What exactly is a charter flight? Conventional airlines, including large carriers like United and smaller ones like Spirit and JetBlue, choose their routes and schedule regular departures. With charters, itineraries are set not by the airplane owner but by another partypossibly a very rich individual, but more often a tour operator that charters the plane. The latter scenario is the one that interests people who arent CEOs or movie stars. Think of the charter flight like a taxicab, said Betty Shotton, CEO of Sea Air, which operates charter flights to and from North Carolinas Outer Banks. You pay the driver the same total whether theres one person or five. The more people, the cheaper it is per person. The names of some charter outfits sound like pseudonyms in a novelPace Airlines, North American Airlines, and Ryan International are a few examplesbut theres little difference from the conventional carriers when it comes to safety regulations, security, and personnel.

Its Mostly About Convenience... Instead of relying on mainstream airline routeswhich often involve changing planes because of the old hub-and-spoke systemtour operators arrange for non-stop charter flights to cart passengers straight to popular vacation spots. The destination is almost always someplace warm. Flights are usually sold with lodging as part of a package and tend to depart at times ideal for vacationers. Club Med charters, for instance, leave the U.S. early on Saturdays so that guests can be on the beach by midday.

...And Price Tour operators pay one price per plane trip, and they decide how much to charge each passenger. Rates fluctuate based on season and demand, but they tend to be less expensive than those of mainstream airlines. (Most charter passengers have no idea what their flight costs, however, because they paid one set price for a package that includes accommodations.) Though standard carriers tend to raise prices as the departure nears, thats when some tour operators sell seats on charter flights at bargain rates, either alone or as part of a vacation package. SunTrips is known to sell round trips from Denver to Puerto Vallarta for $199 plus tax. Homeric Tours is offering charters from New York to Athens starting at $349 each way this summer.

The Downsides Some charters fly two or three times a week, others are weekly, and then there are ones scheduled sporadically for special events and peak travel seasons. Limited departures mean little flexibility. If the schedule doesnt jibe with your needs, theres no alternative but the mainstream airlines. And if you miss your charter flight, chances are you wont be able to catch another later that day or even the day after thatbecause there might not be one. Another negative: Many charters can only be booked via a travel agent, who may or may not tack on service fees and delivery charges (which can add $40 or so to your total).

Looking for last-minute deals You wont find a central list of charter departures anywhere on the Web. The only real source of info is a knowledgeable travel agent. Here are five companies that sell seats on charters, sometimes at fire-sale prices if you buy within two weeks of departure.

if you are the kind of person who loves the smell of the ocean, the feel of saltwater and spray on your skin, and the warmth of the sun, and you believe that sandwiches actually taste better with a little real sand in them, read on.

To begin with, there are many different kinds of beaches. If your idea of a perfect beach is a groomed sandy expanse with calm, translucent water in front and a resort in back where waiters and cabana boys attend to your every whim, you may not enjoy some of the more rugged shorelines of Africa.

For others, paradise could be surfing the high waves of Hawaii or strutting in St. Tropez or Miami's South Beach. For some people, the beach is ancillary to the shopping, dining and late-night carousing found in many resort communities. To others it is the whole point.

One of the best things about a beach vacation is that it can offer something for everyone. Looking for romance? Relaxation? A chance to spend time with the kids? Beaches have it all.

Of course, not all beaches are created equal. Or, if they were, they have been slowly spoiled by overcrowding and overbuilding. The pristine beauty of Juan-les-Pins on France's Riviera, for example, was made famous in books like F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, but 80 years on, its natural charms are all but gone.

Although millions of Europeans still tend to flock to the beach in August for their annual summer holiday, in the U.S., only 11 percent of all domestic travelers went to the beach, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Travel Industry Association of America. The top activity for travelers in 2002 and 2001 was shopping, with 34 percent of all travelers saying that retail therapy was the primary purpose of their trip. Still, beach vacations rank higher in popularity than golf vacations, visits to national parks and theme parks.

