The YMCA Should Not Need a Guide-Outfitter Permit, a Special Use Permit, a National Environmental Policy Act Assessment, and a Business Plan to Take Poor Kids into National Forests

1.0Sightline Institutehttps://www.sightline.orgAlan Durninghttps://www.sightline.org/profile/alan-durning/The YMCA Should Not Need a Guide-Outfitter Permit, a Special Use Permit, a National Environmental Policy Act Assessment, and a Business Plan to Take Poor Kids into National Forests - Sightline Instituterich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="7uS6LvsRqG"><a href="https://www.sightline.org/2011/06/20/the-ymca-should-not-need-a-guide-outfitter-permit-a-special-use-permit-a-national-environmental-policy-act-assessment-and-a-business-plan-to-take-poor-kids-into-national-forests/">The YMCA Should Not Need a Guide-Outfitter Permit, a Special Use Permit, a National Environmental Policy Act Assessment, and a Business Plan to Take Poor Kids into National Forests</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.sightline.org/2011/06/20/the-ymca-should-not-need-a-guide-outfitter-permit-a-special-use-permit-a-national-environmental-policy-act-assessment-and-a-business-plan-to-take-poor-kids-into-national-forests/embed/#?secret=7uS6LvsRqG" width="600" height="338" title="“The YMCA Should Not Need a Guide-Outfitter Permit, a Special Use Permit, a National Environmental Policy Act Assessment, and a Business Plan to Take Poor Kids into National Forests” — Sightline Institute" data-secret="7uS6LvsRqG" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> https://www.sightline.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/no-hiking-sign1.jpg317298Last summer, I took a four day hike through the high backcountry of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area in the Washington Cascades. I’m an experienced mountaineer, accustomed to rugged terrain and steep slopes, so I was impressed when after a long day and miles of off-trail travel I heard the voices of young teenage boys wafting toward me from near the Tank Lakes. These remote tarns are in a place that feels like God’s own patio—clean-polished stone slabs holding aloft crystalline ponds that reflect the surrounding summits of black rock and glacier ice. I later met the intrepid boys, expecting them to be a group from the high-priced and famously hardcore National Outdoor Leadership School. Instead, I found a dozen teens many of whom had never previously camped a night in their lives.