Well, I popped back into online newsletter existence recently to just dip my toes into the cesspool of bummer news items about the outdoors, and almost immediately after my newsletter was sent out to inboxes, the government shut down. Again.
As we’ve seen in the past, when politicians are OK with the brinksmanship it takes to shut down the government (especially when, say, one party controls both houses of Congress and the White House), they don’t seem as keen on being responsible about closing access to things that aren’t being maintained anymore. So although federal lands lost their funding and staffing, there was also no effort to actually stop people from entering these places, other than a number of outdoor nonprofits and awareness groups very politely asking people to change their plans or head to funded, state-run public lands instead. Calls for the parks to be closed to public access during the shutdown seem to be falling largely on deaf ears.
Predictably, Americans who feel individually entitled to lots of things but don’t want to be held responsible for conserving them for the greater good ignored all advice and have been going to parks, anyway. And as you might expect, the behavior hasn’t been great. National Parks Traveler documented multiple instances of BASE jumping inside Yosemite National Park and trespassing near a protected Ancestral Pueblo village in Bandelier National Monument. In the case of one of the BASE jumpers, a video posted to Instagram includes the caption, “ More base jumpers! Definitely feeling some freedom to flout the rules due to the shut down. Second group today.” Super Leave No Trace, bros.
Thankfully, three different BASE jumpers were recently convicted by the Park Service for Yosemite jumps in previous years, so here’s hoping these recent jumpers are tracked down soon.
Meanwhile, furloughs at the Forest Service have stalled or cancelled prescribed burns, which could make next year’s fire season more monstrous. If you’re concerned about the permit offices for fossil fuels and extractive resources, though, no need to worry—the Center for Western Priorities reports the issuing of new oil and gas drilling permits on public lands has not slowed, and now that there’s nobody to monitor what’s going on, I’m sure there will be no issues with safety!
Hey times are tough out there. I’m trying to make more parts of the Substack open for free readers (like comments! Say hi!), but if you could spot me a coffee or two, I’d really appreciate it!
Your Places
With National Parks under extra stress and pressure these days, it’s nice to see major outlets encouraging folks to not forget about the other outdoor options. Sure, we all know state parks and forests, too, but I’ve found that city parks can often fly well under the radar for hikers. If you’ve been around here for a while, maybe you’re in on the secret (since I wrote a whole book about a city park) … but if not, I got to talk about Griffith Park in Los Angeles as well as Washington Park in Portland with the fine folks at the Washington Post. There’s a full article of eight city parks worth a trip all across the country … and even better, if you head into the comments you’ll get dozens of other great suggestions from people championing their own hometown hangouts!
I’m a desert guy. I love the desert. I think it’s beautiful and I want to be there all the time, even when it’s hot and sunny. One of the first great desert parks I got to spend time in was California’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It’s the largest state park in California (and the third-largest in the nation!) and it’s a beautiful place to visit even when there aren’t any superblooms.
If you’re a fellow lover of this particular desert, you should know the 20th annual Anza-Borrego Desert Photo Contest is about to kick off. There are a number of categories, including a new Youth category for folks high school age and younger. There is an online voting component and finalists will be exhibited at the Borrego Art Institute in February, 2026.
The photo contest will be open for submissions from November 1st through December 10th, with online voting to follow for the People’s Choice Award. Keep an eye on the Anza Borrego Foundation’s website for more details.
Wildlife and the Outdoors
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing—soon to be the world’s largest wildlife overpass on the 101—is getting its first plants soon! Three years ago, botanists gathered hyperlocal seeds to form a new nursery near the bridge construction site. Now the plants have been transplanted into larger containers and are ready to be planted atop the bridge itself, connecting the flora (and fauna) on both sides of the 101 freeway. There’s a terrific, in-depth story on the behind the scenes of the nursery in the Los Angeles Times that is worth checking out if you’re wondering what the heck is going on at the 101 these days.
A collection of local agencies have announced the artist who will be designing and installing a statue of beloved mountain lion P-22 inside Griffith Park. Angeleno artist Adam Matano is a sculptor who will design a memorial to be installed inside the park. Matano was showing off some preliminary designs and—I have to say—they look pretty amazing.
I’ll be keeping an eye on this story as it develops but I can’t wait to see the finished sculpture. Check out Adam’s artist website for more of their beautiful work, too!
Plants!
Fall is the best time to put new native plants in the ground, and there is still time to do some planning (right plant, right place!) and digging before the winter rains (hopefully) arrive. Here in the Portland area, Sparrowhawk Native Nursery has wrapped up their great pop-up sales but still has some odds and ends available … but my OG native plant nursery in Southern California is just about to kick things off.
The phenomenal Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual Fall Plant Sale runs from October 28th through November 8th, and if you haven’t been, know that this is an event. Discounts abound for members and non-members, and you’ll also be able to roam the grounds and chat with the extremely knowledgeable staff for recommendations and tips. You should also stop in their gift shop and pick up one of my books while you’re there 😉
This sale is popular, and this year they are offering some parking reservations ahead of time. If you’re planning on snagging a bunch of new plants, this will save you the hassle of getting them down the long driveway back to the street.
RELATED:
In my current native garden, many plants are from Sparrowhawk, but I’ve got good representation from these local native nurseries, too:
It’s that time of year again, when all of your friendly neighborhood native plant gardeners try to (hopefully respectfully) remind you to at least consider leaving your autumn leaves around instead of putting them all into plastic bags and shipping them off to a landfill. Long story short, letting the leaves linger and decompose naturally provides lots of habitat to critters in the winter months and will also help restore soil nutrition nearby. A two-year study published this year found that leaving the leaves in your yard can boost beneficial insects like moths, spiders, and beetles as well as overall species diversity. And soil where leaves are left to decompose naturally have 24% more carbon, which benefits all the nearby plants and also increases the soil’s moisture-holding capacity, preventing erosion and runoff.
Oh yeah, before I go …
This is just a picture of the Sierra Nevada after a snowstorm earlier this month. I share this picture for no reason other than I miss these mountains a lot and hoo boy are they pretty after a good storm, huh? Can you smell this photo like I can?
Via Reddit.
That’s all I’ve got for right now!
If you have a great Halloween costume (outdoors or otherwise), share it in the comments! Also, in the next newsletter, look for some very exciting news about Los Angeles-area hiking guidebooks …
Until then,
Happy Trails.
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