Event: The Environmental Crisis and the Living Quest of the Embodied Psyche, a dialogue

Two of my favorite authors, Patricia Damery and David Abram, will present a dialogue entitled “The Environmental Crisis and the Living Quest of the Embodied Psyche” on Friday, February 10, 2012, 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. at the The David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way Berkeley, CA 94704. The event is hosted by the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. Click here for tickets to the event.

Event Description from the Institute

Dammery and Abram

David Abram is a cultural ecologist and environmental philosopher whose lyrical evocations in his books, The Spell of the Sensuous and Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, have captivated a generation of readers. Patricia Damery, an analyst member of the C.G. Jung Institute, first learned to love the land as a child growing up on a farm in the Midwest and now farms a Biodynamic ranch in Napa, California. Patricia’s memoir, Farming Soul: A Tale of Initiation, as well as her novel, Snakes, address the preservation of our connection to the environment and explore the interconnected fabric of consciousness.

She and David Abram will explore the interplay of the embodied psyche and the destruction of whole ecological systems. What is the nature of the challenges with which we are presented? Is there evolutionary potential? This dialogue promises to be generative and exploratory in spirit—a truly unique event.

A Few Personal Thoughts

I cannot help but notice the fact that this event is taking place less than a mile from the house I lived in when I was born. However, my current residence is 2,168 miles away and, travel, food and lodging expenses being rather high, I’ll have to hope the event is recorded and then released as a video or printed transcript. The environment, I think, is our first duty. It is, so to speak, not only our nest but the nest of many thousands of other lives who are depending on a common-sense and loving collaborative effort with humankind to protect the place where we are born and live out our lives.

The  books by David Abram and Patricia Dammery celebrate our community nest. What a wonderful evening their dialogue will be. I am happy to echo the words Patricia wrote in a recent blog post: “Please enter this dialogue with your presence! Never has it been so important to renew our conversations with the not-human and the natural world. David is a lively and thoughtful speaker, and we are very fortunate to have him this evening in the Bay Area.”

–Malcolm

Glacier Inspects 1,300 Boats for Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS)

Boat propeller with quagga mussels - NPS photo

“Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) are aquatic and terrestrial organisms and plants that have been introduced into new ecosystems (i.e. Great Lakes, San Francisco Bay, Florida, Hawaii) throughout the United States and the world and are both harming the natural resources in these ecosystems and threatening the human use of these resources. AIS are also considered to be ‘nuisance’ species or ‘exotic’ species and the terms are often used interchangeably.” NOAA Research

from NPS Glacier National Park:

Glacier National Park personnel performed almost 1,300 boat inspections during this past summer intended to reduce the risk of unintentional movement of aquatic invasive species (AIS) into park waters.

New Zealand mud snails - Nature Conservancy photo

“We put a lot of energy and resources into this program, but realize this is just the beginning of a long-term effort to protect the pristine waters of Glacier National Park and the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem against the devastating effects of aquatic invasive species,” said Glacier National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright.

Glacier National Park contains the headwaters of three continental-scale watersheds. An infestation would pose a serious threat to all downstream waterways.

In 2010 the park initiated a boat inspection and permit program that required all motorized boats users to obtain a boat-launch permit prior to launching in any water body within the park. Inspections were only focused on boats believed to pose a high risk of transport of aquatic invasive species to park waters. The program also included an educational awareness component.

In May of this year, the park began an expanded boat inspection and permit program in response to an increasing threat of aquatic invasive species, which required an inspection and permit for all boaters. A free permit is required to launch any motorized or trailered watercraft in Glacier National Park. Hand-propelled water craft and personal flotation devices such as float tubes do not require a permit at this time. After an inspection of the watercraft indicates no signs of aquatic invasive species present, a launch permit will be issued. Boats must be clean, drained and thoroughly dry, including the bilge areas and livewells, upon inspection. A new permit is required upon each entry into the park.

From January to the beginning of October, 1,257 boats were inspected in the park. Six boats were denied launch permits for a variety of reasons, including that some that were not clean enough to properly inspect. No aquatic invasive species were found. The majority of the inspections were boats launching in Lake McDonald. Approximately 88% of the boats were registered from Montana with the remainder coming from 18 states and two Canadian Provinces.

