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Wyoming Should Protect this Grand Teton Land from Mansion Builders

Fred Dreier — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 23:54:08 +0000

In the classic 1961 Walt Disney film 101 Dalmatians, aspiring songwriter Roger Radcliffe is presented with an ethical conundrum. Should Radcliffe keep the litter of cuddly puppies—dogs that everyone loves and agrees are oh-so adorable—so that one day his infant may enjoy their pooch affection? Or, should he sell the animals to wealthy socialite Cruella de Vil, so that she can skin them alive and stitch their spotted carcasses into her personal evening-wear?

Children’s movies have a way of boiling situations down to the most basic good vs. evil ethics. I recently screened this film for my four-year-old, and even she knew which option ol’ Roger should choose. Yeah, not the one involving cash.

Alas, there are times when the adult world presents society’s power brokers with decisions that are similarly black and white, yet they make the wrong choice. And right now, such a scenario is playing out in Wyoming, where state lawmakers are trying to decide what to do with a square mile of pristine backcountry located within Grand Teton National Park. The swath of land has views of the peaks and crisp mountain air, and is virtually untouched by human settlements or building. Should the state sell it for tens of millions to the National Park Service for protection, so that future generations can enjoy the elk and grizzly bears and other critters that call it home? Or, should the state sell it for even more cash to a private developer who will erect megamansions to be sold to Russian oligarchs and crypto gazillionaires?

You’d think the answer would be easy, but alas, it has proven to be vexing to the elected class in Wyoming. At the moment, the state legislature is leaning toward selling the land off to whomever writes the biggest check at a public auction. A panel composed of the governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and superintendent of public instruction will meet on Thursday, December 7, to make a final call on whether to choose protection or McMansions. Across the country, lawyers, elected officials, and advocates for public lands are watching in horror.

“What’s going on in Wyoming is emblematic of making good choices for the future generations,” Kristen Brengel, the senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association told me. “If we just encircle our national parks with development and they become islands, then they won’t survive the way people expect them to.”

It goes without saying that Wyoming should do the right thing here and ensure that the Park Service takes ownership of the land. But alas, I’m not sure the people in charge have the ethical compass to not sell a cute and cuddly puppy to Cruella de Vil.

The Kelly Parcel

A map of Grand Teton National Park shows the Kelly Parcel outlined in yellow. (Photo: Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments)

Some quick background: the square-mile plot, called the “Kelly Parcel” due to its proximity to the town of Kelly, is owned by the Wyoming state land trust, yet three of its four boundaries lie inside of Grand Teton National Park. Due to its location, the land is important migratory ground for many of the animals that live inside the park, as grizzly bears and migratory birds can’t tell the difference between federal or state-owned land (note: they can tell the difference between grassland and a heated driveway leading to a McMansion).

But the state has no obligation to protect the ground or the creatures that live on the Kelly Parcel—quite the opposite, in fact. As is the case in other states, Wyoming constitution requires lawmakers to monetize state trust land to the fullest, because the funds help support public schools. Often, this monetization means charging private companies for mineral extraction or grazing. But in the case of the Kelly Parcel, the state wants to sell it outright, because the land generates only $2,845 a year from a grazing lease. Meanwhile, the value of developable land in and around Jackson has become so egregiously expensive that the only potential home buyers are former U.S. vice presidents or guys who played Han Solo and Indiana Jones.

“You’ve got arguably one of the most valuable pieces of land within a national park and it’s making $2,800 a year for the kids and that’s not fulfilling the fiduciary responsibility they have for the education system,” Rob Wallace, the former assistant secretary of U.S Fish and Wildlife, told Politico.

Wyoming lawmakers could step in and force the state to sell the land to the Park Service. There’s precedent for this type of sale, and previously the state sold three similar square-mile parcels to the NPS. Most recently, Wyoming completed the sale of the Antelope Flats parcel to the Park Service for $46 million in 2016, half of which came from private donations.

But the NPS must purchase land at its appraised value, and in 2022 the Kelly Parcel was appraised for $62 million. Officials in Wyoming know that opening the land up to a public auction would fetch a much higher price—last week they said the starting price should be $80 million.

And at the moment, the handful of officials who oversee this decision argue that the state has an obligation to raise the most cash possible.

Unanimous Anger

Just like my four-year-old watching a Disney movie, pretty much everyone who is familiar with the Kelly Parcel sale knows that selling the land to billionaires is the wrong thing to do. Locals in Jackson turned up in droves to the four public hearings in November to voice their anger. During the public comment period, which ended on December 2, Wyomingites submitted thousands of angry letters.

A view from the actual Kelly Parcel. (Photo: Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments)

The opposition has drowned out whatever proponents may be out there. Over the past few weeks I have read local and national coverage of the story, and anyone willing to be quoted—and this includes Wyoming elected officials on both sides of the aisle—absolutely hates the idea of selling to the highest bidder.

This constituency includes folks you might not associate with environmental protection. Chuck Grey, the state’s Secretary of State, and a Republican, opposes the sale. Rob Wallace, who was appointed to his Fish and Wildlife post by Donald Trump, said selling would be something that “Wyoming would not be proud of.” Local real-estate agents in Jackson even oppose it. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” Greg Prugh, broker/owner for Prugh Real Estate, told WyoFile.

