By Dillon Osleger

Finding a balance in the actual preservation and protection of wild places and instilling the value in others to do the same can be difficult.

On one hand, I do little aside from pulling invasive species and re seeding native ones — letting nature take its course to recovery and function. The flip side is in the disturbance — creating trails so that others can recreate on a landscape.

Doing more good than harm is the key in all of this. Designing trails that tell the landscape's story and character, without trampling its entirety. Reseeding native plants in the soil that is disturbed as I dig. Encouraging visitors to see the value of the place as greater than just it's use for exercise. Knowing that many of the thousands of foot, tire and hoof prints left in the trail are connected to individuals that, subconsciously or not, have a greater conviction towards protecting more wild places.

My work inherently involves both time at a computer screen looking at data and maps as well as time spent outside seeing and feeling the places I study. Fabrics that face the elements are essential to the process. Polartec® Delta™ fabric works with my body's evaporative cooling processes to keep me comfortable and thinking straight, even when under the blazing sun when temperatures are pushing triple digits.