Park visitors planning to launch a boat into any park waters throughout the winter are encouraged to call the park at 406-888-7801 to arrange for an inspection. Launching a boat without an inspection in Glacier National Park threatens park resources and is illegal, with a fine up to $500. Waterton Lakes National Park also has a boat inspection program.

Cartwright said, “Trailered boats with mussels attached to the boat and/or the trailer have been detected in Montana, as well as some aquatic invasive plants in local waters recently. This is a serious threat and we must be proactive to reduce any risk.”

Park managers and specialists recently met with Glen Canyon Recreation Area representatives to learn and share ideas on additional prevention measures, and to develop a response plan if something is detected in the area. Glacier National Park is also cooperating with other federal, state and local agencies and organizations, and Parks Canada to protect the lakes, rivers and streams of Montana.

Cartwright conveys his appreciation to park visitors for helping maintain the pristine waters in Glacier National Park by complying with the boat inspection and permit program.

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See also:

Purple loosestrife - Nature Conservancy photo

Help Stop Aquatic Invasive Species for additional information about the NPS program and the AIS threat to the park.

Aquatic Invasive Species Threats to Glacier - NPS AIS “Resource Bulletin in PDF format that includes information about non-native species already in the park as well as “what’s on the way.” Primary threats include: Zebra mussels/quagga mussels, New Zealand mud snails, Eurasian watermilfoil and Purple loosestrife.

Glacier Park Volunteer Opportunities includes information about specific opportunities for volunteers, including work in the Aquatic Invasive Species program.

AIRD: Aquatic Invasions, Research Directory for AIS policy, programs and related information.

National Invasive Species Information Center for AIS resources in Montana. Click here for photographs of Nonindigenous Aquatic Species.

– Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of three novels set in Glacier National Park, including the recently released contemporary fantasy “Sarabande” available on Kindle.

His nonfiction about Glacier Park includes “High Water in 1964″ in A View Inside Glacier National Park: 100 Years 100 Stories (NPS-produced paperback) and Bears, Where They Fought: Life in Glacier Park’s Swiftcurrent Valley (99 cents on Kindle).

105,000 Americans tell Congress to stop cutting critical funding for national parks

from NPCA

Washington, DC – Today, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) announced that more than 105,000 Americans have signed their petition calling on Congress to stop cutting critical funding for national parks. The signatures were gathered through NPCA’s National Parks Protection Project.

“As we approach the Centennial of the National Park Service, we must ensure our national parks receive adequate funding for our children and grandchildren to enjoy,” said NPCA President Tom Kiernan. “This is by far the most successful petition drive we’ve ever had – in nearly 100 years of operations – and it’s time for Congress to take notice of how many people have joined this effort.”

NPCA founded the National Parks Protection Project as an effort to show both Congress and the American people why it is important to adequately fund the national parks for our children and grandchildren.

Our national parks not only protect America’s heritage, they are important to local economies nationwide. Research shows that every federal dollar invested in national parks generates at least four dollars of economic value for the American people. National parks support more than $13 billion of local private-sector economic activity and nearly 270,000 private-sector jobs.

“The federal government has a responsibility to keep our national parks adequately funded,” said Kiernan. “The National Parks Protection Project is our effort to explain why and I am grateful to the more than 105,000 people across the country who joined our effort.”

Click here for more information.

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Glacier National Parki, where my three fantasy novels are set, has been plagued with these cutbacks. Even normal maintenance on trails, signs, structures and other parts of the infrastructure has been postponed again and again. When I first went to Glacier in 1963, the park advertised 1000 miles of trails. Now it advertises 700 miles of trails. If we are going to protect the wilderness, we need to spend what it takes to do it.

–Malcolm

Kindle edition

What the hell is Florida Power Thinking?

While the heading of this post is mine, the story comes from the National Parks and Conservation Association:

Everglades National Park…home to the largest wilderness area east of the Rockies; home to the largest protected mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere; and home to 68 federally threatened and endangered species. 

Does this sound like a place for giant towers puncturing the landscape with multiple power lines stretching as far as the eye can see? We don’t think so either.

