Firstly, I want to let everyone know that Kade is now a free man.

No, he wasn’t picked up by rogue Federal agents and whisked away to a black site. He’s just going to stretch his legs a bit away from the world’s top bookseller.

Yes, the entire Fort Black Thriller series is now slated to be released everywhere!

Well, almost. We’ve got a few outlets lagging. Also, the series will be on a monthly release schedule so you might have to wait a bit for the entire collection, but if the reviews from Amazon are any indication, it’s well worth it!

By the end of the month, we’ll also have the audiobooks live. That way you can enjoy the excitement in audio, digital, and paperback.

And no, I’m not stopping you from buying all three formats…

The time spent in KU with Amazon was a blast. All told, the series moved 8,000 copies and earned over 4,000,000 page reads in Kindle Unlimited!

It was an amazing run. Unstoppable – much like Kade. But with the audio release imminent, I made the decision to leave KU.

Why? The audio version will soon be available at Barnes and Noble, Apple, Spotify, Kobo, and a whole range of retailers. That said, I wanted the eBook and paperback copies available in those stores as well.

It’s a risky move. One Kade would appreciate. But I need your help to spread the word. If you think you know of somebody who might like the series, share this link:

https://books2read.com/ap/81D7wn/Russ-Linton

Family, friends, fellow book hounds – anybody you can think of who needs a dose of adrenaline in their life! Drop it on social media. Pin a print out to your neighbor’s door. Just spread the news however best you can.

I appreciate your help!

Nomad Update – Southern Utah

This leg of the trip has been all desert, all the time. It’s high desert though. So we’ve always been in reach of the mountains. And soon, we’ll be headed into the Wasatch range and onward to the Grand Tetons.

This tour of Utah’s National Parks though has been amazing. These are truly national treasures worth protecting.

I’ve already mentioned Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef in previous updates. This time, we’re parked in striking distance of both Arches and Canyonlands. We’ve run a single scouting expedition into Canyonlands and plan to go back to further explore. More on that later.

Arches, we spent a blustery hazy day at, but the scenery did not disappoint. Like with all National Parks, you need to get away from the main road to leave the crowds behind. Two miles, minimum. So we explored the Devil’s Garden at the park’s northern-most tip.

This was a challenging hike. Lots of scrambling and some fun stretches along narrow ridges that had some hikers second guessing the route.

But once we reached that two mile point, we got to visit some of the lesser known, and peaceful, arches. My favorite was probably Navajo Arch which was almost more like a cave open to the sky.

Arches is one of those parks which have implemented a ticketed entry. For a small fee, you reserve a time to visit. We paid $2 for a one hour window entry, after which, you stay as long as like.

Having visited twenty four parks now, I gotta say, the system make sense.

I may have mentioned, but the parks receive something like 300 million visitors combined each year. The bigger parks like Arches draw 2 million or more in a season.

That’s a ton of traffic. But some people, who, while usually on their best behavior and inspired by the beauty around them, don’t always follow Leave no Trace Principles as closely as they should.

The reservation system is an easy way to limit traffic. And with all the budget cuts and firings (and more looming), a necessary one.

But while the parks get all the attention, I do want to mention our other public wild spaces like National Monuments and National Forests.

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management oversee the bulk of these. None that I’m aware of require an entry fee. And often, dispersed camping is allowed (no assigned campground or fees collected.)

I spent some time yesterday in Bear’s Ears National Monument and also the adjacent Mati-La Sal National Forest. Watching the mule deer graze, the hawks circle, breathing in the mountain sage, and testing just how far I could hike into the upper altitudes before the trails became choked with unmelted snow.

Monuments and Forests are different beasts than National Parks. They’re more wild, less accessible, and if they have roads they’re often four-wheel drive only. Some have protected areas deeper inside called Wildernesses where no vehicular traffic is allowed.

But these lands (with the exception of the Wilderness areas) are and can be used for resource extraction. In fact, many of the roads cutting into National Forests are old logging roads.

Typically, the BLM and USFS oversees this. Their foresters and biologists will ensure resource collection is permitted and done in such a way that the area can best recover.

But the recent staffing cuts might make this impossible.

Also, there’s a push to rollback any and all regulations regarding resource extraction. Call me a skeptic, I don’t think those companies who are given the green light will pursue their work with care.

Which bring me to another very important point: these designated natural areas often surround and provide a buffer for National Parks.

Whatever happens in that buffer zone will affect the park. Drive wildlife into smaller ranges, they may not survive. Allow toxic spills, those will reach places even more protected. Recklessly take down trees, the habitat for other species will be diminished and the land may take decades to recover.

It’s a tricky balance to manage these lands. It takes knowledge and patience. And I’m not seeing much of that anywhere as of late.

I hate to be on the soapbox again, but this is a reminder to help keep these spaces protected. If we must utilize them for resources, fine, but we should not abandon common sense.

I’ve seen twenty-four parks and that’s been a real honor. I think every American, every visitor to our country, should be able to have the same experience.

How do we make sure that happens?

This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Representatives are just that – people who enact our will. Not that of a party or some other agenda, but our collective will.

There’s a reason freedom of speech is included in the very first amendment. By exercise of this powerful weapon, we hold our government to account. We remind them they serve us. Not the other way around.

So if this is something you feel passionate about, and a majority of Americans love their parks, I urge you to contact your representatives. Let them know you’re a supporter of our public lands and that you expect them to tread carefully when it comes to allowing the corporate use of these spaces.

We owe it to future generations to leave them as intact as possible.

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Thanks for reading,

Russ

Categories: Author News, Blog, Journeys

Tags: arches, bear's ears, canyonlands, fiction, hiking, moab, national parks, novel, public lands, self pub, thriller, thriller series, travel, utah, Writing