Blog Stew, according to George Leonard Herter's Celebrated Recipe

• A Web guide to the cult of George Leonard Herter, expert on hunting, fishing, cooking, surviving nuclear war, and living with a bitch. (Thanks for the link!)

• And George Herter would have had some pungent things to say about death by GPS! (Hat tip: Odious & Peculiar).

• Two Colorado state parks win environmental education awards, one for an art class in the spirit of Andy Goldsworthy (whose work, believe me, is not as simple as it looks).

Since 2009, the Art in Nature Program has been a terrific vehicle to engage youth from the juvenile justice system's probation department. The young people start out yawning, uninterested and fidgety, but once they get outdoors, that attitude changes. As they gather the natural materials, including leaves, rocks and branches from the ground, to create a piece of art, they become engaged both physically and emotionally. They become children again, laughing and playing in nature. A sense of pride and community develops within the young people as they build their sculptures and work together.

Pueblo Reservoir Sunset

Those are the Wet Mountains in the distance. (Click image to embiggen.) If you work for state parks, you are required to call this thirty-something-year-old body of water "Lake Pueblo."  Sounds better.

The little point in the foreground with the juniper growing out of it looks like some of the "Penrose-Rock outcrop complex," made of limestone and interbedded shale, if I read my soil maps correctly. They belong to the Penrose-Minnequa Association, which has its annual meeting the last Saturday of June at La Tronica's Italian restaurant in Pueblo. (Joke.)

Sometimes I think that if there were more colorful sandstone and less of the blah beige shale, this area would attract more Georgia O'Keefe wannabes.

Oh well, you take what you got. At least the walleye and crappie were biting.

High Country News Misrepresents National Parks Gun Law

On February 22, it became legal to carry concealed weapons in national parks and wildlife refuges according to the laws of the state in which they are located.

Most states require classroom instruction, a firing-range session, and a criminal background check in order to grant a concealed-carry permit. Vermont and Alaska do not require permits. Arizona permits "open" carry.

It's been a whole week, and mass carnage has not yet erupted.

Sitting her office, Betsy Marston, retired editor of High Country News, "views with alarm" the new regulations: "tourists around you might be packing an assault rifle."

(High Country News always seasons its good environmental reporting with plenty of stereotypes and liberal guilt.)

Right. Frankly, I doubt that Mrs. Marston could define "assault rifle" if you handed her a pencil and piece of paper. And even using Wikipedia evidently is too much trouble.

Let's go back to that key word: concealed. It means, "you can't see it," and that fact pretty rules out rifles and shotguns.

But why let simple facts get in the way of editorial opinions?

National parks are not always safe places, and the dangerous predators usually walk on two legs. (I prefer pepper spray for the four-legged type.)

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Sebastian of Snowflakes in Hell puts boots on the ground, looking for carnage in parks and monuments, but he finds none.

Funny about that.

Still Not Exactly the Joads

New York Times reporter Kirk Johnson tries to get a Grapes of Wrath vibe going in this story on nomadic retired volunteer parkies, but I don't think it works.

These people are not that desperate.

But if you like to travel, like outdoor-related work, and can stand dealing with the public, it's not a bad way to live.

State Parks Wants to Make Mountain Bikers Pay

Buried in a Colorado State Parks plan for more trails at Lake Pueblo State Park lies--surprise!--a plan to collect more fees from park visitors.

That's right, all you mountain bikers parking at the "red gate" and other access points on Colorado 96, the parks bureaucrats want some money out of you.

One official trailhead with parking, trail information signage, and a self-service pay station may be considered along Highway 96 at the area know as the “red gate”.

The parkies want to tag you too.

Day use and seasonal passes should become available to the trail user. A receipt and wire tag system similar to systems used by the Forest Service or ski areas could be used and displayed on the bicycle or horse while riding in the park. By accepting and paying the fees, the user is expected to follow trail etiquette and release the State of Colorado from liability.

Because there is nothing more important in being outdoors than liability issues.