The National Park Service is currently accepting public comment on a proposal that would allow Florida Power and Light (FPL) to build massive transmission lines through Everglades National Park. The use is completely incompatible with the designated purpose of the Everglades, and it is therefore necessary that FPL find an alternative route. Taxpayers are the rightful owners of America’s national parks, like the Everglades. Conveying a track of Everglades National Park–also a U.S. World Heritage Site–to a for-profit utility for a transmission lines corridor poses a threat to the Everglades ecosystem and conflicts with long-term restoration efforts. This is definitely not the way to treat a World Heritage Site.

Take Action: Submit your comments to Everglades Superintendent Dan Kimball and tell him that Everglades and all national parks are owned by the American people and are not for power lines.

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Growing up in Florida, I learned that “swamps” were often simply tolerated as junk land that needed to be fixed in some way. In the panhandle, Tate’s Hell swamp was logged to death while the natural flow of the water was dammed up with the logging roads. In south Florida, the Everglades is constantly under threat due to water and air quality issues, invasive species and the sprawl of nearby cities. Power lines through the swamp are another one of the many insults.

Let’s try to stop them from being built.
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See also, a new threat to the Grand Canyon in House Funding Bill Reverses Policy to Protect Grand Canyon

–Malcolm

Learn more about the historic milestones of Glacier National Park’s Swiftcurrent Valley, site of Many Glacier Hotel and Swiftcurrent Campground, for only 99 cents on Kindle. The e-book is also available for 99 cents in multiple formats on Smashwords.

This short introduction to Glacier National Park’s Swiftcurrent Valley will delight, entertain, and offer a glimpse into the dramatic history of the most beautiful place on Earth… or so many visitors claim!

Crown of the Continent Resources

The ‘Crown of the Continent’ ecosystem is one of North America’s most ecologically diverse and jurisdictionally fragmented ecosystems. Encompassing the shared Rocky Mountain region of Montana, British Columbia and Alberta, this 28,000 square mile / 72,000 square kilometre ecological complex spreads across two nations; across one state and two provinces; and across numerous aboriginal lands, municipal authorities, public land blocks, private properties, working and protected landscapes. — Crown Managers Partnership

As national headlines focus on whether a potential lack of funding at the federal level will jeopardize national parks and water quality standards, I thought I would focus on the positive work being one throughout the Alberta/Montana/British Columbia Crown of the Continent Ecosystem by listing a few of the organizations you can turn to for information, programs and advocacy.

Alberta Wilderness Association – Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) is the oldest wilderness conservation group in Alberta dedicated to the completion of a protected areas network and the conservation of wilderness throughout the province.

Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex -Together, the Great Bear Wilderness, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Scapegoat Wilderness form the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, an area of more than 1.5 million acres.

Crown of the Continent Ecosystem – Encourage and support coordination and cooperation among individuals, organizations, and agencies whose purpose is to educate and inform people of all ages and backgrounds about the human and natural resources of the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem.

Citizens for a Better Flathead – To inform and empower citizens in cooperative community development that respects and encourages stewardship of the Flathead Valley’s natural beauty and resources.

Flathead National Forest – Stretching along the west side of the continental divide from the US Canadian border south approximately 120 miles lies the 2.3 million acre Flathead National Forest. The landscape is built from block fault mountain ranges sculpted by glaciers, and covered with a rich thick forest.

Headwaters Montana – We are working to secure the highest level of protection possible for pristine public lands, such as watersheds in the Swan, Mission, Whitefish and Yaak ranges and untouched Crown lands across our border with Canada.

National Park Service, Glacier National Park – Come and experience Glacier’s pristine forests, alpine meadows, rugged mountains, and spectacular lakes. With over 700 miles of trails, Glacier is a hiker’s paradise for adventurous visitors seeking wilderness and solitude.

Nature Conservancy – Montana – Our mountains, rivers, grasslands and forests make Montana a natural paradise.

Waterton Lakes National Park – Rugged, windswept mountains rise abruptly out of gentle prairie grassland in spectacular Waterton Lakes National Park.

