Utah Trail Race Pays Female Winners More Than Men to Combat Wage Gap
In hopes of bringing attention to the gender wage gap, Jim Skaggs, race director of Utah’s Antelope Island 50K, awarded the top female finishers of his race 20 percent more than the top male finishers. Nationally, women make about 80 cents to every dollar earned by a man and in Utah the wage gap is even higher—women make 68 cents to every dollar a man brings in. In competitive racing, male purses are often larger than their female counterparts. In an email to runners, Skaggs said that the larger award for women was his effort to make up for the shortfall. Caroline Wallace, who took home the first-place female price, pocketed $180 to the $150 awarded to the male winner. Wallace told KSL.com that she thought Skaggs’ efforts were “rad” and said that, “if smaller races can do it, so can the bigger races that have significantly more resources.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announce Delay in Red Wolf Plan
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a delay of the proposed rule for red wolves after a federal court ruling found that the Service had violated the Endangered Species Act in its management of the wolf. The last wild red wolves in the world live in North Carolina, but the species is declining. The rule would replace the existing regulations governing the nonessential experimental population of the red wolf under the Endangered Species Act, removing management efforts from existing public lands and focusing instead on certain public lands in North Carolina’s Hyde and Dare Counties. Opponents of the rule say it severs any possibility for red wolves to recover in the wild. In a statement released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Service says that the additional time will allow them to “fully evaluate the implications of the court decision.”
New Organization Forms to Promote NC’s Outdoor Recreation
A new trade association has formed to promote North Carolina’s outdoor recreation industry. The North Carolina Outdoor Recreation Coalition is made up of the state’s outdoor recreation businesses such as gear manufacturers, retailers and guides. “The goals of our coalition are to promote existing outdoor recreation companies, to recruit new companies to locate in North Carolina, and to increase public access to outdoor recreation,” says Tom Dempsey, CEO of Brevard-based SylvanSport and Chairman of the coalition’s board. North Carolina’s outdoor recreation industry generates $28 billion in consumer spending annually and is responsible for 260,000 direct jobs.
