Trumps Views on National Parks?

Now that we are deep in the campaigning phase of the fall election, environmentalists are asking the candidates about their positions toward parks and protected areas.

Don Trump, might propose adding casinos to our nation's parks to provide a steady stream of revenue.  His track record in hotels and casinos is legendary an despite only 4 bankruptcies, he might believe his economic model may be the boost our parks need.

For instance, the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which filed for bankruptcy in 1991, is a clear example he is willing to fail, and fail big.

But will that failure follow in our nation's parks?

Are you willing to take that gamble?

Sunday Hike to Petticoat Hill

This weekend we checked out another Trustees of Reservation property in Williamsburg MA.

This place is called Petticoat Hill and a trail map is found here.  Unfortunately some trail maintenance crew dumped a bunch of brush into a historic old cellar hole.

Maple Sugar Shack

Made our traditional road trip up to Worthington, MA to enjoy some freshly made maple syrup.  The High Hopes Farm hosts the annual "all you can eat" breakfast buffet during the maple sugaring season (and again in the fall during the fall foliage season).  Yum.

So if you are in maple syrup country, check out a local farm.

State Economic Impact from Parks

How important are parks?  Well darn important IMHO.

http://www.nrpa.org/parkeconreport-state-charts/ to fine out how important parks for your state!

Giant City State Park resident.

For the full report, click here.

Quality Service in Hospitality and Tourism: Experiencing Persian Heritage

Sounds like an interesting conference.

Quality Service in Hospitality and  Tourism: Experiencing Persian Heritage 

July 16-17, Isfahan, Iran

http://isfahan4tourism.com/

Two ways to see a tourist attraction

On TRINET there had been a discussion on metropolitan areas that overlap multiple countries.  Someone posted this wikipedia page for a fairly comprehensive list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_that_overlap_multiple_countries

I have been to a few of them, most notably Niagara Falls.

Richardson Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Tolland MA

Our Sunday hike today (and a good one at that) headed west of MA Rt 57 past "downtown" Tolland to this Audubon Society property.  Named after this small stream, the wooded hike offers two loops that are easy to follow.

A description of the trail and a map can be found here. Below is a glacial erratic found along the trail.

Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitors in Recreation and Protected Areas

In September 2016, MMV08 will take place in Serbia.  Details from the website:

"The MMV conference provides a forum for presentations and other exchanges of ideas and experiences related to the monitoring and management of visitors in recreation and protected areas. The emphasis is on policies, problems, practices and innovative solutions, and will therefore be of equal relevance to managers and researchers The 8th MMV will focus on the sub-theme “Cooperation across borders and scales” with the aim to connect different areas and regions in order to collaborate on the same focus."

I have heard a lot of good things about this conference and would like to present there someday.  Maybe not 2016, but maybe in 2018?

Wilderness

Wilderness and the American Mind should be required reading for all college students.  Since that ain't gonna' happen, I would just hope that recreation students would pick up a copy.  Try eBay or Amazon to find one for a couple bucks.

So in the meantime, while you are waiting for the delivery, check out http://www.wilderness.net/

Also, here is a screen saver for you.

Local Hikes Abound

A couple of great sites for local hiking can be found at The Trustees of Reservations  and the Audubon Society.

On each site, you will find trail maps nearby.  Take a hike this weekend.

A video of one of the trails is found here.