Oahu Forbes Best Summer Beaches of 04

While many people come to Hawaii to surf, the best place for a gentle swim is Lanikai Beach. There's about a mile of golden sand to walk on, and the beach is ringed with palm trees. The water is almost always flat and calm, and it's also one of the best areas to watch the sun rise.

To begin with, there are many different kinds of beaches. If your idea of a perfect beach is a groomed sandy expanse with calm, translucent water in front and a resort in back where waiters and cabana boys attend to your every whim, you may not enjoy some of the more rugged shorelines of Africa.

For others, paradise could be surfing the high waves of Hawaii or strutting in St. Tropez or Miami's South Beach. For some people, the beach is ancillary to the shopping, dining and late-night carousing found in many resort communities. To others it is the whole point.

One of the best things about a beach vacation is that it can offer something for everyone. Looking for romance? Relaxation? A chance to spend time with the kids? Beaches have it all.

Of course, not all beaches are created equal. Or, if they were, they have been slowly spoiled by overcrowding and overbuilding. The pristine beauty of Juan-les-Pins on France's Riviera, for example, was made famous in books like F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night, but 80 years on, its natural charms are all but gone.

ELECTORIAL US PROCESS

VALUE, the national adult learner leadership organization, urges adulteducation programs across the country to set aside September 8th throughOctober 8th for civics and voter registration activities in preparationfor the November election. This is a non-partisan effort to show thatadult learners have a desire and a need to vote and do vote.

We are asking administrators and teachers to include in their lessonplans, topics on election education from September 8th to October 8th. This is to help adult learners to understand why voting is important ina democracy, and to gain information on how to register to vote and thevoting procedures in their area. We, at VALUE, Inc are not experts onthe voting procedures, but we can guide you to a source that can provideyou with all the information you need.

Please read the March 2004 issue of "The Change Agent" at

http://www.nelrc.org/Vera/index.htm

It will provide you with important information about how to register tovote. Learners and practitioners who are U.S. citizens can print a formto register to vote or request one to be mailed to them by clicking onthe blue box near the bottom of the web page reading, "Your votematters". They will need to mail in the completed registration form 2-4weeks before the election, but this varies depending on your state. Youwill also find in "The Change Agent" web links to useful resources andhelpful voter education activities.

In addition, the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) hasdeveloped a toolkit on election activities for 501(c)(3) organizations.

It describes the types of election-related activities in which nonprofitcharities can engage. In addition to describing the do's and don'ts, itprovides samples and other materials to help charities engage inpermissible activities during this election cycle. The website is

http://www.ncna.org

If you click on Election 2004 Information, this will take you to theNCNA election toolkit.

Please help us with this effort! It's very important to adult learnersto show that we care about what happens to our families, to ourneighborhoods, and to our country. If your program plans to participate,and we hope you will, please e-mail our colleague, David Rosen, atdjrosen@comcast.net. Let him know your name, the name of your program,your town/state, briefly describe what voter education or registrationactivities you plan. David has agreed to provide updates on programactivities to the AAACE-NLA electronic list.

Protecting nation gets short shrift August 16,2004

The story of Sibel Edmonds is one that should not be overlooked amid the news flurry of naming a new CIA chief, the 9/11 Commission report and other ideas to remake the U.S. intelligence community.

Edmonds is a former FBI translator who handled wiretaps and documents in various Middle Eastern languages. She complained to higher-ups of incompetence and worse in the department. She was fired.

Her case suggests strongly that certain elements in the government are more interested in avoiding embarrassment than in protecting the country. The way to clear this matter up is to make all the documents related to her case public and conduct, or permit journalists and others to conduct, an intensive investigation into her charges.