Even though most people oppose the sale doesn’t mean the state will listen. And that is perhaps the most frustrating part of the Kelly Parcel ordeal—the state appears to be deaf to the will of the people.

On a national level, advocates for environmental issues and public land protection are watching the sale with wide eyes. They know that the ordeal could set a precedent for other states wanting to ignore the will of voters and simply sell off state trust lands to developers.

“This is not a partisan issue,” Aaron Weiss of the Center for Western Priorities told me. “I guarantee that if you put a ballot measure on any state ballot, including Wyoming, asking voters if they should simply maximize the value by selling state lands, or take a balanced approach to keep public lands public, the public option will always win.”

But the big problem for public land advocates and opponents of the Kelly Parcel sale is that the true villain in the ordeal isn’t a person, but rather a policy. State trust lands were given to states by the federal government upon their founding, with the explicit goal of monetization, no matter the method. In many states, there is no mechanism for the public to decide how a plot of state land should earn cash for the state. Grazing, mineral exploration, the sale of pristine backcountry to Cruella de Vil or Darth Vader or whomever—anything goes.

The one thing public-land advocates told me is that the ordeal surrounding the Kelly Parcel is simply bound to repeat itself for future generations. And that means more angry public hearings and letter-writing campaigns.

“This issue comes back up every few years,” Brad Brooks with The Wilderness Society told me. ”It never dies. And it will never die.”

The post Wyoming Should Protect this Grand Teton Land from Mansion Builders appeared first on Outside Online.

5 Eco-Friendly Homemade Holiday Gifts

Kristin Hostetter — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 13:03:04 +0000

Not to be all Scroogy, but I’m buying fewer gifts this holiday season. It’s not about the money, it’s because consumerism is a huge driver of climate change. And, really, how many pairs of Christmas pajamas does a person need? (I love you, mom, but I’m talking to you.) The average American will spend $900 on winter holiday shopping this year, up $42 from last year.

But I’m no Grinch—instead of buying gifts this year, I’m making many of them myself. I love giving thoughtful presents to my friends and family. But lately I’ve been trying to think creatively about the presents I give. I try to think and plan ahead, and I invest time and energy (and love!) into my gifts so I don’t need to scramble on Amazon for my sister-in-law’s birthday. So far, nobody’s complaining (at least to my face).

Here are some of my favorite homemade eco-friendly holiday gift ideas (and stocking stuffers). I hope they inspire you to rethink your gifting plans this season.

5 Eco-Friendly Holiday Gifts You Can Make at Home

When sanding down tree discs, start with 60- or 80-grit, then finish it off with a finer 220-grit sandpaper for a smooth finish. (Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

Cutting Board From a Downed Tree

A few months back I asked readers to stop using plastic cutting boards because they release microplastics into our food. And then it dawned on me that a nice wood board would be the perfect holiday gift for several people on my list.

Maple, cherry, walnut, paulownia are all good options for cutting surfaces. If you see a downed tree, show up with your chainsaw and ask for a slice or two! You can also try sourcing “tree cookies” or “tree discs” from local arborists, craft shops, or of course online.

Be sure to let the wood dry out for several weeks after cutting, then sand it smooth, and apply mineral oil. That’s it!

After a few weeks of marinating, I’ll strain out the peels and package in this thrifted glass bottle. This concoction also works great with lemon or grapefruit peels or even snipped pine branches from your holiday tree or backyard. (Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

2-Ingredient Non-Toxic Spray Cleaner

OK, it might feel a bit utilitarian to gift a bottle of kitchen cleaner, but if you have any environmentalists on your list, they’ll appreciate the conceit, especially if you tell them all the reasons to love it. First, this stuff works great on just about anything–counters, floors, tables, toilets. Second, it’s free of chemicals and toxins, unlike most of the stuff we use. Third, it reduces food waste and gives you a reason to eat some oranges.

I learned this hack from Armen Adamjan, my favorite sustainability Tik Tokker. Simply place orange peels in a mason jar of white vinegar and let it steep for two weeks in a dark place. Then strain it into a spray bottle. I found this cool glass one in a second hand shop.

Instead of buying wrapping paper or gift bags, I like to decorate presents with repurposed ribbon from years past, plus berries and greenery snipped from my yard. (Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

Hot Pepper Apple Jelly

My obsession with hot pepper jellies started a few years back when my garden was cranking out jalapeños. I tried several recipes and found my all-time favorite after a neighbor invited me to pick apples from his orchard this fall. The jelly is slightly sweet and tangy with a good kick of heat. Here’s the full recipe that inspired me.

You’ll need a bunch of apples and hot peppers (any kind you like), plus sugar and a packet of liquid pectin. First you make apple juice, which is easier than it sounds. Just boil the apples in some water, mash, and strain them through cheesecloth a few times until you have a gorgeous clear liquid. Add the sugar and peppers and bring to a boil, then stir in the pectin. Spoon a bit of jelly onto a chilled plate and pop it in the freezer to make sure it will set. If it jiggles after a few minutes, you’re good to go. If it’s runny, keep boiling until it thickens.

