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Showing posts with the label national forests

What to do at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

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 The Apostle Islands National Lake Shore is a fantastic travel destination for almost anyone, from families with children to the most adventurous explorers, foodies, and beach bums. Here is a breakdown of some of the most popular activities in the Bayfield Penisula in northern Wisconsin. I will break down these activities into summer and winter seasons, so you can navigate to the more appropriate list based on when you will be traveling.  This article is a follow-up to my last post about where to stay while visiting Apostle Islands National Lake Shore. While that article is not exclusively for campers, I made sure to summaries all the amenities that would be most important for car camping folks to figure out where to stay.  NOTE: Due to changes in staffing and funding in 2025, please check with any NPS or National Forest sites you plan on visiting to confirm that campgrounds and amenities are still open. Summer in and around Apostle Islands Hiking The Bayfield Peninsula ...

American Nomads Have a Problem: Public Land on the Line in 2025

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  I have been thinking a lot lately about the political situation here in the United States, and it has made me rethink how I approach writing about travel and the great outdoors. For this reason, what I post going forward might look very different from the rest of my work here. One of the first acts of the new presidential administration here was to strip multiple federal agencies of employees, especially provisional employees (meaning new or recently promoted employees who have fewer workplace protections). This has hit public lands like national forests and national parks especially hard, leaving some of the most expansive parks in America with just a handful of full-time employees to manage maintenance and services for guests. In my home-base state of Iowa, Ranger Brian Gibbs’ Facebook post about being fired from Effigy Mounds National Monument went viral.    Observing the nomad and camping communities As someone with a degree in politics (separate from the f...