Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Fishing For Geotourism

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
WRIT LARGE

National Geographic Helps
nice map / PDF for free
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& an interesting blog or two

{click on images for larger view}

.. The National Geographic Society, the National Park Service, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, the United States Forest Service, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the Bureau of Land Management, to name a few, have teamed up to produce a "MapGuide" for our neighborhood.
.. According to an article in the Billings Gazette there will be 100,000 free maps to inform visitors of the area's unique lands, wildlife and people. (We're as unique as it gets out here.) Sadly there is no mention of how to obtain one if you just happen to be one of the neighbors and want one too.
.. It is possible to download a PDF file of surprising detail.
-->Page one "Yellowstone Lands Map" can be downloaded HERE.
-->Page two "Yellowstone Themes Map" can be downloaded HERE.
.. These files are large and detailed. Even a 28" monitor can only display parts of them at 100% of image size.
.. You won't find any secret fishing spots, but the expansive area covered truly goes to show why this corner of the world draws visitors from around the globe. Only the highlights are detailed on the map, but as any of our neighbors, or any local Chamber of Commerce will tell you: 'It takes more than one lifetime to even scratch the surface.' There are over 800 map points included in this publication.
.. The MapGuide title is encompassing, ("Yellowstone and Beyond, an ecosystem to experience,") and the geography of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is magnificently diverse. There is also supposed to be a companion website, but the URL was not mentioned in the press report. We'll continue to search.
.. There is an 'unveiling ceremony' in Helena today, (Tuesday, March 31, 2009.) We're sending a courier to retrieve a 'free' sample.

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.. We hope this one lasts. "Old Timey Gear," is a blog about good gear, still being used today. We, however, on occasion, do pine for the 'good old days.'
MONEY QUOTE:
. . . "despite the somewhat campy title, this blog wasn’t started to be nostalgic, to pine for the “good old days” etc. - but instead to highlight gear still being made the way people used to make outdoor gear when it was equipment you truly had to depend on; maybe even would be gear that, with care, could be handed down to your children when the time came. An approach, and a pride in craftsmanship, that is all too rare these days . . ."
.. We'll be following along.
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.. We periodically check out the down under scene at BISH ON FISH. His catalog of quotes - fishing and otherwise, has reached to over 750.
.. The quotes page has a button that grabs a random quote and gives it to you - nice.
.. He just posted one that brings tears to our eyes and joy to our heart.
“There isn't any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know.”
. . . Ernest Hemingway