You can preserve the jelly in a water bath to make it shelf staple, or just gift it as is and tell the recipient to refrigerate. This stuff is addictive on so many things: crackers, cheese, avocado toast, any type of sandwich, and grilled fish to name a few. Anyone on your list will adore it, guaranteed.

You can customize your hot chocolate jars for any taste. Kids love this sweet candy mix, but you can add espresso powder or cayenne for more mature palates.

(Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

Festive Hot Chocolate Mix

Kids love this one. In a one-pint wide mouth mason jar, layer the following ingredients in this order: ½ cup coconut sugar, ½ cup good unsweetened cocoa powder, about 20 peppermint candies (crushed), ¼ cup chocolate chips, and mini- marshmallows to the rim (about ¼ cup). This is enough for about 5 servings; double it in a quart-sized jar if you like.

Make a tag with cooking instructions: shake well and combine 2 tablespoons of mix with 8 ounces of hot milk. Another great idea to round out the gift: Include a thrifted holiday mug (my local thrift stores always have them).

Bundle this gift with some neat thrifted baking accessories. (Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Here’s a thoughtful eco-friendly holiday gift for the bakers on your list. There’s nothing like homemade vanilla extract, and this recipe takes just a minute to make. All you need is a couple ounces of vodka or bourbon, some vanilla beans, and a jar. (Thrift shops have the best jars!) Split open a bean or two and then pop them into the bottle and add the booze. I used just half of one bean (they’re pretty expensive) for a 3-ounce bottle; add more beans for bigger bottles or stronger vanilla flavor. The longer you can let it stew the better, but it will be ready to use in a few weeks.

An Eco-Friendly Holiday Gift for the Person Who Has Everything

What does your loved one really care about? If it’s not another flannel shirt, find a related charity and make a donation in their name. If you need some inspiration, our Find Your Good program supports 14 nonprofits committed to protecting the planet and getting more people outside. You can learn more about the work they do and make a donation in just a few clicks here.

Doing right by the planet can make you happier, healthier, and—yes—wealthier. Outside’s Head of Sustainability, Kristin Hostetter, explores small lifestyle tweaks that can make a big impact. Write to her at climateneutral-ish@outsideinc.com.

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Are We Done with the Endangered Species Act?

jversteegh — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 12:00:43 +0000

After 50 years, one of the most consequential environmental laws in U.S. history may no longer be relevant to the world we’re living in. Which makes sense: the ESA was written for a planet that was several degrees cooler by politicians who weren’t even arguing about climate change yet. So producer Aaron Scott started to wonder: if the ESA is out of date, what would it take to keep this comprehensive piece of legislation relevant going forward? The answers he found take the form of three stories, about a fish, a bird, and a bear.

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When Ryan Redington Won the Iditarod, He Fulfilled a Multi-Generational Family Dream

jversteegh — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:00:57 +0000

“I guess you could say I was born to mush,” says Ryan Redington, an Inupiaq musher who grew up in the town of Knik, Alaska, not far from Anchorage. The first piece of evidence: his dad’s dad was Joe Redington, widely called the Father of the Iditarod, and the race’s founder. Then there’s his great-grandfather on his mother’s side, who carried mail to remote parts of Alaska via dog sled. Redington always knew he wanted to carry on the family legacy.

“I was fascinated with the dogs and their drive,” Redington says. “My brothers and I read all the newspaper articles about the race and the racers. We just lived and breathed it.”

Just after noon on March 14, Redington claimed his birthright when he and his team of sled dogs crossed the Iditarod finish line in Nome. He was the sixth member of his family to complete the race—but the first to win it, completing the 1,000-mile course in 8 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes, and 58 seconds.

Joe Redington dreamed up the original Iditarod, first run in 1973, alongside several other mushing enthusiasts who wanted to help preserve the tradition of dog-powered transit, which had faltered as snowmobiles proliferated in rural Alaska. They created a route that passed through dozens of Native villages, and tried to raise money for a championship pot. (Joe eventually funded it himself by refinancing his house.) Today, the course varies slightly from year to year, and prize money comes from sponsors, but the basic premise—a multiday push from Willow to Nome—endures.

The event draws spectators and competitors from around the world but remains deeply intertwined with Native Alaskan cultures and communities. “We get our food and supplies at the villages along the way, and it’s really special to have the support and excitement from these Native communities, and to get to represent them,” says Redington, the third Inupiaq to win the Iditarod. After his victory, he visited rural schools to talk about mushing.

Redington credits his success to his top-notch dog team, led by Sven and Ghost, who guided him through a whiteout. The two Alaskan huskies were awarded the Golden Harness, which goes to the best lead dogs and is voted on by the mushers in the race. He also attributes his success to his life partner, Sarah Keefer, who ran the dogs in training races before the Iditarod.

Now his sights are on a second title. “I’ll be back to defend my championship and keep proving my dogs are the best at the 1,000-mile distance,” he says.

Redington’s win comes during a challenging time for the Iditarod and sled dog racing in general. This year’s event saw the smallest field ever, with just 33 competitors (the average is nearly twice that). And the sport faces existential threats: inflation has increased operational expenses, and climate change continues to diminish the snowpack needed to travel by sled. But Redington remains optimistic.

