A message from county commissioner candidate, Christian Beckwith:
JACKSON, Wyo. — Around the country, our public lands and waters have never been more popular. With restaurants, bars, movie theaters, sporting events and other forms of “entertainment” closed off, people are going outside in record numbers.
This is a good thing: outdoor recreation offers physical and mental health benefits that reduce medical costs, increase cognitive performance, lower cortisol levels and address social isolation and loneliness – health conditions that are increasingly recognized as economic, psychological and social strains on our individual and national wellbeing.
There is, however, a dark side to increased time outside: impact. And this summer we’re feeling it in spades here in Teton County.
New social trails, illegal camping sites, increased fire hazards and increased pressures on our wildlife and their habitat are just a few of the consequences of greater use. As one employee of the Bridger Teton National Forest noted, “This year, every day is Eclipse Day.”
The citizens of this community have a keen understanding of the value of public lands, and the need to fully fund the agencies that manage them.
That same appreciation does not extend to the state and federal levels. As Friends of the Bridger-Teton National Forest notes on their website, “Since 2009, the BTNF has lost nine full-time recreation positions and suffered a 63% decrease in their infrastructure and maintenance budget.”
As a result, the BTNF is even less well equipped to handle the impacts of this summer than historically they have been.
Fortunately, private citizens are stepping up—and stepping into Jackson Hole’s conservation legacy in the process.
In October, a group of concerned citizens is organizing a community-wide clean-up of our public lands. Our local climbing organization, The Teton Climbers’ Coalition, recently completed an effort to rehabilitate the trails and belay platforms of Rodeo Wall as well.
It’s going to take more than small groups of citizens to help address the impacts, though. We need to encourage outdoor recreationists as a community to recreate responsibly—and to provide them with a blueprint for better stewardship.
Fortunately, one already exists.
In 2015, 15 outdoor recreation enthusiasts, conservation advocates and public land managers convened at the Murie Center in Grand Teton National Park to explore ways to better protect America’s outdoor heritage.
Over two days, the participants, who came from the three interest groups in roughly equal proportion, developed the Principles for Advancing Outdoor Recreation and Conservation—a set of principles that would help with the protection of our public lands, waters and wildlife.
To support the Principles, our organization, SHIFT, subsequently developed The SHIFT Pledge: six points tied to the corresponding six Principles that encourage outdoor recreationists to:
- FIGHT for our public lands and waters.
- PRACTICE responsible recreation that’s inclusive and informed by a conservation ethic.
- MINIMIZE impacts and conflicts with other users.
- CONTRIBUTE solutions to land-management, conservation and recreation problems.
- RESPECT land-management rules and regulations.
- SUPPORT long-term funding solutions that protect the environment and advance responsible recreation.
Now more than ever, those of us in love with outdoor recreation have a responsibility to take care of the lands and waters in which play. Helping with the community cleanup, adopting the Principles, taking the SHIFT Pledge and becoming proactive stewards of our public lands are a few of the ways we can and should do so.
A full history of the Principles may be found here.