While there’s much to be done on behalf of our environment, we can, I think, make better progress by making commitments to positive change as individuals and groups rather than standing on the sidelines and preaching to the choir about what we don’t like. We know what we need to do–or, we can learn.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of two novels set partially within the Crown of the Continent ecosystem, “The Sun Singer” and “Garden of Heaven.” The e-book edition of his comedy/satire, “Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire,” is currently on sale for only 99 cents at Smashwords and on Kindle.

Glacier Artist-in-Residence Applications Due by February 15

Bowman Lake - NPS photo

Glacier National Park’s artist-in-residence program is open to artists and writers who want to experience the wonder of the park for four weeks this coming summer and, while there, donate their time, inspiration and creative work in support of the park’s environmental education program.

Applicants for the summer of 2011 will be reviewed based on their ability to “produce children’s educational art and materials including scientific illustrations, drawings and graphics; poetry, prose and stories; puppet shows, plays, and song lyrics (for existing or original music); music; and educational lesson plans and resource information guides. These products must be about Glacier and its plants, animals, habitats, geology, natural processes, history and beauty and suitable for use with elementary and middle school children. Thus, the 2011 Artist-in-Residence Program is open to children’s artists, writers, poets, composers, song writers, musicians and academics with relevant experience and backgrounds.”

Applications must be postmarked by February 15, 2011. Click here for information and the address for submissions. The National Park Service will make its selection of one or two individuals for the program in March for residencies to be conducted between mid-June and Labor Day.

–Malcolm

A Glacier Park Adventure Available on Kindle

Expanded Waterton-Glacier Watershed Protections Needed

from National Parks and Conservation Assn:

Former National Park Superintendents Call for Waterton-Glacier Expansion, Watershed Protections

Waterton Lakes - Chris Phan photo

Whitefish, MT — An international coalition of retired superintendents from Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States has voiced their concern for the future of those parks and the need for immediate actions by both countries to complete park protection measures begun earlier this year.

“Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is a treasure that we all share as North Americans,” said former Glacier Superintendent Mick Holm.  “In joining our voice with our Canadian counterparts, we’re hoping public officials in both countries will view our communication as a call to action on behalf of this globally significant World Heritage site.”

Waterton Lakes - Lesa Campbell photo

The letter, signed by nearly all of the parks’ former superintendents, comes in the closing days of Glacier’s centennial year, as Congress considers a bi-partisan public-lands omnibus bill (America’s Great Outdoors Act of 2010) that includes several key park-protection measures. The package legislation encompasses more than 110 individual bills, aimed at protecting the country’s land, water and wildlife resources. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he would like to see passage before Congress adjourns early in the New Year.

In their letter, the former superintendents endorse a long-standing proposal for Canada to expand Waterton Lakes National Park westward, into one-third of the British Columbian Flathead.  They also call for Canada to establish a wildlife management area connecting Waterton-Glacier to other Canadian Rocky Mountain parks, including Banff.

Glacier - St. Mary's Lake - NPS

The former superintendents noted the historic nature of recent steps taken by both countries to prohibit coal strip-mines, hard-rock mining, and oil and gas leases on public lands upstream from Waterton-Glacier, including action to protect 400,000 acres in Canada and the voluntary relinquishment of 200,000 acres of oil and gas leases by energy companies in the United States. They note, however, that legislation to finalize the mining and drilling ban has yet to become law in the United States, and urge prompt action on that front.

They also call for expanded environmental cooperation across the border, and a formal international agreement between both countries to protect Waterton-Glacier and the surrounding Crown of the Continent ecosystem in Montana, British Columbia, and Alberta.

“To have nearly every retired superintendent from Waterton and Glacier calling for these measures is beyond significant,” said Tim Stevens, Northern Rockies regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association.  “These individuals spent their entire careers managing protected areas.  They understand better than anyone what steps are needed to ensure the ecological integrity and clean headwaters of Waterton-Glacier.”

In 2009, proposed mining activities in the Canadian Flathead Valley gained the attention of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which voted unanimously to send an international team of scientists to investigate whether the negative impacts of proposed coal strip mines warranted listing Waterton-Glacier as a “World Heritage site in Danger.”  The UNESCO report concluded that the proposed strip-mine would result in environmental harm to the World Heritage site.