His eight-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son are “very doggy kids,” he says. They have taken to kennel chores, training the dogs, and mushing, which gives him hope for the future.“ My family never pressured me to be a musher, and I’m not pressuring my kids. But boy, it’s a lot of fun, and [I feel] pride, watching them race and be around the dogs,” Redington says. “I love mushing, and the Alaskan husky, and I love being able to share that with them. I hope it can continue for many generations to come.”

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The Kids Who Sued The Government—And Won

jversteegh — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:00:51 +0000

Montana is home to huge swaths of public land, clear rivers, and stunning mountain ranges. It also produces more fossil-fuel-related carbon emissions annually than all but five other states—and is responsible for as much carbon dioxide as many countries, including Argentina, the Netherlands, and Pakistan.

Montanan Kian Tanner, 18, grew up next to Flathead Lake, in the state’s northwest corner, fly-fishing, hiking in nearby Glacier National Park, and spending most of his time outside. During his adolescence, he saw his home increasingly threatened by wildfires and smoke-choked air. Another local teen, Taleah Hernandez, 19, witnessed this, too. “I’ve had a few wildfires pretty close to my home,” Hernandez says. “A few years ago, one shut down the highway, so we had to check in with a police officer any time we wanted to go in toward our house.” Growing up, Hernandez spent her winters ice skating on the lake, and she has watched the ice grow thinner year after year.

In 2020, Tanner, Hernandez, and 14 other minors from Montana filed suit against their home state, claiming that its energy policies violated their right to a “clean and healthful environment,” as laid out in the state’s constitution. The plaintiffs, now ages 5 to 22, did so with the help of the nonprofit law firm Our Children’s Trust, which helps young people fight for sustainable policy in court. On August 14, 2023, they won their case, setting the precedent that Montana must take climate change into account when enacting laws that affect the environment.

“This is one of the most powerful decisions I’ve ever read on the environment in Montana,” says Jim Nelson, a retired Montana Supreme Court justice. Held v. Montana, named for 22-year-old plaintiff Rikki Held, says that the Montana government is responsible for how state policy affects the environment. This was a particularly notable outcome in a state that relies so heavily on the oil and gas industry, which accounted for 21 percent of the state’s gross domestic product in 2021.

The trial was set in Helena in June (so the plaintiffs didn’t have to miss school while testifying in court). For many of them, it was their first time in a courtroom. “I was really, really nervous the night before,” Tanner says. “We didn’t know when I was going to testify. Then, in the morning, they were like, ‘OK, you’re going first.’ But I got into a rhythm. It was easy because I was telling my life story. I went from nervous and scared to being truly empowered.”

It was hard to hear their peers talk about the ways their towns have been affected by the climate crisis, the kids said. But listening to experts describe how their home state will be devastated by climate change if Montana continues on its current policy path was even harder.

“I was in an environmental-science class at the time,” says Tanner. “So I understood the base-level science, but the depth that the experts went into was fascinating and horrifying at the same time. They were verifying that our future is up in the air if we don’t act right now.”

Montana appealed the decision in early October and will take the case to the state’s supreme court. But Held v. Montana has already spurred Our Children’s Trust to bring similar suits in Utah, Hawaii, and Virginia—and helped the suit in Hawaii gain enough momentum to go to trial next June.

When asked if the case inspired them to continue fighting for climate action in other ways, all three students responded with a resounding yes.

“Especially after meeting and getting to know the other youth plaintiffs, it’s hard to imagine sitting on my hands the rest of my life,” says Claire Vlases, another plaintiff. “It invigorated that for me.”

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Against Great Odds, Trans Athletes Persevere

jversteegh — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:00:42 +0000

On August 19, in a hotel lobby in Budapest, Hungary, professional runner Nikki Hiltz opened a text from their mother to find a quote often attributed to Anaïs Nin: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Hiltz’s mother had sent an inspirational quote before every race since Hiltz ran for the University of Arkansas. But Nin’s words still felt special to the 29-year-old middle-distance runner, U.S. national champion, and American record holder—and so did the day.

In just a few hours, Hiltz would compete in the 1,500-meter semifinal at the World Athletics Championships. Sitting in the lobby beside partner and fellow runner Emma Gee, they began to tear up. “I don’t know why I’m crying,” Hiltz said as Gee hugged them close. But Hiltz knew exactly why.

March of 2021 was the last time Hiltz had remained tight in a bud. That month they came out as transgender and nonbinary and began using they/them pronouns. (Hiltz continues to compete in the women’s category.) Two years later, in June 2023, they became the U.S. national champion in the 1,500-meter race and, just 13 days after that, ran a 4:16:35 mile at the Monaco Diamond League, an American record. “The year 2021 was when I made the decision that I couldn’t hide anymore,” Hiltz says. “But maybe there was a two-year delay in the blossom.”