A 33-year-old Turkish-American who speaks Turkish, Farsi and Azerbaijani in addition to English, Sibel Edmonds was hired as a translator right after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She was surprised, as she told "60 Minutes" reporter Ed Bradley for an October 2002 report, that "We were told by our supervisors that this was the great opportunity for asking for increased budget and asking for more translators. And in order to do that, don't do the work and let the documents pile up so we can show it and say that we need more translators and expand the department." She even claimed her supervisor would erase a day's work from her computer after she left so she would have to start over.

Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Bradley, "She's credible. And the reason I feel she's very credible is because people within the FBI have corroborated a lot of her story."

Edmonds also alleged that a translator who had passed neither the Turkish nor the English side of the FBI's language proficiency test was sent to Guantanamo to act as a translator.

The FBI later admitted that he was not fully qualified.

Edmonds claimed that one Turkish translator was associated with "semi-legit organizations who were FBI targets of investigation," and that this person for months mistranslated or blocked information about these organizations and even took "hundreds of pages of top-secret intelligence documents outside the FBI to unknown recipients." This person (who has denied the allegations) was never reprimanded and now lives overseas.

The FBI let Edmonds go in March 2002 after she took some of her complaints to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Justice Department's inspector general looked into the matter, and, according to a July 21 letter from FBI Director Robert Mueller to Judiciary Committee members, her whistleblowing activities "were at least a contributing factor in why the FBI terminated her services." (The full inspector general's report, like almost every aspect of the Edmonds case, has been retroactively classified as a "state secret.")

Edmonds was called as a witness in a lawsuit brought by family members of 9/11 victims, but the Justice Department got the subpoena quashed and forbade her to testify. She did, however, testify at length to 9/11 Commission staff members, but the concerns she raised were not discussed in the commission's report - not even a "we looked into this and found the charges unfounded or overblown."

As Edmonds repeatedly asked in a detailed letter to Thomas Kean, chairman of the 9/11 Commission, "How can budget increases address and resolve this misconduct by midlevel bureaucratic management? How can the addition of an 'intelligence czar' solve this problem?"

The Sibel Edmonds case raises serious questions about whether the FBI and other intelligence agencies have even begun to undertake the reforms needed to improve the capacity to protect Americans from future attacks - and whether the 9/11 Commission report dealt sufficiently with the real shortcomings.

It looks as if the FBI and other agencies would rather punish those who raise inconvenient or embarrassing issues - thus sending the message to others who might be tempted to an excess of conscientiousness to just keep their heads down and never question superiors they believe are misguided.

A good start to resolving some of the troubling questions this case raises would be to declassify all documents relating to Sibel Edmonds' accusations and allow journalists and other investigators to sort through them at will. But that should be only the start.

August 15, 2004

Charles Pieterse quickly snapped up the 9/11 Commis-sion Report and is also reading "Against All Enemies," by former counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke.

The Greenwich lawyer said while many politically oriented books released these days pique his interest, he tries hard to be selective. "The problem with these books sometimes is, do they advance the discourse of ideas or just recycle rhetoric?" asked Pieterse, 44, of Ridgefield. "I enjoy the political books which push your mind."

Local booksellers and bookbuyers are facing a bumper crop of political books this election year, for every ideology and temperament, about presidents and presidential contenders, the state of the nation, terror and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Authors include journalists, whistleblowing policy insiders, celebrity pundits, blame-laying doomsayers and even an unnamed CIA agent.

Some tomes tout firsthand information about the inner workings of politics and American intelligence operations like the 9/11 Report and Clarke's book. Others, like "Plan of Attack" by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward and "Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk" by Maureen Dowd of The New York Times, draw on the followings of big-name journalists.

Waldenbooks manager Richard Weber said that while election years usually feature a slew of historical nonfiction and big picture political books, this year the output seems especially heavy.

Readers who are unsure of what to think about complex issues are turning to books for more in-depth information than they get from television and newspapers, Weber said.

In recent weeks "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror" written by Anonymous, who publishers claim is a CIA officer critical of American foreign intelligence, has been selling well, Weber said.