Only $3.99 on Kindle

Songs and Whispers of the Living Earth

“On a quiet day, however, those walking alongside the relatively recent Lake Sherburne reservoir may hear the voice of grandfather rock whispering a secret: within the scope of geologic time, all rivers are new, and the men and women who follow them are as ephemeral as monarch butterflies on a summer afternoon.” — Malcolm R. Campbell in “Bears, Where They Fought,” Nature’s Gifts Anthology

Perhaps you’ve heard the Earth’s Goddess call your name. If not, wade in the rolling surf along the edge of the sea or hike through the heart of a desert or wait quietly at the summit of a mountain where old stone touches the sky. Some hear the Goddess voice more clearly at night beneath a full moon.

If your own heart holds a strong passion for a place, then that is where you will best hear Earth whispering her secrets. Calm your breath and your mind’s ever-chattering thoughts. Then, take off your shoes and gloves and touch that which is ancient with the young soles of your feet and your neophyte fingertips.

Listen.

The songs and whispers of the living earth may come to you as a breath of wind, the roar of surf or a mountain stream, the faint rasp of sage brush against cooling sand, the hollow echoes of rain, or the sharp clatter of stone falling on stone. You may find a message within seemingly mundane signs.

Yet, what you hear, you may not hear with your ears. The Earth may speak to you with a voice inside your heart, clear and distinct from your own thoughts. When the Goddess speaks, you may hear her voice as you would recall a memory or the almost audible music within seemingly inert water, sand or stone beneath the watchful eye of the moon.

Your right-now sense of Earth’s message may be strong in the moment of contact or it may catch your attention later in dreams and daydreams. One way or another, you will know when the Goddess has called your name, for her song brings with it a great comfort whether she imparts a secret or asks of you a favor.

Like fluttering butterflies, we are momentary visitors upon the surface of a world that is incomprehensibly ancient, yet when we hear Earth’s voice, we know to a certainty that we are not separate from sand and water and stone.

–Malcolm

“Thank you for stopping by my Blog! Please explore all this Blog has to offer, then jog on over to “Mysteries and My Musings.” If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, go to Blog Jog Day.

Interview with the Earth Mage

Smoky Trudeau is the author of two novels, “Redeeming Grace” and “The Cabin” as well as two non-fiction books for writers. This month, Vanilla Heart Publishing released her collection of essays, poetry, and color illustrations, “Observations of an Earth Mage,” in print and e-book formats.

In her blog, Trudeau recently wrote that she is passionate about “nature and our intimate, intricate connection with what is wild.” This passion is clearly evident in stories that take the reader from the Great Smoky Mountains and the Appalachian Trail to Joshua Tree to Yosemite to tidal pools along the California Coast.

Malcolm: You set the tone for “Observations of an Earth Mage” in the book’s prologue with a memory of climbing an apple tree behind your house when you were three years old: “I closed my eyes,” you said, “and felt for the pulse of the tree in the trunk beneath my fingertips, for surely this tree had a heart that beat like mine. The trunk warmed beneath my gentle touch as my branch swayed in the easy spring breeze. It felt like the tree was breathing. I matched the rhythm of my own breath to that of the tree. I was the tree. The tree was me.”

Was this a unique and singular moment, or have you been able to maintain this level of empathy with the natural world throughout your life?

Smoky: Both. It was a unique and singular moment in that it was the moment when I made the connection that, as a person, I was not above nature, not separate from nature. I was nature, and nature was me. One can make that realization but once in a lifetime. What made it unique, I think, is that I was just a baby when it happened. Yes, I have been able to maintain this level of connection with the natural world for the fifty years that have passed since that day. Although I have to admit, when I was struck by lightning, there were a few months when I thought perhaps that was being a little too connected to Mother Nature!

Malcolm: Lightning is definitely too much nature at once. (See first of Trudeau’s five-post lightning story here.) What are the genesis and scope of “Observations of an Earth Mage,” and what do you hope your readers will take away from their experience with the book?