In Budapest, Hiltz took the starting line clad in red, white, and blue. Beside them, some of the best athletes in the world blew out nervous air, shook their legs, and stared stoically forward. When the camera landed on Hiltz, they waved and blew a kiss, a tattooed arm catching the sun. During the final lap of the race, Hiltz fell behind, finishing in 4:00:84—their second-fastest 1,500-meter, but not good enough to advance to the final.

“I’m still pretty proud of myself,” Hiltz says. Before the World Championships, they’d decided on a goal much bigger than a podium finish. “I wanted to go to the World Champs, compete, and be that representation,” Hiltz says. “There’s nothing like sports. Look at us athletes. We’re ambassadors for our countries. We love each other, we root for each other, and we’re from all over the world.”

The power of representation isn’t lost on Hiltz, especially as a trans person in 2023. This year, a slew of anti-trans legislation was pushed around the U.S., each new bill landing like a gut punch to the LGBTQ+ community. By May of 2023, at least 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills had been introduced in state legislatures, according to the advocacy group Human Rights Campaign.

Despite the menacing sociopolitical atmosphere, Hiltz has persevered—and is far from alone in doing so. In July of 2023, Quinn, a mononymous 27-year-old Canadian soccer player, became the first out transgender and nonbinary athlete to play in the FIFA World Cup. It was not the first time Quinn made history on the world stage. In summer 2021, they became the first out, trans-nonbinary athlete to compete in the Olympics, and the first to win a gold medal.

After the World Cup, Quinn helped launch the See Them, Be Them initiative, providing mentorship for teen girls and gender-diverse youth. The goal: to inspire young athletes, especially at an age when 82 percent of Canadian girls drop out of soccer. “We need more opportunities for girls and gender-
diverse soccer players to see their future in the sport,” Quinn wrote.

Both Quinn and Hiltz are careful to point out that their experiences do not represent those of all trans folks. “I compete as the sex I was assigned at birth, but I don’t want to be the poster child for every trans person,” says Hiltz. “If you are a trans woman, and you want to compete in the women’s category, I am so going to support you.”

Whether or not transgender women should be allowed to compete in the women’s category has become a cultural flash point. In 2023, a 27-year-old cyclist named Austin Killips became the target of anti-trans ire. On April 30, she became the first trans woman cyclist to win a professional stage race sanctioned by the UCI, road cycling’s international governing body. Killips’s win spurred criticism from media outlets and social media warriors alike. In response, the UCI banned trans women who transitioned after puberty from competing in the women’s category at any UCI-sanctioned event.

To a policy that effectively ended her career, Killips responded with broader concern. “I won’t be able to sleep at night if I’m not fighting for the next woman who deserves a shot at everything this sport has given me,” she wrote in her Substack newsletter, Estro Junkie. When Outside spoke with Killips in late June, she quoted a passage from Simone Weil reminding her “to respond to criticism in a way consistent with the world you want to see,” Killips said. “You can’t impart harm and expect it to resolve a conflict.”

The prospect of that future world remains uncertain. For Killips, Hiltz, and Quinn, it’s impossible to know what the policy landscape will look like in the coming years. What they do know is that sports provided a sense of belonging from an early age. They want other kids to feel that, too.

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Round-the-World Sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer Made History. Now She Dodges the Spotlight.

jversteegh — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:00:39 +0000

When the SOS message beeped on Kirsten Neuschäfer’s satellite device, she was piloting her 36-foot sailboat, Minnehaha, alone through the remote vastness of the Southern Ocean. She was two and a half months into the Golden Globe, an old-school, solo, nonstop sailing race around the world—run without use of most forms of modern technology, a challenge that many in the maritime community consider the greatest in sailing—and she had the lead. Fellow competitor Tapio Lehtinen’s boat had suddenly sunk, leaving the Finnish sailor adrift in a tiny raft far off the tip of the African continent. Neuschäfer changed course, sailed some hundred miles through the night, found the little raft in the huge and heaving ocean, and shared a glass of rum with Lehtinen before safely transferring him to a giant bulk carrier that had detoured from Singapore to help with the search. Then she turned the Minnehaha to the wind and kept racing.

Even after rescuing Lehtinen, Neuschäfer retained the lead in the perilous contest, which ultimately forced 13 of 16 entrants to drop out. When she crossed the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, on April 27, 2023—after 30,000 miles and 235 days without stepping off her boat—Neuschäfer became the first woman to win a circumnavigation race, crewed or solo, that involves navigating past the three great capes at the bottom of the world.

Neuschäfer, 40, doesn’t like the focus on her gender. She’s prouder that the win made her the first South African to win a round-the-world sailing event. “I think it’s quite a pity that the attention is due to the fact that I’m a woman rather than a sailor,” she told Outside. “I like to be on the playing ground as an equal.”

But the playing ground itself isn’t equal. Historically, women were barred from working on ships, and in our time they remain wildly underrepresented in sail racing, chartering, and sail training, and on superyacht crews. Discrimination still exists; in February, French sailor Clarisse Cremer, who holds the current record for fastest woman to sail solo around the world, was dropped by her sponsor in advance of the 2024 Vendée Globe after she took a break from sailing to give birth to her first child. Race organizers changed the qualifying process, increasing the number of sailing hours competitors needed to complete in the year prior to the event. (She has since found a new sponsor and is working toward qualifying for the race.)

