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The Joy Trip Project

Commentary, Diversity / 01.01.2018

There’s a moment in public speaking when you know you’ve got them. Someone in the back of the room shakes their head.  Tongues click with disgust. Oh the injustice! A sharp intake of breath from the third row sets the hook as others gasp, right on cue. A grown man wipes a tear from his eye.  Then, at the end, there’s the question I’m so often asked: “What can we do to help?” Over much of the last two years I’ve traveled around the country presenting to audiences on...

Capitol Christmas Tree, Photography / 02.12.2017

The 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree has arrived in Washington D.C.! After a long journey of more than 3,000 miles, this 79-foot Engelmann Spurce was delivered by members of the U.S. Forest Service to the grounds of the United States Capitol where it will be decorated and set alight on December 6, 2017. In partnership with the non-profit Choose Outdoors, photojournalist James Edward Mills of the Joy Trip Project had the honor of taking an extensive series of photographs of the People's Tree from the moment it was harvested...

Capitol Christmas Tree, Charitable Giving, Environmental Protection, Essays, Video / 21.11.2017

By his own admission, Montana sawyer, Pete Tallmadge thought surely someone else would be a  better choice for the job. “When Kirsten Kaiser the 3 Rivers District Ranger called and asked if I would consider being the sawyer for the 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, I just about said ‘no’,” he told a crowd of neighbors, friends and family near his home in Troy, Montana. “To tell you the truth, I immediately thought of 3 or 4 other sawyers that she should call instead.” But the tall gentle man rose...

Adventure Activism, Diversity, Environmental Protection, Essays, Latino Outdoors, National Monuments, National Parks, Natives Outdoors, Outdoor Recreation, Public Land, Special Events / 06.11.2017

On the last night of the SHIFT Festival in Jackson, Wyoming the organizers hosted an after-party at the Organic Lotus Restaurant. By 1:AM a steady beat of house music still roused a group of at least 30 Millennials to dance away the night well into the morning. Damp with sweat I sidled over to the bar for a drink of water. Even after a double hip replacement it doesn’t take much to get this aging Gen-Xer out on the dance floor. Inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of...

Commentary, Diversity, Madison, Nelson Institute, Yosemite / 23.10.2017

Much of the past weekend I spent happily lamenting an embarrassment of excellent choices. It seemed that the third week of October 2017 was an exceptionally good moment in time to explore, discuss and celebrate the emergence of diversity within the environmental conservation movement. There were at least four events across the country that brought together people of color to share their efforts to make the outdoors more welcoming and accessible to a broader cross-section of the American people. Sadly I was only able to attend two of...

Environmental Justice, Film Review, Food, Gardening, Interview, Podcast, Sustainable Living, Urban Agriculture, Wisconsin / 20.10.2017

It was the summer of 2017 and I was just coming off a major reporting project. I’d spent the better part of a year working on series of stories about the private land owners, farmers and ranchers and their relationship with the natural world. Modern agriculture is such a big deal, because things like soil health and water quality directly impact the nutrition, physical health and wellbeing of people all over the world.  But farms no matter how big or small also have a profound effect on the...