Smoky: The book is a memoir told in both essay and poetic form. I open with a series of stories that I wrote when my children were little about encounters my family had with the famous Great Smoky Mountain National Park black bears. Back then—we’re talking the early to mid 1960’s—black bears were all over the Smokies due to bad garbage management. It was impossible to go to the park and not have a close encounter of the bear kind. My family seemed to attract the bears wherever we went in the park. The book continues with stories of my life on the prairies of Illinois, and then follows me when I moved to California and began exploring the California wilderness with my husband Scott. I hope that, upon reading the book, readers will want to get outdoors themselves, take a hike, go camping, splash in a tidepool. But more than that, I hope they learn how to see the natural world with the eyes of someone who is a part of it, a participant, rather than as a spectator.

Malcolm: When I was young, my parents took my two brothers and I on family vacations to such places as Key West, Mammoth Cave, the Smoky Mountains and Niagara Falls. As I read your book, was struck by the fact that your late father dreamt up similar vacations as well. Was this your introduction to wanderlust and to seeing the natural world in its many shapes and sizes?

Smoky: Absolutely. My father took us to those places, too, and to Shenandoah National Park, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Canada, and on a couple of great tours of the West. We camped; we hiked. One of the most sacred experiences of my life happened on one of these trips, when we saw a gray wolf trot across a forest road in the Upper Peninsula when I was maybe ten years old. I have as clear an image of that wolf in my mind today as I had when it was happening. My dad instilled in me not only my wanderlust, but something I call wonderlust—the propensity for always asking, “I wonder what’s over there/down that road/under that rock/up that mountain?” It was his greatest gift to me. Dad’s gone now—he died Thanksgiving weekend—but when I’m out hiking, I still feel him with me. He still tags along on my explores. The book is dedicated to his memory.

Malcolm: You tell several stories about bears in the book. How did you happen on so many of them? I wondered if they were a totem animal or if you were, in fact, a bear whisperer.

Smoky: I mentioned a few minutes ago that we always saw bears when we went to the Smokies when I was a child. And boy, did we ever see bears! I know people who have camped in the same campgrounds, hiked the same trails, and never saw a single bear. As a child, I thought we were lucky. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized perhaps it was I who somehow called the bears.

Yes, I have a spiritual connection to the bear. It wasn’t until I had what a Native American acquaintance of mine termed a shamanic experience with a bear after I was struck by lightning that I understood my connection to her. He pointed out that, on the medicine wheel, Bear is the symbol of the West, and also that lightning comes from the West. It wasn’t a coincidence, he said, that Bear was reaching out to me.

I wrote about that shamanic journey; it’s one of the stories in the book, the story called The Bear Whisperer. My daughter, who was maybe ten at the time, dubbed me that. Is it true? You’d have to ask Sister Bear, but I’ll tell you this: the last time I was in the Smokies, a black bear actually nuzzled my forehead through the wall of my tent one night. It was an amazing experience. It was like three kisses on the forehead, as gentle as a mother kissing her child. And no, I wasn’t afraid.

Bear is always with me. I have her tattooed on my arm, beneath a pair of lightning bolts, a sort of personal symbol of my strength. It is an honor and a privilege to have been touched by such a powerful creature.

Malcolm: Tell me about the red cap you’re wearing in 98.6 percent of the pictures I see of you. Is it your lucky hat?

Smoky: Only 98.6 percent? I thought it was higher than that! Yes, that’s my Earth Mage hat. It has secret powers. I can’t tell you about them, though—they wouldn’t be secret anymore.

Seriously, though, my husband gave me that hat the first time he and I went hiking together. I’ve been attached to it ever since. My father used to always give me three pieces of advice: (1) Don’t bite anyone’s dog; (2) Check the air in your tires, and (3) Wear your hat. I like to think Dad’s looking down from the great hiking trails in the afterlife and saying , “Good, she’s wearing her hat.”

Malcolm: Of all the places you describe in prose, poetry and photographs in “Observations of an Earth Mage,” do you have a favorite?

Smoky: Well, the Smoky Mountains are my heart’s home. I’m named for them; they are where my soul always longs to be. But now that I live in California, I’ve made strong connections to the mountains here, too. Mount Baldy, the third-highest peak in Southern California, shoots up from the San Gabriel Valley floor just twenty miles from my house; my back deck affords me a spectacular view not only of Baldy but also, on clear days, of Mount San Jacinto and Mount San Gorgonio, the second-highest and highest mountains, respectively, in Southern California. We’ve been camping in the Sierras several times—I’ve lived in California less than two years—and have trips back planned for this spring and summer. And I love the ocean, especially exploring the tidepools. But I guess, deep down, if I have to pick a favorite, I’m a mountain girl at heart.

