The coronavirus pandemic of the past year prompted many across the United States to discover, and rediscover, the joys of being outdoors in nature. Across the country there were at times record numbers of visitors to our national parks, national forests, Bureau of Land Management Lands, and state park lands. You might call it a land rush, and one that saw quite a number of people invest in recreational vehicles and boats for their outdoor experiences.

This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at National Parks Traveler. Until just recently the Covid pandemic kept me close to home, but with vaccinations delivered, and the spread of Covid seemingly on decline, I’ve been able recently to get out into the parks. Over a period of four weeks, from mid-April into mid-May, I visited Capitol Reef and Grand Canyon national parks, and even spent four days sea kayaking at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah.

Joining me for that paddling adventure was Joe Miczulski, whose close friendship dates back more than five decades, beginning with two youngsters growing up in New Jersey. From that starting point, we have continually sought the outdoors, through organizing scouting, skiing, hiking and rafting. Together we’ve visited Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada and Yellowstone, hiked into the Sawtooth Wilderness, and rafted the Middle Fork of the Salmon. While Joe went into a recreation career with the U.S. Forest Service, I was able to stay close to the outdoors as a journalist.

On the second day of our Lake Powell journey, we paused to look back over our experiences in the outdoors and speculate over how the land-management agencies will manage the resources under the anticipated crush of visitation in the years ahead. We’ll join that conversation after a short break.