Earth Day is approaching!! The Lincoln Earth Day event is a great time to enjoy and explore Lincoln's parks and appreciate this great planet. It is a zero waste event and  though there is some impact on the parks, most of it is concentrated in the main areas at Antelope Park for the day entertainment and the nature center at Pioneers Park for the grow celebration.

This isn't necessarily ecotourism, but it could in a way be voluntourism. There is appreciation for our local parks and it is a zero waste event that emphasizes the value of local businesses. So in those ways it fits some of the definitions of ecotourism

The morning is kicked off with a fun run at Wilderness Park and the day is filled with educational booth/exhibits and activities, live music and local food, including a farmers market and information about urban chickens.

The Earth Night Celebration isgoing to be at the Rococo and includes live music, a sustainable fashion show, an eco-art show, inspirational presentations from Ignite Lincoln and will feature local food and sustainable drinks.
 Visit the website for more info: http://lincolnearthday.org/index.asp

Check out pictures from last years event at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lincolnearthday

What on Earth Made This?

If you are curious on how some of earth's beautiful, bizarre, natural wonders were formed, check out this NOVA webpage and click 'Launch Interactive.' It's amazing what the forces of nature have done and continue to do.

Alaska: The Last Frontier

Alaska is somewhere that I have always wanted to go.  I love the thought of being completely secluded and Alaska is a place where that can happen.  Known as the Last Frontier, Alaska is home to some of the most majestic scenes.  I must say I’m jealous of those people who live in a secluded cabin and the only way to get in and out is by bush pilot.  That’s my kind of living!   It seems Alaska has a high public profile and draws more and more people all the time.  It’s probably because they have the most natural environment of anywhere in the United States.   I would love to visit Denali National Park or any of the remote areas in Alaska....who's with me?! 

This is a link to the Alaska Wildernress Recreation and Tourism Association and their ecotourism guidelines.  http://www.awrta.org/index.cfm?section=about&page=About&viewpost=2&ContentId=428  

Here is the Alaska tourism site: http://www.travelalaska.com/

Seeing the Northern Lights is on my bucket list and Alaska could make that happen!

      I love the mountains!!  

   Bush pilots are prevalent in the remote areas of Alaska and are the only way to get in and out of many native villages.  

Alaska is also home to many Native Americans.  The Natives are on the fence about tourism because they like the financial benefits it provides, yet they don’t want to see the land and natural resources be abused.  They are fully aware that tourism can bring too many people to the area and negatively impact their home environment but they also are aware of the great financial benefits that can come from it as well.    The link below is from the Alaska Native Science Commission’s website.  It expresses their concerns but also the benefits that could come from ecotourism.  It’s interesting because it’s from the perspectives of the Natives who have been on the land much longer than we have.  They have a strong opinion in keeping their environment and culture sacred and protected.  It’s interesting to get their perspectives about ecotourism. 

http://www.nativescience.org/html/eco-tourism.html

INDIAN CAVE'S

HEY YOU! GO EXPLORE!

For those of you out there who love hiking/backpacking or just being outdoors in general but believe you are restricted by your current location in flat ‘ol Nebraska look no further than Indian Cave State Park. I have, on multiple occasions, gone down to "Nebraska's best kept secret" to hike the trails and spend some nights out in the piney woods. Nothin' like gettin' away for the weekend... away from work, your parents, your girlfriend (ah thank god) and your studies. This park offers hikers great scenic overlooks and some spectacular views of the Missouri River. All-in-all this park offers over 20 miles of hiking trails which can consume a fellow explorer for a nice long weekend especially if you do what I did and take the wrong trail twice to find yourself going in a circle two times (dang hardwood trail!). AND I didn't even mention its main attraction (what it gets its name from), a natural cave formed by silt and fine-grained sand deposits (caves are awesome!). In this cave you can find ancient Indian picture writings (Petroglyphs) etched into the walls… it is the only known example of their kind in Nebraska (I actually drew them…shh…don’t tell)! But hey, If hiking isn’t your thing there are also multiple other activities to partake in including horseback riding and boating. Maybe you prefer to envelop yourself in butterflies, it's a 'can do' here at Indian Caves, they have their very own butterfly garden. Or hell, maybe you can just set up shop for a nice relaxing lunch at one of their multiple picnic areas (field trip?). I’m sure anyone could find something to do on this great little piece of land… they even have 347 acres of wetlands near the Missouri River if migratory bird viewing is your thing. Overall, the Indian Cave State Park offers plenty of recreation activities on their over 3000 acre boundaries. Heck, I’ll probably be going there before my second blog attempt and I’ll report back… I can be like a field reporter, ooo fun!... WHO’S COMIN’?!? For more info please visit outdoornebraska.ne.gov 

FYI. Hammocks work great for stargazing.

