How to NOT Gatekeep the Outdoors
Gatekeeping the outdoors is a complicated topic because of the intersection of conflicting ideas, motivations, and experiences that inform how people educate about the outdoors and learn about the outdoors. With adventure weddings and elopements on the rise, many environmental stewards have witnessed something called the Instagram effect. The Instagram effect is the phenomenon where a once secluded trail becomes over-run with hikers or influencers looking to replicate a beautiful photo of the spot they found on Instagram. It’s easy to see how people want to protect those trails, especially in the adventure wedding and elopement community. What this blog is diving into is the difference between gatekeeping access and knowledge of the outdoors and protecting wild and delicate places.
WHAT IS GATEKEEPING?
Gatekeeping is defined as the activity of controlling, and usually limiting, general access to something. You can identify a gatekeeper when they use phrases like:
“Other people haven’t earned the right to [participate in X activity].”
“Other people don’t have the knowledge to [participate in X activity].”
“I don’t share information on the internet because I don’t trust certain people to take care of this space in the same way that I do.”
“That person doesn’t really belong to [X group] because of [Y difference].”
WHY IS GATEKEEPING A CONCERN IN THE OUTDOOR COMMUNITY?
The Instagram effect--or the uptick in people visiting once-remote or less-visited destinations to capture “that picture” they saw on the internet--reflects the broader concerns that geotagged photos on social media are fueling over-tourism in areas that cannot sustain increased visitors. Geotags represent the location data for the photo and make it easy to see where the photo was taken. There have been calls for more mindful use of social media tools to not reveal the location of the photo, with practices ranging from good stewardship to retaliatory. You see these in the form of Leave No Trace’s Social Media Guidance, to backcountry skiers intentionally mistagging their pictures, to travel and tourism boards launching campaigns with generic geotag slogans like “Tag Responsibly, Keep Jackson Hole Wild”. Many of these outdoor enthusiasts don’t want to see their favorite places loved or “liked” to death.
While the intentions of many in their amended geotagging efforts may be to help preserve the wild spaces of our country, intentionally NOT geotagging the location is an information gatekeeping practice. Danielle Williams from Melanin Base Camp and author of “5 Reasons Why You Should Keep Geotagging” explains, “It’s the concept that those who didn’t grow up learning Leave No Trace principles of environmentally ethical outdoorsmanship are somehow less deserving of the opportunity to explore the outdoors.” Much of the time, that comes with undertones steeped in racial and socioeconomic privilege. Williams explains that “the pushback against geotagging involves ordinary people deputizing themselves and asserting authority they don’t actually have to keep the outdoors ‘pure’ or ‘wild,’ ‘pristine’ or simply, the way they remembered it from childhood by excluding people they view as dirty, loud, offensive, or simply not sharing their values.” But the “pristine wilderness” is a myth, as white folks are enjoying stolen land that was once the home to indigenous communities long before they arrived on this continent, and made it into managed land for centuries.
WHERE DO PREPAREDNESS + GATEKEEPING MEET?
As adventure wedding or elopement planners, a big part of our jobs is preparing couples to get outdoors. As a group of predominantly white women, we are mindful of where the practice of preparedness can border on gatekeeping outdoor spaces. In order to be responsible hosts, we do our due diligence alongside our couples to help select the best location to celebrate based on seasonality and the size of their group. Many of our couples come from out of state and, while they may have a passion for the outdoors, are unfamiliar with the seasonal nuances and experiences available at different Pacific Northwest destinations. We never want a couple to select a location for which they are not prepared, either in terms of their gear or of the physical rigor and experience required to reach a location. A big part of our work is being the best informed outdoor guides we can and passing that education along to the benefit of our couples.
Sometimes, loved ones come along to witness and participate with our couples. To set everyone up for success, we communicate expectations to the couple around what it’s like to visit the couple’s location of choice and whether/who they feel are a fit to join them. Signing your friends and family up to witness your celebration and then dropping them into an outdoor experience that lacks consideration of their skills and abilities is unkind. We never want to place someone in that situation, or set a couple up to do so unknowingly. Simply put: It’s unsafe and it’s not fun.
With those two factors put together, sometimes outdoor preparedness can look a lot like gatekeeping. It’s true that getting outdoors safely requires a significant amount of knowledge and gear. While we can supply the local knowledge and guide someone to successfully select and visit a destination wedding or elopement location, it takes money to acquire the gear to do it safely and comfortably. Not everyone can drop a few hundred dollars on a rainproof jacket, socks and boots, thermal layers, and a backpack to get outdoors as recreation. And that’s just the starter pack for enjoying the mountains in peak season. Between economic access, biased education, and outdoor culture in America, it’s no wonder that outdoor recreation is disproportionately enjoyed by white folks, or that National Parks overwhelmingly see more white visitors than any other demographic. It’s our hope that, by doing this work and teaching couples and their loved ones how to get outdoors sustainably, that we can generate stewards of our public lands that can pass that information along to friends, family, and generations to come.
