By Kathy Chouteau
Community members heading out to East Bay Regional Parks Sat., June 19 will have their park entry and some other fees waived as part of a Park District partnership with Outdoor Afro to commemorate Juneteenth. On that day in June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, 250,000 enslaved black Americans in Texas were informed of their freedom.
Park District fees that will be waived on Juneteenth include park entrance, parking, dogs, horses, boat launching and fishing, according to district officials. The fee waiver won’t apply to swimming, camping and reservable picnic facilities (due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions), district concessions such as the Tilden Merry-Go-Round and Redwood Valley Railway steam train, among others and state fees. Fishing licenses and watercraft inspections for invasive mussels are among the state fees that won’t be waived Saturday.
1 The attraction: Acadia national park, Maine (3.5m annual visits) The alternative: Voyageurs national park, Minnesota (237,000 visits) Location: Northern Minnesota, on the Canadian border Best place to stay: Camping near Kabetogama lake, for the incredible quiet Best entry point: Start paddling from Ash river visitor center When you think of stunning waterscapes, places like Acadia national park in Maine and Olympic national park in Washington.
Elk In Appalachia
Across Appalachia, there are several efforts to reintroduce elk back to the forest. There’s a project in North Carolina, another in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia. And in Kentucky, an elk project is now in its second decade. Reporter Irina Zhorov spent some time there to learn why so much energy has been spent reintroducing elk to the Bluegrass State.
Albert Herring
Reintroducing Elk In Appalachia
Five years ago, West Virginia launched its own elk reintroduction project, inspired by Kentucky’s. State officials estimate it could eventually give a $3 billion hunting and tourism boost to the economy.
Adrienne L. Hollis, climate justice and health scientist
Hollis work: Hollis oversees the development and implementation of programs to measure and track the health impacts of climate change on communities of color and other traditionally disenfranchised groups at the Union of Concerned Scientists, according to the organization s website. She is developing new research to understand how climate change affects health and makes policy recommendations to foster inclusiveness and greater benefits to underserved communities. (Read more here.)
Photo courtesy Adrienne Hollis
Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists
The diversity she has observed in her career: Hollis began her research on issues related to health effects from ozone exposure more than 30 years ago, she says. During that time, there was very little or no diversity in related industries or companies, and very little in academic studies in general.