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Join us as we follow the planet-serving, public lands-preserving, conservation movement-girding adventures of SCA members all over the country.

Love public lands? You’d better visit them

By Justin “JB” Brimer / Allegheny National Forest

Fallon was speaking to a crew of SCA leaders that finished a 50 foot rock retaining wall at Tracy Ridge, ANF’s most popular day-use recreation site. “In fact,” Fallon said, “there is no way we could have done in three years what you just did in 3 weeks.” ... read more

Water isn't Sorry That It Ruined Your Weekend

By Justin “JB” Brimer / Allegheny National Forest

Rain is nature’s way of saying, “I don’t care what you have planned, this is right, this is necessary and this is going to happen.” Rain shows that no matter where we go, what we do, or how important we think we are, we are not entirely in control. At times, nature is still calling the shots. And sometimes, the best we can do is to shut up and listen ... read more

Norming to Performing

By Venice Wong / Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Goodbyes are never easy, and the aimless walks, meaningful conversations, and spontaneous games among many things will be missed. It’s going to be hard not falling asleep to the eerie howls of coyotes, or a full moon adorning the star speckled sky ... read more

We've been on the run, driving in the sun

By Venice Wong / Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Early into the work, the NPS botanist heard the growl of a mountain lion and informed us to be on the alert. Like most animals mountain lions prefer to stay away from humans but this particular one was reported to have kittens ... read more

If everybody had an ocean

By Venice Wong / Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Wednesday was a recreation day! Breakfast was an hour earlier to make up for the extra time it took to get to Channel Islands National Park. Sea lions acted as gatekeepers to the ocean, and en route dolphins swam along the boat and in its wake ... read more

Waders Are Right for Wading Right In

By Venice Wong / Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

15 of us volunteered to put on waders and work on the miniature islands, with some of us getting to set an osprey perch into the ground ... read more

Conservation is more than a lifetime

By Venice Wong / Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

It would be an understatement to say that I’m pretty stoked for a spring break of camping and good ol’ conservation work. And as much as I actually enjoy the rainy and overcast weather that’s typical of Washington, I can’t wait to get some sun working throughout the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area ... read more

Big Cypress: Week in Review

By David Krantz / Big Cypress National Preserve

Exploring a gator pond in a swampy cypress mound. Knee deep in water. Orchids on the trees. Clearing a house to return the area to nature, a bat flies out of a cabinet. A bird nest with three eggs sits on the bathroom shelf. A tree frog jumps from the window ... read more

Machetes for Woodpeckers

By David Krantz / Big Cypress National Preserve

Matt, a forestry technician with the preserve, has just driven us for the past hour in a swamp buggie – think of a four wheeler on steroids, with tires about 3.5 feet tall – along the Rock Road Offroad Vehicle Trail. The land on which we’re standing is scheduled to be burned in a controlled fire this summer ... read more

A Sea of Grass

By David Krantz / Big Cypress National Preserve

In a year or so, if all goes as planned, cypress saplings will replace the abandoned garages and houses of today, and in the summer a sheet of fresh water will flow across them. In seven years those trees will be about 10 feet tall; and in 20 years they will tower over the wetlands. The roadways will be leveled and the canals will be refilled, allowing the sawgrass to return and the water to flow as it previously had for thousands of years ... read more