Knowledge can be another barrier to getting outdoors. We acknowledge that not everyone has the time to do the research AND the time off work to enjoy the destination of their choosing. Much of the knowledge we’ve gained has come from ample time spent online researching locations, weekends spent poking down roads and hiking up mountains, and getting outdoors alongside other knowledgeable folks who share their experiences on the trail. That time adds up. It’s impossible to know everything about a location before you visit, but it’s important to have the basics of your sport and safety knowledge under your belt, paired with basic gear to be prepared for the “what if” scenarios they may face on the trail. We know that not everyone sees a beautiful photo and thinks, “Hmmm, I wonder what it took to get there?” And that’s the fine line where preparedness and gatekeeping meet. For those who want to start asking those questions, we want to offer some direction to help you recreate and share responsibly, safely, and sustainably.
TRADITIONAL REGISTRY IDEAS.
Anything kitchen related.
Truly, we get the most compliments on items in our kitchen that were given to us by our family. The Vitamix blender, the Le Creuset ceramic french press, the Kitchenaid stand mixer, the Finex cast iron skillet that weighs a million pounds; these are items we use darn near daily. They add a ton of value to our lives. And they are also items that we would not have purchased for ourselves until far into our marriage. They weren’t urgently needed at the time, but now they are an invaluable part of our daily routines as a family. If you have kitchen needs and wants that fit this bill, add them to your registry. If the price point feels inaccessible to your guests, use a universal registry (like Zola) to break them down into multiple payments that each guest can opt into to buy you a combined gift.
The little things you touch every day.
Similar to kitchen related items, items in your home that you will use near daily are the ones that you will appreciate the most. Trade in your overused college towels for a fresh set in a color you like. Get the funny and functional doormat that welcomes friends and family to your home with clean feet. Place your plant collection in a set of upgraded pots to care for them. Consider a fresh set of sheets, or a set of winter and summer seasonal sheets, that you can wrap yourself up in every night in comfort. One of our favorite gifts (and one that has spoiled us for life) is a pair of King-size memory foam pillows that we lay our heads on every single night. Seriously, no other pillows compare. Other items that top the list include a matching set of silverware, specialty utensils, art pieces by BIPOC creators, a cozy blanket for your living room, a Patagonia fleece blanket or sweater, a kick-ass thermos for your morning coffee, the list goes on… If you choose items relevant to your everyday lives, you will have countless opportunities to think about the humans who provided them to you and sent warm, loving thoughts of gratitude to stay connected.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NEXT GENERATION OF CONSERVATION:
We love that more people are getting outdoors for recreation. We love that the internet has piqued the interest of those whose families weren’t “outdoorsy types” (cough cough, us). And we love that there is a mindfulness entering our dialogue as public use of public lands has increased and is becoming more visible online. Geotags are not going away and, if viewed correctly, are giving access to the outdoors to populations of humans who did not have the generational knowledge and resources to enjoy these beautiful spaces before. We see geotagging as an opportunity to motivate responsible travel and tourism and become the next vanguard of conservation efforts.
If you want to visit a new location that you have seen online, use the geotag as a starting point. Know that the photo does not tell the whole story. Get interested in the area through online research. Search hikes in the same region on apps like AllTrails or state-sponsored or local nonprofit websites (in Washington, Washington Trails Association). READ THE TRAIL REPORTS. Look for seasonality trends, recent updates on safety conditions and wildlife, and gear recommendations to set yourself up for success. Consider visiting and promoting just as beautiful and less crowded state parks instead. Use and participate in permitting for your outdoor visits.
Leave No Trace’s Social Media Guidance is one of our favorite resources for sharing the outdoors in a sustainable and educational way. Responsible tourism and conservation is the way forward if we want all who visit these lands to do so sustainably. If you’re going to post a caption that has nothing to do with your visit to the place pictured, then we recommend using a generic geotag for the location, like the name of the National Park or forest, or identifying the indigenous ownership of the land. Said another way: If your written content doesn’t support or encourage sustainable practices, then mirror that general-ness by choosing a more generalized geotag. Do NOT use racist or classist reasons to justify your opposition to geotagging. Acknowledge Native Land ownership.
Photos courtesy of Beginning and End Photo.
If you are going to post a more specific caption to the location or experience that you had there, make sure you follow sustainable practices and that your photos do the same -- stay on trail and keep a safe distance from flora and fauna. Use your captions to talk about the real experience of visiting that location: what you saw, heard, and learned. Encourage people to give back to the areas they visit by donating to the parks, contributing to nonprofits or conservation organizations, purchasing carbon offsets for travel, or through volunteering.
For some of our favorite enthusiasts and influencers who model sustainable practices and inclusivity in the outdoors, follow @pattiegonia, @latinooutdoors, and @melaninbasecamp.