Taking Action Part 3: Actions You Can Take At Home
- Tiff
- Mar 28
- 6 min read
If the world seems heavy lately, know that you’re not alone. I hope to provide a little light for an uncertain time.
I’m writing a four-part series to go over a little how to cope with right now. And, beyond coping, the actions and preparations you can take involving the United States Park System, like what to expect when visiting parks this year. You’ll see this intro at the start of each blog post.
I know I have quite a few readers from Canada (thank you so much), so you can skim the voting stuff for the U.S., but everything else is applicable, so hang tight :-) I’m making this fairly short so they can be digestible. If you have comments or tips to add, PLEASE do so!
Part 3: Action You Can Take At Home
Part 4: General Ramblings, Concerns, and Hopes
Thanks for reading. Let’s get started!
An Update Before Jumping Into Action
Well it has just been a whirlwind of events, hasn’t it? Since the last couple of blog posts:
federal workers are now in a work/not work purgatory
Some- but not all park campsites are open to summer reservations
Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), released a statement addressing the seemingly flippant but truly damning intentions of the administration's dismantling of our parks
and so much more news that gets lost in the onslaught of other news
Forestry News
In more poignant news concerning this blog, federal tree planting program funding for the Arbor Day Foundation, which gives grants to nonprofits, was cut due to its “DEI alignment.” The Trump administration is saying “Let’s take everything good and green and lively in this world and set it on fire.” The funds being cut are grants for the Arbor Day Foundation, which gives grants to nonprofits that are trying to replant trees after natural disasters. These include efforts in New Orleans by the nonprofit group Sustaining Our Urban Landscape. New Orleans is still suffering after Katrina. The southern Oregon nonprofit group Our Community Forestry is also feeling the effects of grant slashes. The group's efforts are focused on restoration after the Almeda fires on the Rogue River.
Learn more about the Almeda fire restoration grant funding cuts here.
Better Forestry News
Thankfully, we have politicians like Washington State Governor Pete Ferguson, who is partnering with conservation groups to restore the Hoh Rainforest and Mount Olympus. The park is set to reopen around May!
I know many of you probably thought my patience was already a sliver of what it once was. But now that sliver has been set on fire. Oh, also we’re losing the Department of Education. I’m trying y’all, I’m really trying to keep this blog a happy travel tips blog, but holy wow. ANYWAY, let’s get to the good parts of this world, and the main purpose of this post.
How to Take Action at Home
This is the third part of the action plan for staying vigilant in loving our planet.
Let's discuss what you can do at home to protect national forests, land, and the environment in general. The madness is overwhelming and heavy. So let’s hone in on what we can do.
Join A Local Trail Association
Join a club, nonprofit, organization, or association for trails! Here are your instructions:
Google [your state here] trail association
Click the clubs and associations that come up!
It’s that easy! You might need to change some verbiage, like typing “trail cleanup clubs,” or “outdoor conservation clubs,” or something along those lines. It will take 45 seconds max to figure out the organizations your state has.
After you find a club of your liking and locational convenience, you can sign up to volunteer on trail cleanups! It’s awesome!
For my Washingtonians and Oregonians out there, the Washington Trails Association, Cascade Volunteers, and Northwest Trail Alliance are some good places to start.
Get involved with a group and keep our trails accessible.
Bring Trash Bags On Walks
More of a solo adventure option is to simply take a trash bag or grocery bag on a hike. Clip it to your backpack, and put the litter you find inside that bag. SO EASY! I’ve started bringing a garbage bag with me on hikes and it’s shocking how much micro trash you’ll pick up. It’s the little things, folks.
Plant Trees!
The Trump Administration is trying to profit off our forests by chopping them all down (link is to H.R. 471, currently passed by the House and received by the Senate as of 3/26/25). Every tree you plant counts!
And it’s easy! You don’t even have to do it alone. Take Friends of Trees in Portland and Eugene, OR, for example. They send professionals out to you to see what the local ordinances are (which tree species and where they’re allowed), and then they GIVE YOU A TREE! Then you plant it. It’s incredible, they’re incredible. Sign up, volunteer, and do all you can do.
When you plant a native tree in your occupied space, you protect your soil, conserve water, provide habitat, and bring back the nature that was chopped away in the first place. You also have a tree to nurture until it gets strong enough to nurture you.
Donate
Ah yes, the scary D-word. Put your money where your mouth is! Donate to national, state, and local agencies and nonprofits that continue conservation efforts.
If you’re here for National Park tips and tricks— you’re in the right place, maybe just not the right blog post. BUT you can donate to National Park conservation efforts like the National Park Foundation and the National Parks Conservation Association.
If you want to protect a certain species, literally just Google (or Bing, if you prefer), that specific animal and conservation groups that protect it. By all means, try not to get scammed, so do your research.
No matter what you care about, if you have money to donate, consider doing so to efforts that share your values. Is it frustrating that corporations have many more funds than the peasants that can give some dollars here and there? Of course. But that doesn’t mean you can’t spend your money on organizations that progress your values.
Start A Natural Habitat
Do you own land? Rent or own a house with a yard? Rent an apartment with space for a garden box? Work at a building that has a scrap of land around it? Let me tell ya, where there’s dirt, things will grow.
Instead of letting those growing things be weeds and city trash, transform your space into a natural habitat (no matter how big or small).
Washington and Oregon have this wonderful program called the Backyard Habitat Certification Program where you can make your space a wildlife habitat and have access to resources to support that transformation. The National Wildlife Federation has ways to make your property into a native plant sanctuary. Again, Google your state and see what programs it has to offer. You have the resources available. Look them up and use them. If you're a city-dweller, there are TONS of urban gardening groups that will support you (or that you can support).
Happy planting!
Vote for Conservation
Put your vote where your values are. Do you think our land should be protected? Vote that way.
Check out the League of Conservation Voters (shoutout to Bruce for the introduction)! They have amazing strategies for elections and information about what’s going on in the world of policy and legislation. There are also League of Conservation Voters per state, meaning you can join the effort in the state where you live! Yippee!!!
In addition to special elections, the big one to look at is the congressional election on November 3, 2026. Be ready before then. Get involved with local politics. Door knock. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to people and have discussions with those who you disagree with. Continue to send letters/emails to your current congress members, as discussed in part 1 of this series.
And, if you’re one of my Canadian readers… 1. I’m sorry on behalf of all of us across the border and; 2. Thanks for hanging in here. I know the voting content is mostly directed to people who live in the U.S. and; 3. Again, my deepest apologies. Just make an infinity list in your mind that I say that over and over
There you have it, folks! Part 3 of this series on how to take action! If you have any other suggestions for actions you can take at home, please comment below or send me a message so I can add it here!
Thank you for reading and supporting my words <3. Let’s protect nature, and remember that every effort counts.
XO, Tiff
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