Louis and Clark were here!

So Lush, so green...

Can I camp in there?

It's a buffalo... no, an eagle head... no, a PETROGLYPH

One week, 4 camping locations

So most people usually travel to one place, camp there and really explore the park thoroughly. If you are looking for something new, try finding a far off place from where you live and then pick a camp then on the way back just stay at new campsite before each night. You will be amazing at all that you will see and the fun you will have.

My boyfriend and I decided to do that one summer in Texas and we decided we wanted to go camping for a week on 4^th of July week. So we decided to seek out camping areas in Texas that was about 5 hours away and we found a lot of places that we wanted to stay. We couldn’t decide on one so we actually picked Palo Duro Canyon as our starting point and we then just picked parks that were on the way back home. It was tough moving all the time, but I have to say it was the best experience I could have had. We went hors back riding, saw fireworks over a lake, went swimming and even fought off the vicious raccoon who was trying to eat our food one night. We were super sore when we got back home because we were used to comfy beds to sleep in, but I will never forget it and it truly was an amazing experience.

these are the places we stayed

This is Palo Duro Canyon

Me and my Boyfriend horseback riding

This is the second campsite... we were attacked by horse flies

3rd camp site... rained and this is where the raccoon tried to eat our stuff... also my camera died here... soooo no more pics :(

I LOVE camping and went just about ever other weekend to good ol' Wisconsin when i was a young tot. I also went a couple times during high school with a few friends on the weekends. What's so enjoyable about camping? And why Wisconsin?? Well first off it is the perfect get away form all of the worlds busyness and stress. Its gives you a chance to be adventurous and chose your own activities and forms of outdoor entertainment. You can do so many varies activities like hiking, swimming, bird watching, biking, fishing, and much much more! Wisconsin to me is like a second home because it neighbors Illinois and always seemed like a break from city life. Wisconsin is known for their tourist attraction, "the dells" but it also has amazing campgrounds in which many  of my child hood memories were made.

     This video shows camping for family's visiting Wisconsin with a variety of fun to chose from in case camping on your own seems to intense this would be the perfect way to introduce yourself to the outdoors!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yFrfw5wqxi4

Class Trip to the Climbing Wall

Ultralighting!

Alright so apologies for the late blog, no excuses!

I decided to elaborate on some of my motives for being an avid ultralight backpacker as well as some of the equipment I use to keep my treks enjoyable and hassle-free.

Ultralight packing embodies one of the fundamental concepts of nature-focused hikes: leaving nothing behind on a trek as well as striving for the most minimal impact upon your environment around you. Ultralighting can be as simple or in-depth as you want it to be. It's not for everybody though, it demands meticulously stripping your essentials to the most minimum you can go out with, assuming your doing it within your comfort zone. [i.e. some tramps go without the most basis medical supplies, I think that's crazy]

I find the most pleasure in ultralighting when I'm scaling hills or bouldering and I'm not caught up trying to maneuver pounds upon pounds of equipment around. It leaves you with much more energy to expend on getting your fullest experience out of the nature around you.

And my basic setup [very basic, not including initial foods or some miscellaneous items]:

Atmos 35 liter pack, my baby. :B

DIY soda can stove, powered with 50 mL of SLX denatured alcohol.

MSR water pump and filter

Sleeping bivy!

Call of the Wild

This video was shown at the Nebraska Agri/Eco-tourism Conference this past January by our keynote speaker Dr. Kelly Bricker. It's captivating to say the least. The video and images speak for themselves.

Fishing Nebraska (and some classic TV)

On of the my favorite memories of my childhood was waking up and watching the Andy Griffith Show. Time after time I would wake up to that iconic whistling them song and black and white sene of Andy and his kid going fishing. My dad always said "If their is a lesson to be learned in life, you will learn it form Andy Griffith." Well the first lesson of every episode is a dad and his boy going fishing. Fishing is something that is rooted deep in our culture and continues to be popular today. Lucky for us Nebraska has some great fishing.

