Post date: Dec 20, 2012 4:25:43 AM
Following our post on who's been nice this year, we got a ...well, a NICE note on one of the message boards from Peter McClure, of the Interpretative Guides Association at Rocky Mountain National Parks, Canada. Peter suggested that there were a few more people to thank....
"I'd like to add a bunch, too.
All the organizations that promote and lobby to protect the wilderness, like the Nature Conservancy, EcoJustice, LeaveNoTrace, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Association, the Jasper Environmental Association and Wildsmart, the Interpretive Guides Association and the AMG/ACMG/IFMGA, and all the Alpine and Mountain Clubs around the world.
SAR Techs, (often unpaid volunteers) who get called out in the very worst weather at the most inconvenient times, to rescue the people who, for whatever reason, get lost or injured in the backcountry.
More volunteers - all the people who take a day or a weekend to get out and maintain the trails we all enjoy. People like Dieter Kepper, who with just his mountain bike and chainsaw made it his mission to cut the deadfalls off all the 1,000 km of trails in Jasper. All the people and the companies who donated material or money to help them all do it.
And a personal thanks to Hostels International, which provides inexpensive accomodation in the mountain parks. I sure couldn't afford to be out there every weekend if I had to pay hotel prices in a resort town!"
Thank you Peter, for some excellent suggestions. And if we're ever up in the Blue Canadian Rockies...,we certainly look foward to giving you a call.