Your daily outdoor news bulletin for June 5, the day FDR took the United States off the gold standard in 1933, completely changing the global economy and making Fort Knox the target of Goldfinger’s evil plot.
S.W.E.A.T. Needs Your Help in GSMNP
The Smoky Wilderness Elite Appalachian Trail Crew (S.W.E.A.T. – Get it?) has had a rash of drop outs and is in need of more volunteers this summer. Part of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Trail Crew Program, SWEAT volunteers hike into the backcountry of Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a week of trail work – accompanied by a paid leadership staff member. The ATC provides everything you need: food, shelter, tools, transportation (except for the hike in, of course), camping gear, and safety equipment. Working on the SWEAT crew is a great resume builder (volunteering, resource management, environmental stewardship, chainsaw certification, etc.) and a feel-good enterprise for anyone who loves the outdoors.
For more information on SWEAT and how to sign up, click here.
North Carolina Hates Fishermen and Money
The State of North Carolina had the opportunity to place three species of fish under official “gamefish” status, both protecting the fish and raising huge amounts of revenue from the crazies that are obsessed with them, but they didn’t. House Bill 983, “The Fisheries Economic Development Act,” would have given redfish, spotted seatrout, and inland striped bass the “gamefish” designation, effectively preventing them from being caught by commercial fishermen, only recreational fisherman. As the article points out, “The combined economic output of recreational fishing for these three species was $131.4 million in 2012. The recreational fishery supported 1,267 jobs. The combined economic output of commercial fishing for these three species was $3.3 million. The commercial fishery supported 67 jobs.” This seems like a no-brainer to anyone who knows anything about numbers and money, and yet, the bill died with no vote, and will not be heard on the floor.
Nice work. More reaction, good and bad, here.
Disc Golfers Rejoice!
The Charlottesville City Council has approved the largest addition to its park system in decades in the form of a new disc – don’t call it frisbee, bro – golf course right downtown. The Meadow Creek Stream Valley Master Plan calls for linking two existing parks and adding an additional 40 acres of park land, which will include the disc golf course. David Vance of the Blue Ridge Disc Golf Club is taking the lead in designing what will be a 9-hole course: “The beautiful thing about having a course here in town is we’ll be able to get a lot more people out at the lunch break or right after work’s over,” he told the Charlottesville Newsplex. It’s been hard for Charlottesvillians to get their disc on, with the nearest course – Walnut Creek, which is an excellent track – nearly 10 miles outside of town. This will be a much simpler commute, to say the least.