"It's an election year and this is when these topics are most important and it's what people care about the most," he said. "It happens every election year but (this year) it's much bigger."

Jenny Lawton, owner of Just Books on East Putnam Avenue and Just Books, Too on Arcadia Road, said merchants are often surprised by what readers do and don't buy. She cited "American Soldier" a memoir by retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who commanded forces in the U.S. wars with Iraq and Afghanistan as a slow starter, with sales picking up this week after a favorable review in The New York Times.

The top seller in the genre at Just Books is "The Price of Loyalty" which recounts the experiences of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in the Bush administration.

"It's sort of on a book-by-book basis," Lawton said. "It's very hard to tell how a book will do."

Both Lawton and Weber said a majority of the current books seem critical of President Bush and of the war in Iraq, leading some customers to question why there aren't a roughly equal number of pro-Bush books available.

"The majority of books are not very pro-Bush and show him in a not very favorable light," Lawton said. "It looks pretty lopsided."

That trend could change, Lawton said, with the release on Aug. 15 of "Unfit for Command: Swiftboat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" by John E. O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi, and other conservative books.

Weber said customer outcry led his store to reorganize its displays to try to balance the scales. Next to the new political books is an entire display of books about the late President Ronald Reagan, which have sold very well, he said.

Gideon Fountain, 47, of Greenwich said he asked Lawton to stock more conservative books at Just Books, Too, even presenting her with an Internet list of possible titles she could carry.

"I just wanted my local book store to represent both sides," Fountain said.

Fountain cited "A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush," by Ronald Kessler and "The Connection: al Qaeda's Collaboration with Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America," by Stephen F. Hayes as two good books that counter liberal rhetoric honestly and fairly.

Lawton has noticed a trend of both liberal and conservative readers buying books that challenge their political beliefs.

"I see a contrarian thing with people reading the opposite of what they know," Lawton said. "Ideally that is what books do. It does feel like more of a learning process."

At Waldenbooks, humor-driven titles like Franken's and Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country?" are steady sellers, Weber said, despite their partisan, liberal bents.

"Greenwich is a predominantly Republican town, but we do sell a lot of liberal books," Weber said.

The booksellers also noted that in the crowded shelves of political books there is now too much competition for all the books to do well.

Maria DeCastro, a salesperson at Diane's Books, said some new political titles sell heavily for a period, then are supplanted by a newer entry.

At the store, shoppers are asking for the just released "Bushworld," DeCastro said. Other strong sellers included the 9/11 Report.

"Everyone comes in and buys them and then the next one comes," DeCastro said. "The old ones keep selling but not the same as when they came out."

At Borders Book Shop on High Ridge Road in Stamford, Peter McCabe, a financial consultant and Stamford resident, picked up a copy of the 9/11 report last week.

McCabe said the White House has become less communicative during recent presidential administrations, forcing concerned citizens to work for the information they need.

"It's important because this has been a very uncommunicative presidency and probably for good reason," McCabe said. "People have to keep track of things themselves."

McCabe, 56, said many of the topical books he has purchased are not compelling enough to finish. McCabe said some are simply compilations of already-published newspaper columns.

"It seems like everybody who has ever been known to the public is putting a book out," McCabe said. "Once people find out they can do that, everybody jumps on the bandwagon and there are too many of them."

