Parks Hurting?

by Erik Olsen on

Whenever there are tough economic times, there are always a few easy sacrificial lambs who are put up for slaughter. One of them, who time and time again gets the shaft, is the National Park Service. My first job after college was working at Interior, the federal agency that oversees the Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service among many many others. I got to fly around the country and visit many of our national parks and at that time (I refuse to disclose the actual dates) the employees of the park service were always complaining about how poorly they were treated under the Federal Budget.

Everyone just loves the parks, but no one wants to pay much to keep them going. That was before the tech boom, and I figured that things had changed. Alas, no. From Acadia to Zion, the national parks are being told to do more with less, and as a result they are shortening hours, increasing camping fees, recruiting retirees and other “free” labor and seeking financial support from corporations.

You can read about all the issues at hand in this piece from the Christian Science Monitor. And then go and check out one of my favorite Park Service blogs.

National Parks on Google Earth

by Erik Olsen on

Saw this over on Jaunted and immediately checked it out. There is a nice assortment of National Parks available via satellite view from Google Earth and Discovery Channel that is really worth checking out. Mount Rushmore, Arches National Park, the Everglades…a whole bunch of really cool zoom in until you’re dizzy shots. You have to download Google Earth, but you should have done that a while ago, anyway because it’s so cool.

Hmmm…Jerky

by Erik Olsen on

So much news and feature writing these days is about current events. As someone who works in the media, I sometimes long for a nice thoughtful piece about the mundane, an examination into everyday things that pass under your nose (or into your mouth) but otherwise whose history escapes notice. You know those books that are called “The History of Everyday Things”? Those are great books. I love learning more about the paper clip, for example.

So what’s my point? Well, I have to tell you I was tickled to see this delightful little ode to one of my favorite foods of all time: Beef Jerky. It’s going to sound sexist, but I was surprised to see that this paean to dry meat was penned by a woman. I know I know, don’t get all fussy with me. Women like jerky, too. But it’s just always seemed like a cowboy thing to eat, like they do in Brokeback Mountain (no “I can’t quit you” jokes, please).

Anyway, we learn a lot of interesting stuff here. For example, did you know the “salted meat snack” industry generated more than $300 million in sales in the last year? That’s a lot of dessicated flesh. Of course you knew that jerky was given to us by the Indians, but died you know that one of its earliest forms, pemmican, consisted of dried meat mashed up with animal fat and berries? I thought not. All this talk about jerky is making me hungry, so go to the piece and give it a read, and excuse me while I head out to the local store to pick up a bag.

Hmmm, jerky.

Drew Carey to the World Cup

by Erik Olsen on

Really, so much of making it in life is just establishing yourself as a celebrity. Then it’s all downhill. Once you get famous, everyone wants a part of you and you get paid, yes PAID to do cool stuff. Bill Murray gets paid to go all over the world to go golfing. Why? Because he was in Caddyshack for goodness sakes. And because he’s an excellent golfer. Brajolina have their trip to Africa paid for by aid groups because they look so pretty together. And now, here’s Drew Carey, who’s show really wasn’t even that funny, going to Europe to report on the World Cup for the Travel Channel. Well, good for him. I suppose if anyone can help Americans understand soccer and represent the US overseas, it’s a wise-cracking, doughy white guy. But seriously, I’ll have to check this out. Good for Drew.

Ignoring the Critically Sick on Everest

by Erik Olsen on

The effort to climb Everest takes much more than physical exertion. It also requires a lot of preparation and money. Peak fees to scale the tallest mountain in the world can run you more than $50,000. So is it a surprise that for some who climb the mountain, the site of an ailing person would get no more than just a glance? The fate of a British climber who died as other climbers passed him is an interesting case of how brutal and competitive climbing Everest can be.

Take a look at this piece at the Seattle Times that examines the fate of David Sharp, a 34 year-old British climber who, says the piece, sat in a stultified state as 40 or so climbers  haled themselves past him, some of whom had to be aware how badly off he was.  Says the piece, “the few who stopped to check on him – and at least one team did give him oxygen – said he was so near death there was nothing that could be done.”

Unfathomable callousness or reasonable behavior?