Conservation

There is a big battle over who owns America’s land. Ranchers, loggers, the government, the people? Let’s take a minute to even wrap our heads around this concept - owning land.

Nature lovers were infuriated when Trump’s administration announced in 2017 that they were going to be reviewing the acreage of 25 national monuments and leasing out land in Bears Ears and Grand Escalante for drilling. But this isn’t the first time people have exploited wild lands and it sadly will not be the last.

New York Times

However, the new interior secretary, Deb Haaland is a BIG WIN for the public lands! The New York Times stated “Ms. Haaland is poised to make a rare positive mark in the history of how a nation of immigrants treated the country’s original inhabitants”. Haaland remarks how “Native history is American history, regardless of where you are in this country now, you’re on ancestral Indian land, and that land has a history.”

One of Haaland’s goals is to dismantle the history of Trump and his rampage to open up federal land for industrial development. President Biden made the pledge to end all new drilling and coal mining -- but this will be an incredible feat. Due to the damage Trump did in the last four years and the total rearranging of people in power in the Bureau of Land Management, now the land is open and leases are going out. It is much harder to undo these actions. The Washington Post created a graph to show the areas of concern.

For centuries we abused the wilderness and felt obligated to remove natives from their homes while we used the land to further feed our consumption and continue an outrageous growing population. Now we are taking a step in the right direction, but we have a lot of mending to do for our public lands.

So… what do we do?

Conservation

National Geographic explains conservation as: Earth’s natural resources include air, minerals, plants, soil, water, and wildlife. Conservation is the care and protection of these resources so that they can persist for future generations. It includes maintaining diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, as well as functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling. 

With continued population growth and our reckless urban development, our planet is losing biodiversity at an accelerated rate. But why is biodiversity so important? 

In short, our planet needs biodiversity to create healthy ecosystems and habitats, combat climate change, maintain food growth (we need those pollinators!), and continue sharing culture, identity, and inspiration with one another each other. 

How you can practice conservation when visiting a park (and everyday)

Step in puddles!

By stepping in puddles, you are helping to maintain the current trail path. When you walk around the puddle, your foot prints damage the plant life on the boarder of the path, thus widening the path. Go ahead, get muddy, you’re outside!

Take out what you bring in

If you are bringing snacks on your hikes, make sure you pack up the disposable bags, apple cores, seeds, banana peels, and paper that came with your snack. Even if it’s biodegradable, it may not be a native species to that park, so please do not toss your remaining food.

Do not feed or try to interact with the wild life 

I was visiting Crater Lake last year and those little chipmunks are bold. They would hop on people’s shoulders in order to snag whatever snack was being enjoyed by the human. One of the reasons for this is because they have become so accustomed to people freely giving the chipmunks food. So now, the chipmunks don’t need to hunt. They know humans will feed them. This strips them of their natural instincts and removes their ability to forage in the wild.

We see this in larger scenarios when local tourist feed orangutans or elephants. The animals believe all humans are there to feed them so when a poacher arrives, the animal thinks they are their friends instead of enemy. It is safest for you and the wild life if you respect each others space.

Do not take from the park

Flowers, seeds, rocks, water, these are all important elements to the ecosystems. Please leave them in place and do not take them back home with you. If you are interested in the beauty of these elements, take a picture.

Keep the noise down

If you know me, you know one of my biggest pet peeves is when people play loud music on a hike. Noise pollution interferes with animal migration and the overall experience of nature. Keep the conversation volume down and leave the beats in the car for the ride back home.

Carpool 

Speaking of car, when you travel out to a hike, carpool. Instead of meeting your friends there, why not pick them up to save on gas and help momma earth. If you are a city dweller, check out your public transportation options.

Stay on the trail

I used to love being one of those people that travels “off the beaten path”. But then I realized my actions were hurting the surrounding ecosystems. When you wander off the trail, you enter wild habitats that are made to protect biodiversity. Your foot steps damage native plant live, scare animals away and endanger hatchlings. You also may encounter some karma and leave with some nasty poison oak...

Support grassroots organizations

Many of these organizations near public parks are doing their best to stop invasive species, protect biodiversity and provide educational experiences for our youth. You can organize visits with them and/or donate your time or money to them. Have a national or state park in mind? - check to see what grassroots organizations are near them!

Only camp and park in designated areas 

Just like exploring off the trail, keep your camping and parking in designated areas. There are great apps for finding campsites - even if you are a fly-by-the-seam kind of person. Campsite Apps Here.

Utilize the parking lots that are already made by the NPS, do not squeeze your car in somewhere that is not designated as a parking spot. There are a few reasons for this. One, your wheels will damage the soil and plant life. Two, the heat from your exhaust mixed with dry grasses and seeds could start a fire.

Leave no trace

Along with packing up what you bring in, if you see trash in the park, please pick it up and take it with you. It’s not cool that that person littered and left their mess behind… but you can really help out the ecosystem by picking up their trash and tossing it upon leaving. In fact, check out here to see one of my favorite artist making art out of the trash she finds in parks!

As always, your actions are powerful tools for educating others. Please share or comment below with any other conservation tips you have.