I'm home now, feeling wistful about my days in the mountains. It's always good to be home, see family and friends, start the intellectual wheels churning again. But, still... While I ate breakfast this morning, I read through a free magazine I picked up at the Boulder Farmer's Market called "Boulderganic: Bringing self-sufficiency and sustainability home."
"In Boulder, people like to move. While many studies suggest that group fitness and group sports might be the way to go, finding an outlet for group exercise can sometimes be a challenge-- especially in a community as transient and busy as Boulder." So, a couple of UC alumni created a website designed to connect Boulder's "fitness community". It's called BoulderActive.com. You can find a person who shares your hobby, or try something new.
A separate article entitled "Can we stop loving Mother Nature to death?" provided some tips for both enjoying and protecting the wilderness. "Coloradoans love their outdoors. This is why people move here. It's why people stay here. It's why they live here. They love visiting wilderness," says Ralph Swain, US Forest Service regional wilderness service manager. With 3 million people living along or near the Front Range, the recreational activities effects soil, vegetation, wildlife and water.
How do people protect the wilderness that they so love? A few tips included- educate yourself; stay on the paths; be sure fires are out; manage food, trash and waste. Maybe the most important thing is to keep in mind the words of The Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on September 3, 1964. "A wilderness... is recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." Read that last phrase again-- where man (woman) is a visitor.
