateman Island, Richland, WA Bear River Greenway, Evanston, WY Fort Steele Rest Area, Carbon County, WY Lions Park, Cheyenne, WY Thedford City Park and Campground, Thedford, NE Atkins Waterfowl Production Area, Tea, SD Buena Vista Park, Alma, WI Eau Galle Reservoir, St. Croix, WI Sugar River Forest Preserve, Winnebago County, IL Nygren Wetlands, Winnebago County, IL Ferguson Forest Preserve, Winnebago County, IL Green Township Community Park, Madison, IN Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis, IN Riverbend/Glendale Park, Randolph, WV MacMillan Wharf, Provincetown, MA Nauset Beach, Orleans, MA Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Pemaquid, ME
Cape Neddick Light, York, ME
Private Reserves:
Kendall-Frost Marsh Reserve, San Diego, CA Elkhorn Slough Reserve, Moss Landing, CA Ramsey Canyon Preserve, AZ Paton Center for Hummingbirds, AZ Salineño Wildlife Preserve, TX Frontera Audubon Center, TX National Butterfly Center, TX South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, TX South Texas Ecotourism Center, TX Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary, TX Peveto Woods, Baton Rouge Audubon, LA Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, FL Powell Creek Preserve, Fort Myers, FL Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, OK Starsmore Discovery Center, CO Peat Ponds Wildlife Area, AK Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve, ID Niobrara Valley Preserve, NE Aullwood Audubon Center, Mongomery, Ohio Ohio State University Wetlands, Columbus, Ohio Salt Bay Farm, Damariscotta, ME Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder, Damariscotta, ME Dodge Point Public Preserved Land, Damariscotta, ME Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, ME
This is an AWESOME and STUNNING recap of the public (and private) lands that facilitated your mod year, T & R. Please share this with your legislators, whomever those may be!
I’m breathless just reading this. It makes me happy to think of you and Tyler touching the lives of all our amazing park caregivers throughout our gorgeous country. Thank you for hitting real issues head on. Keep speaking:)