Malcolm: From reading your blog on Xanga, I see that from hikes around your neighborhood to longer trips to national parks, being out of doors is a part of your weekly agenda. Will there be Further “Observations of an Earth Mage” in your future?

Smoky: That’s the plan! In fact, we’re planning a trip to Anzo Borrego in just a few weeks to begin research for “Further Observations of an Earth Mage: The Desert.” The deserts out here are beginning to flower; there is nothing more beautiful than an ocotillo or a beavertail cactus in bloom!

Malcolm: What other projects are you working on that keep you in the house and at the computer rather than out on the trail?

Smoky: Well, I’m a freelance editor and writing coach; that’s what pays the bills. I like to make sculptures of—what else?—bears. Nothing fancy; just little clay bear totems, maybe an inch or so long, out of oven-fired clay. They’re my stress relief; I must have made fifty of them during the holiday season, after my dad died. I’ve started a tradition with them: I take one with me when we go hiking, and leave it somewhere along the trail, first as an offering to Mother Nature, and then as a gift to whatever hiker may find it, nestled in a tree branch or among rocks.

I live in this charming little shack perched on the side of the foothills in the San Gabriel Valley. Red-tailed hawks are screaming overhead, courting, building nests in the oak trees above my deck. We have deer, coyote, and bobcat roaming our neighborhood. The mountains are covered in snow. All this I see from my writing studio’s window. With inspiration like this right outside my house, how can I not write? I’m working on my third novel, “The Storyteller’s Bracelet.” I actually think I’m going to finish it within the next few months! I was going to work on it today, after this interview.

But right now, the hawks are screaming, and the sun is peeking through the clouds. Chia, my big mutt puppy, is getting restless. And I think I hear, off in the distance, Mother Nature calling to me, “Come … come ….”

I better obey.

Malcolm: As ever, my well-worn boots await by the front door. Thank you for sharing your journey.

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Part of the proceeds from the sale of both print and electronic copies and from the sale of related merchandise will be donated to the Yosemite Association.

Copyright (c) 2010 by Malcolm R. Campbell

47,000 Miles and Counting

47,000 miles. That’s the combined length of all the trails in the U.S. National Trails System. Created by Congress in 1968, the system began with two, well-known established trails, the 2,158-mile Appalachian and the 2,648 Pacific Crest. Since that time, the system has been increased to include eight scenic and 18 historic trails.

The trails in the system are variously maintained and managed by the National Park Service, Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Land Management.

In March of this year, the National Park Service announced grants to five “Connect the Trails to Parks” projects totaling $333,000. According to acting director of the NPS Dan Wenk, the grant program (established last year) “will enable our visitors to better appreciate both the national parks and the national trails that touch or cross the parks through new connections, better information systems, and upgraded facilities. It is wonderful way to commemorate the anniversary of the National Trails System.”

For an excellent overview article (with a title I borrowed for this post) about the National Trails System, see the digital edition of Land & People produced by the Trust for Public Land.

If you click on the Appalachian and Pacific Crest links above, you’ll see examples of associations that support and help maintain two of the trails in this system. Volunteer opportunities and hiking information are available for most trails in the system.

Volunteer hours come into play when trail maintenance needs exceed the Federal funding. For example, as reported in Land & People, volunteer hours for trails across the system totaled 720,000 with a “sweat equity” value of $22 million in 2007.

Work continues to enlarge the system as evidenced by the upcoming 12 Conference on Scenic and Historic Trails in Missoula, Montana July 12-15. The conference will address the following general issues: (1) Expanding Outreach about the National Trails to all Americans; (2) Protecting the natural and cultural resources and completing the on-the-ground trails; and (3) Increasing the Capacity of public agencies and non-profit organizations to sustain the trails and their resources.

For a list of trails and their associated nonprofit agencies, click here.

While you may never have the time and energy to be a thru-hilker, one who completes an entire trail, you’ll find many sites and sounds and a lot of good exercise hiking bits and pieces of this marvelous system.