In fact, Neuschäfer doesn’t like the spotlight, full stop. Competitors were required to send daily text message updates for race media, and hers often read merely: text. But she does acknowledge that there are positive aspects to the staggering amount of press coverage she received. “If there are women out there who’ve had a tough time getting into the sailing industry—or any industry that’s male dominated—and they feel, ‘She could do it, maybe I can also pursue my dream,’ then that’s a good thing,” she says.

The coverage has also helped draw attention to the Golden Globe. While other major circumnavigation races—like the Vendée Globe and the BOC Challenge—involve expensive, high-tech boats that race at high speeds, the Golden Globe hearkens back to a simpler era. The inaugural, legendarily disastrous Golden Globe was run in 1968, when nine men vied to be the first to sail solo, nonstop, around the world. Only one man finished the race. The rest sank, abandoned the journey, or, in one harrowing case, slipped into the sea in an apparent suicide. The Golden Globe was revived in 2018 and is run every four years. The course follows the same perilous route as the original: from Europe down the coast of Africa, around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, Australia’s Cape Leeuwin, and South America’s Cape Horn, returning north along the east coast of South America, and crossing the Atlantic back to Europe. Competitors, who are barred any outside assistance, sail with much the same technology used in 1968, in small boats, navigating with paper charts and sextant, catching rain for water, and communicating by radio.

Neuschäfer likes the Golden Globe because it’s old-school, which makes it more affordable than other sailing races. “It’s accessible to anyone who’s interested in adventure,” says Neuschäfer, a veteran thrill seeker. She cycled the full length of Africa at age 22, riding more than 9,300 miles through jungles and across the Sahara Desert, and sailed National Geographic and BBC film crews to wildly remote locations in the Southern Ocean. When she’s alone in the calm waters of the tropics, she sometimes drops sail and jumps into the ocean, swimming away from the boat “to get that feeling of vastness, that sense of eternity.”

If the buzz around Neuschäfer’s Golden Globe win “inspires people to follow their dreams to whatever degree,” she says, “then it has its worth in that.”

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Mikaela Shiffrin Gives a Lot of Interviews. This Time, We Had Her Mom Ask the Questions.

jversteegh — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:00:34 +0000

Mikaela Shiffrin had a banner year in 2023. On March 11, she notched her 87th World Cup win, breaking the record for most career victories, held for 34 years by Swede Ingemar Stenmark, considered by many to be the most successful ski racer of all time. Shiffrin is now the winningest racer in World Cup history—and at 28 years old, she has plenty of time to add to the tally.

She has a lot going for her, to say the least. Incredible discipline, strength, technical skill—you name it. But Shiffrin has long said that the secret to her success isn’t her time in the gym or a perfect ski tune. It’s her mom, Eileen Shiffrin. Eileen has coached and traveled with Mikaela since her first season on the World Cup circuit, at age 15.

Eileen is a former masters ski racer herself, but by the time Mikaela was notching her first results, she’d settled into a career as an ICU nurse. Eileen never set out to be a ski coach. But it was a natural fit, and the two Shiffrins made a remarkable, inseparable team. The few times Eileen has stepped away from her coaching role—once in 2015, and again in 2019—Mikaela’s results suffered. In 2020, they weathered the loss of Jeff Shiffrin, husband and father.

Instead of assigning a writer to interview Mikaela about her year, we decided we would pass the mic to Eileen, so she could ask her daughter about relationships, success, life in the public eye, and what’s next. They recorded this interview while Mikaela was in Portillo, Chile, for a preseason training camp.

Shiffrin doing a World Cup slalom run at Soldeu, Andorra, in March (Photo: David Ramos/Getty)

EILEEN SHIFFRIN: Last season was a really big year for our team. I know you said it was the first season since Dad passed where you really felt like you could focus for two runs on race day. I know you focus on process rather than on goals, but what did it feel like to reset Ingemar’s record? What motivates you now that that’s in the rearview?
MIKAELA SHIFFRIN: The whole time, I was mostly worried that I was going to break the record when you weren’t there. I was feeling the pressure, and I just didn’t want to think about it anymore. Then you came back to help with the season, and that was a deciding factor for me subconsciously. I thought, If it happens here I’m OK with it, because Mom’s here. It was like the universe said, It’s OK to do it now, because your family’s here. Let loose.

Once I did it, it just felt hectic. You get about ten and a half seconds to yourself, and then you’re thrown to the media and you have to start talking about how you feel before you’ve processed how you feel. I’ve realized that if you don’t let it sink in within the first 24 hours, it just never will. It’s been cool to come to camp and ski and not think about the record at all. I’m focused on working on my position, my downhill performance, and getting better at gliding. With slalom, there’s room for more precision. It’s really exciting to think that I still might be able to get faster.

Picking up glittering prizes at Soldeu and Meribel, France (Photos: David Ramos/Getty; Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty)

Would you say that your motivation comes from making small improvements over time?
Right, the record wasn’t a limit. It was just the furthest that anyone had gone up until that point.