The first lake that comes to mind in Nebraska for fishing is lake McConaughy. Big Mac (as its called, I think) is 22 miles long and 4 miles wide. It is located on the Platte river and has a Hydroelectric power plant in Kingsley dam. As breathtaking as the lake is itself the fishing might be better. Each year massive walleyes are caught in the lake that make me jealous.

Big Mac in the Summer 

A large fish caught next to the dam. 

Lake McConaguhy Is on of may fishing destinations in Nebraska. Fishing is a rewarding hobby that is cheap and easy to get started in. Nebraska has many fishing holes to have an Andy Griffith moment of your own!

(sorry for the terrible spelling and grammar.)

Adam  

The Leopold Education Project

After watching Green Fire today, I realize more that our society is split into paradigms regarding ecology and conservation. Like Aldo Leopold's daughter, Nina, in this video mentions, much of us our ecologically illiterate. I've taken classes like Ecology and Environmental Law; but it really hasn't come full circle until now. This semester I'm taking Environmental Leadership and it's about people like Aldo Leopold who was a thought leader. He lived his passion in sharing his knowledge about the wilderness, ecology, and conservation.
There are times I feel that no one cares, but then there are times I feel people really do care about our environment. Think of one great memory you've had spending time out in nature. Do we really want to slowly destroy the natural creations that have engaged us intellectually, physically, and in many other dimensions in life. It's like a nightmare coming to life when I realize we are greedy and we are slowly killing ourselves and the earth. However, there are leaders out there, much like Aldo Leopold, much like Muir, Pinchot, and Carson who see us headed on a downward spiral and make it a mission to take action. A healthy economy's integrity is rattled if people must put greed and consumption before the earth as a whole and neglect the ethics of all living things.

Paradigm Shifts

This image was found on a website about urban planning, but with a more environmental theme, kind of like enabling nature to blend with the urban community.

http://beatricebenne.com/2011/01/06/a-living-systems-approach-to-urban-planning/

This image is related to the paradigm shifts that we discussed in class on Monday. Depending on how you look at the image it may be two lovers drinking away the night, but at a different perspective you can see the skull. This way that this image relates to ecotourism is that sometimes a shift in the way things are perceived is necessary for people to understand and appreciate the environment.

"L'Amour de Pierrot" obtained from: http://www.planetperplex.com/en/item/a-pierrots-love/

Canoeing or Kayaking!

Something cheap that I love to do in the summers is canoeing and kayaking. There are places you can rent and buy a canoe or kayak for pretty cheap. I know that a lot of us college students don’t have a lot of money to spend so this is a cheap fun way to get out in nature. There are many different rivers and creeks in Nebraska that you can go canoeing down in the summer. You don’t need deep water to go down so even Little Salt Creek here in Lincoln is a candidate to go down. I go canoeing about 5 times a summer in different places like the Platte River, Loup River, Cedar River, Niobrara River, and Beaver Creek. If you are looking for some obstacles and thrill Beaver Creek is a good choice. All these rivers offer solitude and allow you to bond with nature.

So if your not looking to spend to much and want to do something fun and exhilarating try going canoeing or kayaking!

If you really want some thrill check out this video forextreme kayaking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmHByYdKlOU

I love bicycles!

So I love to ride my bike.  My first bike, however, I hated.  It was purchased at Walmart at a very low price and was nothing compared to the bike I have now.  I have had a lot of car problems in the last three years so in a pit of frustration, I decided that I would buy a bike and be done with my car.  BEST DECISION I EVER MADE!!! Of course, I still use my car.  I work 3 jobs right now and tend to have a tight schedule, but on the days that I don't I try to ride my bike wherever I need to go.  The picture posted is a picture I took on my bike ride to work at the beginning of January.  It was such a beautiful bike ride.  I love bike riding because I get a chance to really get away from the real world and think.  Yes, I have to be in around people using the trails but it is a great sense of "me" time.  Especially, on my way to and from work.  I really enjoy it.  The only problem I have with riding my bike is that people in vehicles do not care and do not look.  I have had numerous times when I've had to tap on the hood of someone's car to get the to fully stop at a stop light.  It is frustrating but I hope that bike riding keeps catching on in Lincoln and the roads become more bike friendly.  I have attached a link that speaks on the advantages of riding a bicycle to show you some of its benefits.

http://linuxandfriends.com/2008/11/18/10-advantages-of-riding-a-bicycle/