Adventurer, outdoorsman, four-wheeler, author, and defender of sustainable outdoor motorized recreational access.
The Recreational Incident Command System (RICS) starts with a simple premise: everyone should have a job, know what that job entails, and understand how that job relates to the rest of the organization.
RICS then ties everyone together with a common organizational language and communications system, while establishing clear goals, objectives and expectations for getting the job done.
There’s an old military and fire service leadership concept that still applies today, whether you’re running a wildfire crew, leading soldiers in the field, or organizing a volunteer trail workday project out in the backcountry: Plan. Organize. Direct. Control.
Simple words. Big meaning.
If you’ve ever tried to pull together a multi-day volunteer work event with camping, hand tools, trail repairs, food, radios, safety briefings, and a bunch of hard-working volunteers showing up with high expectations, you already know one thing: If you don’t plan it well, it can turn into chaos in a hurry.
I had one of those random childhood memories pop into my head the other day.
Handkerchiefs. Hankies.
If you grew up in the 1950s and '60s like I did, you probably remember them. It seemed like nearly every grown man had a handkerchief stuffed somewhere in his pocket. My dad sure did.
California just approved the nation's first efficiency standards for replacement tires — and understandably, the off-road community is asking: What happens to our mud-terrain and aggressive off-road tires?
First, DON'T PANIC. California did not just make the tires on your 4x4 illegal.
By Del Albright
Over the years, I’ve written a lot about road closures, capacity, trail closures, travel management, route designation, wilderness, and access issues on public lands. Most of us in the outdoor recreation community know what a closure looks like. A gate across a road. A trail marked “closed.” A campground shut down.
But there is much more to this story...
It’s Time to Bring Back the Culture that
Built Places like the Rubicon Trail
I spent a good part of my life believing that if people simply understood why we take care of our trails, they’d do the right thing. Back in the early 2000s, that belief became the foundation for Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR). We weren’t just moving rocks, picking up trash, or organizing work parties. We were building a culture. We wanted every person who drove the Rubicon Trail to leave understanding that the privilege of access came with a responsibility to care for the place.
By Del Albright, Retired Fire Chief
Twenty-five years ago, we didn’t know there was a mega-fire generation. Back then, a 10,000-acre wildfire was a major event. Today, fires of 100,000, 300,000, and even 500,000 acres have become part of the annual conversation across the American West. That should concern all of us.
The Recreational Incident Command System (RICS) By Del Albright The Recreational Incident Command System (RICS) starts with a simple premis...
