Image shared via Oregon Live

I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1993 as a teenager and quickly connected to a place that has become such an amazing part of who I am.  I spent much of my youth outdoors, hiking, camping, snowboarding and enjoying the majesty of this beautiful part of the world.  

It is with a heavy heart that I write this, watching an amazingly devastating fire rip through one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever been lucky enough to experience.  Wildfires are something that we north westerners have unfortunately come to expect this time of year, but this one feels different.  Started by a horribly negligent act by a group of young teenagers throwing fireworks into a ravine of dry undergrowth that has quickly become a horrendous forrest fire, claiming over 31,000 acres as of the time of writing, with little containment achieved.  Hundreds of volunteer firefighters and rescue workers have been tirelessly working and fighting to save lives, homes and the beautiful landscape that will take generations to recover from this tragedy.

Please take time to discuss how decisions like these made by these kids, can horribly affect so many others.  My rage toward these stupid actions have subsided as I’ve tried to gain perspective as a parent, knowing that we’ve all made stupid decisions throughout our lives, and have chosen to try and turn it into a chance to educate as opposed to wallow in anger.  We have talked with our kids about this as a teaching opportunity, letting them know that even little events and decisions that we choose to engage in throughout our lives, can have such a devastating effect on this planet, and so many other families, kids, animals and the areas we often take for granted.  I am saddened that so many of the experiences, the beautiful locations and hikes that I wanted to share with my kids, will no longer be possible to share in our lifetimes, because of the poor choices and actions of a few kids.

We’ve decided that because this is such a near and dear cause, we want to try and help the volunteers who’re putting their lives on the line to fight this fire, by donating 10% of all sales of Nauti Straps this month, to the Hood River County search and rescue efforts.  The American Red Cross is also taking monetary donations and are scheduling blood drives for both this as well as the hurricanes ripping through the American south east.

If you have the ability to, any direct donations are always appreciated.  And if you, or anyone you know need a handbuilt camera strap, we’re going to be donating 10% of sales, and matching all donations ourselves, through any and all sales of our camera straps over at Nautistraps.com this month to the rescue and fire fighting efforts of the brave women and men of the Hood River Search and Rescue.

Be safe, be well and please share these types of stories with our younger folk so that they too can start to understand how our decisions in life can affect others.

All our best,

Team Nauti (Tyson and Rachael)