Sure it made sense for Dubai to build a huge indoor ski hill. Or rather, it wasn’t shocking that Dubai thought it would be a good idea to create a massive energy sinkhole in the middle of the desert. The Scandinavians have a bit of snow that naturally occurs in their country, do they really need an indoor ski hill? Well, they seem to think it would be a good way to host ski races year round and offer consistent course conditions. They also claim that they’ll be able to make it ‘climate positive’ by producing all of their own energy from renewable resources.

Water is coming over the Elwha Dam in what must be a tremendously fun torrent for fly fishers to watch. The Elwha River Restoration Project has set up a webcam so that you don’t have to miss any of the dam busting fun. The National Park Service also created a video that demonstrates how the dam removal process is supposed to work, and oddly enough, there’s no part in the video where the water pours over that side of the dam.

A deer hunter in Northern California tipped police off on what he thought was a massive stand of marijuana growing on public land. The police arrived and found 1,991 plants that they estimate are work about $3.8 million. They also dismantled a dam that had been setup to divert water to the illegal farm. People in the area reported that they’d seen workers going into the field every day, which begs the question why the police didn’t bother arresting anyone who’s been trashing wildlife areas to grow marijuana.

These farms on public land must be all over the place. If you’re in Northern CA and don’t have the money to fill your pot prescription, just go to a national forest and walk in a straight line. You’re bound to find a bunch of it for free sooner or later.

via Outdoor Pressroom

Getting outside may be good for your ADHD! Want to ride bikes? According to a new study kids that regularly run around in the woods or play in outdoor spaces have milder attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than kids who play indoors. Seeing as how almost every adult I’ve worked with has at one time blamed ADHD for not paying attention when I was talking to them, I assume that everyone could use a dose of outdoor fun.

A group of artists rappelled down the defunct Matilija Dam near Ojai in Southern California to paint a message to anyone who passed by: Get rid of this stupid thing. So far the city has left it there, and the LA Times has written a thoughtful piece about how the dam really ought to come down. I love it. In most other places the government would spend $200k to hire an OSHA-approved contractor to come in and clean the dam using toxic chemicals.

via Moldy Chum