Copyright 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

Summer vacation planning resources

Campground reservations: www.reserveamerica.com, www.reserveusa.com, www.woodalls.com

Drive-ins: www.driveinmovie.com, www.drive-ins.com

Ponds, quarries, rivers, and other spots to swim: www.swimmingholes.org, www.running-water.com

Roadside restaurants: www.roadfood.com

Amusement parks, zoos, and water parks: www.themeparkinsider.com, www.themeparkcity.com

Scenic drives: www.byways.org

Farmers markets: www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets

State and county fairs: www.breedersworld.com/fairs.html

Free campgrounds: www.freecampgrounds.com

Hot springs: www.hotspringsenthusiast.com

National parks, recreation areas, and monuments: www.nps.gov

Corn mazes: www.maizemaze.com/maize_mazes01.html

Ghost towns: www.ghosttowns.com

Road-trip maps, message boards, and other resources: www.roadtripamerica.com

Dude Ranches

Happily, real dude ranch vacations are much less calamity-prone, but just as much fun. Places where you can kick back, don a ten-gallon hat and ride horses to your heart's content. A ranch vacation has long offered a uniquely American escape, a chance to replace our frantic modern schedules with the lumbering pace of the steer, to substitute the endlessly spacious existence of the cowboy for the cramped life of an urban worker. Most of all, dude and guest ranches allow us to fantasize the dusty, delicious myths of the Old West. And even the professional ranch associations are often unaware of the inexpensive alternatives. One large group of guest ranches, for example, told us there were no properties in their state that charged as little as $900 a week. Budget Travel found four of them. Attempts to come up with low-priced ranches through another state association were also unsuccessful. But our research turned up seven ranch bargains in that other state. In fact, weve located 69 economical ranches in 28 states, spread nicely around the country to help simplify travel and minimize costs.

EUROPEANS MAY GRAVITATE TO THIS

To make our list, a ranch must almost always provide a full weeks stay (seven nights) that includes lodging and meals for $900 or less per adult. Usually, and with only rare exceptions, it must throw in horseback riding as part of its all-inclusive package. (Several ranches have actually reduced prices to meet our criteria, giving Budget Travel readers exclusive special deals.)

In a few instances, weve listed ranches that dont serve all meals as part of their packages but are great bargains anyway. These ranches offer other ways to eat that keep the total cost at or below $900, whether this means cooking your own meals or dining at nearby budget restaurants.

Bear in mind, please, that our list is intended only to help ease your search for the perfect dude or guest ranch. You still must ask questions when you write, call, or e-mail. Some ranches are very rustic, lacking even electricity. Others serve gourmet meals among fine art. Some ranches allow only nose-to-tail trail-riding. Others give you a chance to ride your horse more freely. A little research based on your individual tastes and needs will pay off with the kind of ranch experience you really want. ARIZONABar BK Muleshoe Ranch, HC37, Bagdad Route, Prescott, AZ 86301, 800/830-6853, www.muleshoe-ranch.com. Budget rates of $830 per week (seven nights) per adult, the same $830 per child, available year around, including all meals, use of a horse, swimming and hot tub. An authentic cattle ranch with seasonal round-ups.

Bar 10 Ranch, Whitmore Canyon, AZ, no mail service, 800/582-4139, www.bar10.com. Budget rates of $129 per night for adults, same for children, available May-September only, including all meals, use of a horse, skeet shooting, horseshoes, and volleyball. Riding is often within sight of the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Whitewater rafting and guided ATV tours are also available.

Circle Z Ranch, P.O. Box 194, Patagonia, AZ 85624, 888/854-2525, www.circlez.com. Budget rates of $928 per adult per seven-night week, $570 per child, available November, January, February, and May only, including all meals, use of a horse, swimming, and tennis. The ranch has a large variety of mountainous trails.

Flying E Dude Ranch, 2801 West Wickenburg Way, Wickenburg, AZ 85390, 888/684-2650, www.flyingranch.com. Budget rates of $945 for seven nights, variable rates for children, available November-April only, including all meals, sauna, swimming, and tennis. Horses not included in lodging rates. A 17-room, family-style ranch.

La Tierra Linda Guest Ranch, 7501 North Wade Road, Tucson, AZ 85743, 888/872-6241, www.latierralinda.com. Budget rates of $115-$185 per adult per night, variable rate for children, depending on season. Includes three meals and two horseback rides per day (a restaurant is on premises). Does include swimming, tennis, basketball, and petting zoo. Riding is in Saguaro National Park.