It was a result of the process, which has always been your guiding light. The result was resetting Ingemar’s record. But what keeps you motivated is the process, and continuing to set yourself apart with better skiing. How has your relationship to being in the public eye changed since you first started getting attention for your racing?
I’m actually really interested to hear what you think about this one.

OK! I feel like you’re more comfortable than when you first started getting attention for your racing. I think it was exciting for you in the beginning, but also tiring. The hardest part was that you’re an introvert, and you were put in the spotlight.
It forced me to be more comfortable with myself. I still think back to the days at Burke Mountain Academy. If I had to go alone to the dining hall, I just wouldn’t go—I’d skip meals, because I had such a fear of showing up to a room alone. It’s already full, there are no seats open, and you’re just carrying your tray and standing there. Everybody’s already in their conversation. I felt like nobody was missing me, and I shouldn’t be there. That’s still my natural instinct. But somehow I’m more comfortable with just doing what I need to do, and existing how I want to exist, and not worrying about what eyes are on me anymore.

(Photo: Benjamin Rasmussen)

You and I have a multifaceted relationship. I’m your mom, and to some extent your manager and coach. We’re also best friends. A lot of people assume that it was hard for us to develop this dynamic. How do you feel about the relationship we have? Was it ever hard for you to trust me?
I remember when I was at Burke, and you had gotten a job nearby as a nurse at the St. Johnsbury Hospital, so you would be close when Taylor [her brother] and I were at boarding school. I remember you telling me about one of the parents who said something along the lines of, “Don’t you think it’s kind of strange for you and Mikaela to still be so close?” I think I was 14 at the time. And that’s a perspective a lot of people have had through our whole relationship, as you’ve developed from my mom to my coach to literally the manager of Team Shiffrin. I remember us both being frazzled by that question. Like, what’s wrong with being close to your family? What could possibly be wrong with that?

I felt like it was such a gift for us to be close. It also set me apart through my ski career—to have that closeness with you, and with Dad and Taylor, and just with family in general. There have been periods of time when I’ve been a little bit more difficult. But the fundamental premise in our family philosophy is to be close, loving, and caring. It has carried me through my career.

The post Mikaela Shiffrin Gives a Lot of Interviews. This Time, We Had Her Mom Ask the Questions. appeared first on Outside Online.

Remembering Tortuguita, the Environmental Activist Killed by Georgia Law Enforcement

jversteegh — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:00:13 +0000

Twenty minutes from downtown Atlanta sits the South River Forest, known as one of the city’s “four lungs.” Like similar green spaces in and around the neighborhoods of Buckhead, Cascade Heights, and Druid Hills, its vast tree canopy inhales carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen. For most of the 20th century, 300 acres of this land was a prison farm. Before that it was a slave plantation, and before that a home to the Muscogee people, who were violently forced out of what they call the Weelaunee Forest in the early 1800s. Since the 1990s, the abandoned woods and surrounding waterways have been treated as a dumping ground by local businesses and residents, leaving nearby, predominantly Black and lower-income neighborhoods to deal with the literal downstream effects. Yet its trees go on filtering rainwater, purifying the air, and counteracting the urban heat-island effect—in which paved surfaces trap solar energy and drive up ambient temperatures—breathing life into the metropolitan area by simply existing.

It was here that Manuel Paez Terán (who went by the name Tortuguita) took their last breath after law enforcement shot them at least 57 times during a multiagency raid on January 18. The 26-year-old was one of dozens of activists protesting the construction of a sprawling, $90 million training center for police and firefighters on 85 acres of the South River Forest. The project was spearheaded by the Atlanta Police Foundation. Approved by the Atlanta City Council in 2021, the campus—which opponents call Cop City—would include a shooting range, a driving course for practicing high-speed chases, and a mock village to rehearse raids. With Atlanta still reeling from the police killing of Rayshard Brooks in 2020, activists saw Cop City as a repudiation of protesters’ calls for racial justice and police accountability.

Questions linger about the circumstances of Terán’s death. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says that officers fired in self-defense after Terán shot a state trooper, who was seriously wounded. Authorities also allege that a handgun recovered from the scene belonged to Terán. But activists believe that the officer may have been struck by friendly fire. The state claims that there is no body-camera footage of the shooting itself, but in a video captured just after the incident, an Atlanta police officer is heard saying, “You fucked your own officer up.” He later approaches two other officers and asks, “They shoot their own man?” An autopsy by the DeKalb County medical examiner did not find gunshot residue on Terán’s hands, but further testing by state investigators revealed more than five “particles characteristic of gunshot primer residue.” The report also stated, “It is possible for victims of gunshot wounds, both self-inflicted and non-self-inflicted, to have [gunshot residue] present on their hands.”

In a statement, attorneys for Terán’s family referred to the test results as “inconclusive.” An earlier autopsy commissioned by the attorneys concluded that at the time Terán was shot, they were sitting cross-legged, with their hands in the air.

“There has always been a risk of violence in environmental activism,” says Keith Woodhouse, a history professor at Northwestern University. “But this is the first time ever, in the history of the United States, that there has been an environmental activist killed by law enforcement.”

