A California bill to turn 1.65 million more acres of desert into nationally protected lands has made some strange bedfellows. Back in 1994 rookie senator Dianne Feinstein protected 8.5 million acres of California desert against the fierce opposition of many of the people who made their living off all that desert. But once that land in 1994 was turned into National Park land, the people who lived there embraced it. They found increased tourism and the prestige of joining the national park system helped their local economy. And now they’re hoping Feinstein can get the rest of this land protected before developers come in looking for energy - solar energy. They want to setup 8 square miles of solar panels in the Mojave to run power to LA. Now the clean energy lobby, environmentalists, ATV riders, the US Marine Corps landowners and desert people are all in different overlapping camps. It’s an odd story over at SF Gate.

An eruption of Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park that’s sent lava soaring 65 feet into the air has closed campgrounds, but tourism is still up 40%. Maybe they’re all hoping that a massive ash could ground flights in the region for a few weeks and they’ll get stuck on the islands. I wonder if the volcano insurance I bought for my car would cover it if I did get stuck there

The National Park Service has opened a comment period for a proposal to change climbing regulations in Arches. There are four tiers of possible changes that go from nothing changing in the existing plan to a very stringent regulation that would require loads of permits and ban bouldering, slacklining, wingsuit flying, etc. You can read about it here, and chime in at the NPS here.

In the latest installment of Yosemite Nature Notes, filmmaker Steven Bumgardner takes a look at the Rangers’ Club. It’s one of a handful of buildings in Yosemite designated as a historical site, and it’s served as a lodging for park rangers for nearly 100 years.

via Adventure Journal

With the onset of 2011 and your annual plans for tours through the Boundary Water Canoe Area or hikes up Denali comes the dreaded realization: ‘Damn, I forgot to apply for a permit.’ A lot of wilderness areas and mountains that have daily quotas on the number of hikers and climbers allowed are now selling permits or opening lotteries. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. (Also, please don’t throw this back in my face when I complain about forgetting to apply for a BWCA permit three weeks from now.)