Outdoor reads: Good news for Carolina retailers and musings on the true value of wild places

What did the SNEWS team read this week that other industry insiders might find interesting? Read on to find out.

• People are changing how they use public lands in North Carolina, and the U.S. Forest Service is unsure how to manage those lands as a result. The Forest Service is hosting a series of six public meetings to formulate a clear land management mission to balance the needs and wants of the mountain biking and hiking community with hunting and logging interests. Check out this story for more information.
• Good news for outdoor enthusiasts in North Carolina: The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy recently purchased a conservation easement on 84 acres on the popular mountaintop that spans both Buncombe and Henderson counties. The action will conserve the land and its views, and create a link in a regional trail system that will connect Upper Hickory Nut Gorge to Chimney Rock State Park. Check out this Citizen Times story.
• It’s not just our colleagues here at Active Interest Media who are trying to save the planet by biking to work. According to this USA Today story, tennis star Serena Williams recently pedaled to a match to bypass traffic.
• Diversity in the outdoor industry is an important issue to the SNEWS team, and we’ll keep bringing you thought-provoking reads like this one in the Washington Post about the sole African-American river keeper of at least 200 worldwide: Fred Tutman. He’s an advocate for attracting more people of color into environmental and conservation callings.
• Wow. That’s what we said when we read this piece by Nikki Hodgson on the true value of wilderness. Our industry has demonstrated the economic value of preserving wild places, yet public lands remain under threat. Hodgson writes it’s even more essential because “there is no way to measure the necessity of wilderness to the human soul.”

• Skydiving. We weren’t sure we wanted to try it before. We do now, after reading this Vancouver Sun story set in New Zealand. The author’s description of the terrain, the thrill of ziplining and skydiving, even of the insects, left us wanting to book a trip.

• To do all that skydiving, some of us will have to overcome fear. According to this Positively Positive post, the are health benefits to overcoming fear, such as increased ability to recognize threats.

• Thrill-seeking drives new inventions in our industry. So what’s to come? Check out this post on up-and-coming endurance sports like horse surfing and wine-fueled marathons in France.

• Speaking of the positive impact the outdoor industry has on the economy, the South Florida Sun Sentinel recently published this story, reporting that the outdoor industry created upward of 330,000 jobs and $10.7 billion in wages in the state.

• Protein bars and shakes have been a hit in the fitness and outdoor industries for years. Now it seems the ingredient is booming at the mainstream level. “When the box says ‘protein,’ shoppers say ‘I’ll take it,’” reports the Wall Street Journal in this article.

–Compiled by Ana Trujillo and David Clucas