The public may never know the truth about what happened to Terán. What’s clear is that they were an advocate for passive resistance. In an interview with reporter David Peisner last December, Terán said, “We’re not going to beat them at violence. They’re very, very good at violence. We’re not. We win through nonviolence.” After graduating magna cum laude from Florida State University, Terán became active in the organization Food Not Bombs, helping feed homeless people in Tallahassee. They were growing their hair long to donate to children with cancer, their brother Daniel Esteban Paez told the Associated Press. According to the DeKalb County medical examiner’s report, Terán’s black curls, pulled back in a ponytail, measured 12 inches in length.

The decentralized “Stop Cop City” movement has not been entirely peaceful. Demonstrators have thrown Molotov cocktails at police and torched construction vehicles. Georgia has charged dozens with domestic terrorism, a move that human rights groups have criticized as excessive and politically motivated. In a statement in March, the American Civil Liberties Union speculated that the state had leveled such extreme accusations because the protest “challenges the increasing militarization of the police.”

In October, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations announced the officers who shot Terán will not be charged.

Terán died rejecting the idea that training neighborhood cops to fight protesters like insurgents would increase public safety. Their spirit lives on as forest defenders cry, “¡Viva, viva Tortuguita! ¡Viva, viva Tortuguita!”

The post Remembering Tortuguita, the Environmental Activist Killed by Georgia Law Enforcement appeared first on Outside Online.

Colorado’s New Wolves Will be Named by Middle Schoolers. Well, Kind Of.

Fred Dreier — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 22:26:39 +0000

Ancient mythologists chose the name “La Lupa” for the wolf that, according to legend, mothered infants Romulus and Remus before they founded Rome. Rudyard Kipling called his fictional wolves “Raksha” and “Rama” in The Jungle Book. Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin titled his “Ghost,” “Grey Wind,” and “Nymeria.”

Now, Colorado middle schoolers get their chance to name the ten or so real-life wolves that are set to be released into the state’s western slope next month. But don’t worry, there’s a plan to prevent the animals from being called “Wolfy McWolfFace” or “Baron von Butthead” or some other ridiculous name.

In case you missed it, officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife are rushing this month to complete the final stages of the state’s three-year political saga of reintroducing grey wolves. In 2020, voters narrowly approved the controversial Proposition 114—which tasked the state to introduce and then manage gray wolves to backcountry areas west of the Continental Divide—and the plan gave the agency a deadline of December 31, 2023 to actually get a wolf into the wild. Wolves were hunted to extinction in Colorado in the early twentieth century, but animals have been found in the state in the last decade.

Since the 2020 vote, the agency has commissioned scientific studies, held local hearings, and solicited thousands of public comments—all important steps in the pre-management process. Last month, the agency even published a five-page leaflet titled “Living With Wolves” to help backcountry users educate themselves about recreating alongside the apex predators.

Now, the first collection of wolves are set to be trapped in Oregon and shipped to Colorado later this month. The impending arrival leaves a pressing question: what will Coloradans call the wolves? A statewide wolf rescue center called the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center recently decided to take on the task. The group has devised an online naming contest that is open to kids between fifth and eighth grade. Anyone in that grade range can email wolfcontestco@gmail.com and request to participate.

I know what you’re thinking: have we learned nothing from the many Internet naming elections gone awry? Well-meaning online votes like this have produced a British polar research ship named “Boaty McBoatface,” a whale called “Mr. Splashypants,” a pedestrian bridge named after actor Chuck Norris, and, very nearly, the Fort Wayne, Indiana “Harry Baals Government Building.” I don’t know about you, but I was hardly a model of maturity when I was 13. I think my wolf names of choice would have been “Metallica McMegadeth,” “BoJackson Jordan,” or “Beavis Redhotchilipeppers.”

The Wolf and Wildlife Center is wisely not allowing kids to write-in names for the vote. Instead, the nonprofit has selected a long list of 14 names for kids to choose from, and the names are particularly safe: Aspen, Luna, Maverick, Kekoa, Chinhook, Shadow, River, Star, Freedom, Amorak, Ghost, Sky, Spirit, and Raven. The name with the most votes will go to the first reintroduced wolf, and the name with the second-most votes will go to the second wolf, and so on.

Kelly Murphy, an animal care supervisor with the Wolf and Wildlife Center, told me that the innovative method was born out of time constraints and not fears over kids suggesting silly or offensive titles.

“Our original plan was to mimic previous efforts for naming endangered wolves which would ask students to write up a couple paragraphs about why they chose their suggested name and then mail them to a panel of volunteers who would manually sort through thousands of letters,” Murphy wrote in an email. “This method would require written permission from each student’s guardian to collect data from every participant. We also reached out to a few middle school educators who were concerned they would not be able to fit this project into their curriculum before the end of the year.”

Giving the kids suggestions simply speeds along the process, Murphy said.

I asked Murphy about the origins of the 14 names on the long list, and she they come from a variety of places, including from deceased wolves that had lived at sanctuaries. “They are powerful, easy to remember, and represent elements of the wild landscape that wolves will be returning to,” she wrote.

Alas, “Growly McFuzzface” simply didn’t match that criteria.

The post Colorado’s New Wolves Will be Named by Middle Schoolers. Well, Kind Of. appeared first on Outside Online.

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