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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has blocked a West Virginia mountaintop removal mining project, raising speculation that the agency might put an end to the destructive strip mining technique long criticized by outdoors recreation and environmental groups.. Citing the Clean Water Act, the EPA announced on January 13 that it would veto the permit for...

I like to feel the earth beneath my feet. Luckily for me, barefoot or “minimalist” running is all the craze in the running world.. A number of companies are already producing “barefoot” running shoes, including Nike, Newton and Vibram, and the popularity of this back-to-nature version of running has now pushed running shoe giant, New...

The locals were getting restless.. The afternoon heat in Paraguay was brutal and I was holding up the circle of five other women waiting for an ice cold drink of yerba mate under the shade of a tajy tree.. “It’s not a microphone,” Blanca teased, referring to the hollowed-out cow horn in my hand.. “Sorry,” I stammered.....

WingsuitA bird? A plane? Nah. Just a crazy man in a wingsuit flirting with death.. PLEASE watch the first shot of this short BASE jumping film by Jokke Sommer, showing fellow Norwegian Trond Teigen blazing past a group of onlookers with a wingsuit. It’s just…ridiculous!. The BASE jumping footage was shot in Switzerland and Norway.....

Oregon Scientific recently released the ATC9K HD All Terrain Video Action Camera, a new take-anywhere waterproof camera you can strap to a helmet, bike, kayak, surfboard … whatever.. The ATC9K shoots 1080 x 720p HD resolution video with 135 degree capture field of view. It’s shockproof and waterproof down to just shy of 66 feet. It’ll...

This is not your typical adventure race. The Aventurists, a group of Brits “fighting to make the world less boring” is accepting applications for 2010 Mongol Derby, a 620 mile race across the Mongolian Plateau — on ponies. To enter, you need to weigh less than 187 pounds and understand that the ponies are “small...

Going on an adventure is best. Next best: Rubbing it in your friends’ faces. If you’ve got a photo to prove it, even better.. To honor this esteemed tradition, STRAY now has it’s own . Flickr group for sharing photographs. The idea is for the group to serve. as a showcase for the inspiring photos...

National Geographic debuted a new channel this week called Nat Geo . Wild, featuring shows focused on nature and people who get up close and . personal with wildlife. . “For more than 30 years, National Geographic has been the leader in wildlife programming,” National Geographic wrote on the show’s blog. “Now, against a global...

Why do streams meander?. This very Zen question so perplexed scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, that they built a scale model of a living river bed in their laboratory.. They planted alfalfa seeds so the sprouts could serve as miniature . stand-ins for real vegetation such as trees and bushes. After they ran...

Headed off the grid, but still want the on-the-grid convenience of electricity? Backpackers, paddlers, mountain bikers and others can now carry a hydroelectric generating station into the backcountry.. Bourne Energy, a Malibu-California based company, has developed a portable device that can generate 500-watts of electricity when submerged in a stream or river. The stream flow...

In his proposed budget released earlier this year,  President Obama proposed increased funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program that protects natural, historic, recreational and other landscapes, according to Outdoor Alliance.. The administration is also considering creating 14 national monuments in nine states totaling about 13 millions acres.. The areas under consideration...