Preserving LA’s Dark Skies
Courtesy of Planetizen
By Clement Lau
CALIFORNIA - in Los Angeles County, the Rural Outdoor Lighting District (ROLD) promotes and maintains dark skies for the health and enjoyment of individuals and wildlife. Specifically, ROLD applies to rural unincorporated areas and includes requirements such as shielding and angling lights to avoid light pollution and light spilling onto adjacent properties. Individuals may also adopt lighting best practices to reduce light pollution in communities. For example, they can take actions such as turning exterior lights off by 10:00 pm, using motion sensors for lights at night, opting for subdued warm lighting, and only using the lights that they really need.
Read more:
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2024/04/128132-preserving-las-dark-skies
Pennsylvania reveals roadmap to grow $17 billion outdoor economy
Courtesy of Next Pittsburgh
By Ethan Woodfill
Despite having no national parks, Pennsylvania brags nearly 200,000 acres of parks, 2.2 million acres of state forests and 86,000 miles of waterways. Those vast and varied natural beauty and recreational opportunities contributed a whopping $17 billion to the state’s gross domestic product in 2022. And Pennsylvania has the eighth-largest outdoor recreation economy, which supports 164,000 jobs.
The DCNR recently released “Growing Outdoor Recreation for Pennsylvania Conclusions Report and Roadmap for the Future,” a comprehensive list of strategies to grow the state’s outdoor industry, develop its economic development capacity, and improve inclusivity and equity through the outdoors.
Read more:
https://nextpittsburgh.com/environment/pennsylvania-reveals-roadmap-to-grow-17-billion-outdoor-economy/
Junior High School seventh-graders help with multi-year tree research program
Courtesy of Current
By Leila Kheiry
INDIANA - Seventh-graders at Fishers Junior High School are an integral part of an award-winning research program, with the long-term goal of saving native trees that are functionally extinct due to an invasive fungus.
The program, led by science teacher Deborah Kletch, has been ongoing for several years. Kletch said the young trees are hybrids, combining endangered American chestnut and beechnut trees with Asian varieties that are more resistant to the fungus, commonly called Asian blight. The fungus first was introduced to Europe and North America in the early 1900s.
“We have an arborist who comes out to work with us and a DNR person who comes out and works with us,” she said. “We’ve only lost five trees — they originally thought we would lose 50 percent in the first year.”
Read more:
https://youarecurrent.com/2024/04/01/rooted-in-science-fishers-junior-high-school-seventh-graders-help-with-multi-year-tree-research-program/
Upcoming public lands rule looks to reform conservation, recreation
Courtesy of KUNM
By Bryce Dix
This spring, a much-anticipated and widely praised rule will fundamentally transform how 245 million acres of public lands across the U.S. is managed to emphasize conservation and wider public access.
While we don’t know the exact details of the upcoming final rule, environmentalists are labeling it as a “once-in-a-generation” revamp of how the federal government manages our public resources.
First proposed last March, the rule marks a shift within the Bureau of Land Management or BLM to rebalance land management decisions around climate change, the increasing demand for recreation, and the landscape’s overall health.
Read more:
https://www.kunm.org/local-news/2024-02-29/upcoming-public-lands-rule-looks-to-reform-conservation-recreation
Harnessing the Power of Outdoor Recreation to Supercharge Investments in Climate
Courtesy of SORP
By Tee Thomas, CEO
As our society develops new technologies and tools to combat climate change and increase health investments in communities, there’s a lot of talk of ecosystem services, carbon, flood resilience, housing, green jobs, and renewable energy investments such as community solar.
My transition to the CEO role at Quantified Ventures enables me to look for opportunities across our portfolio as our entire company unites around the vision of playing a leading role in designing solutions and mobilizing capital to ensure climate and community dollars go where they are needed most. And I am struck that one area is often underappreciated in the climate and community health dialogue; outdoor recreation.
Read more:
https://www.quantifiedventures.com/blog/harnessing-the-power-of-outdoor-recreation-to-supercharge-investments-in-climate
Master of Tourism Management at Colorado State University
Courtesy of SORP
Meet Colorado State University's Master of Tourism Management program. A degree that can be completed online or on-campus, preparing practitioners for careers in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism including destination and recreation management, hotels and resorts, operations, marketing, and entrepreneurship. The program offers a first-of-its-kind, industry-driven curriculum that can be completed in nine months or on a flexible, customized timeline. The degree provides industry connections, experiential learning opportunities, and content to elevate one’s career. Applications for Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 are open now. No GRE required.
For more information:
https://warnercnr.colostate.edu/hdnr/master-tourism-management/how-to-apply/
Yamaha Rightwaters
Courtesy of NRPA
By Joshua Grier
Yamaha Rightwaters™ is a national sustainability program that encompasses all of Yamaha Marine’s conservation and water-quality efforts. Reinforcing Yamaha’s longstanding history of natural resource conservation, support of sustainable recreational fishing and water resources, and Angler Code of Ethics, Yamaha Rightwaters is guided by four principles:
- Working to clean marine environments
- Managing the threat from invasive species
- Restoring and creating marine habitat
- Supporting academic marine research
Yamaha has a long history of natural resource conservation. During the past decade alone, Yamaha has given support to a host of organizations, agencies and institutions, including Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB), the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Florida State University, to name a few. Beyond support of nonprofits and research institutions, Yamaha Rightwaters conducts key work in supporting legislation aligned with the four pillars, including the Save Our Seas Act, S. 3508 on Capitol Hill. The act was signed into law on October 11, 2018.
Read more:
https://www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2024/april/yamaha-rightwaters/