Lazy K Bar Ranch, 8401 N. Scenic Drive, Tucson, AZ 85743, 800/321-7018, www.lazykbar.com. Budget rates of $155 per adult per night (10 percent discount offered on stays of seven nights or more), $95 per child, available May-September, including all meals, a horse, swimming, tennis, rappelling, and hot tub. A small ranch with a family atmosphere.

Price Canyon Ranch, P.O. Box 1065, Douglas, AZ 85608, 800/727-0065, www.pricecanyon.com. Budget rates of $945 per adult per seven-night week, $525 per child, available all year round, including all meals, a horse and swimming. Price Canyon is a working cattle ranch at 5,600 feet, surrounded by the Coronado National Forest.

Rancho de la Osa, P.O. Box 1, Sasabe, AZ 85633, 800/872-6240, www.ranchodelaosa.com. Budget rates of $850 per adult per seven-night week, $700 per child, available June and July only, including all meals, a horse, swimming, hot tub, and mountain biking. Theres an emphasis on gourmet food and wine, were told.

Sunglow Guest Ranch, HCR 1, Box 385, Turkey Creek Rd., Pearce, AZ 85625, 520/824-3334, www.sunglowranch.com. Budget rates of $119 per adult per night, $63 for children, available all year around, but not including the cost of a horse. Does include all meals, volleyball, fishing, horseshoes. Location is beside the Chiricahua Mountains.

White Stallion Ranch, 9251 West Twin Peaks Road, Tucson, AZ 85743 888/977-2624. Budget rates of $770-$952 per adult per seven-night week, $574 per child, available October-December only, including use of a horse, all meals, swimming, tennis, and hot tub. An upscale but authentic cattle ranch with Internet access.

ARKANSASHorseshoe Canyon Ranch, 3900 Lochridge Road, North Little Rock, AR 72116-8312, 800/480-9635, www.horsecanyon.com. Budget Rates of $755 per adult per seven-night week, $380 for children 3 to 7, available March-May and August-December only, including use of a horse, all meals, swimming, fishing, and hot tub. The ranch is on 350 acres near Buffalo River.

Lost Spur Guest Ranch, P.O. Box 8148, Harrison, AR 72602, 888/987-2457, www.guestranches.com/lostspur. Budget rates of $995 per adult per seven-night week, $590 for children, available May-August only, including all meals, a horse, canoeing and fishing. Highlights are chuck wagon dinners and riding in the Ozark Mountains.

Scott Valley Ranch, P.O. Box 1447, Mountain Home, AR 72654, 888/855-7747, www.scottvalley.com. Budget rates of $690-$870 per adult per seven-night week, $570-$750 per child, including all meals, use of a horse, swimming, tennis, and hot tub. When you do ride, you ride on gentle Missouri Foxtrotter horses.

CALIFORNIACoffee Creek Ranch, HC2 4940 Coffee Creek Road, Trinity Center, CA 96091, 800/624-4480, www.coffeecreek.com. Budget rates of $945 per adult per six-night week, $825 per child, available April-June and September-November only, including all meals, use of a horse, swimming, hot tub, and panning for gold. Emphasis on gourmet food and hospitality.

Howard Creek Ranch, P.O. Box 121, Westport, CA 95488, 707/964-6725, www.howardcreekranch.com. Budget rates available 12 months a year, starting at $80 per double room per night in an 1871 farm house; $20 for each additional person; includes breakfast cooked on the original wood stoves. Does include swimming and hot tub, but not horseback riding. On oceanfront with mountain backdrop.

Rock Creek Pack Station, P.O. Box 248, Bishop, CA 93515, 760/872-8331, www.rockcreekpackstation. Budget rates of $895 per adult per seven-night week, the same for children, available June-September, but not including meals. Does include use of a horse and fishing. Features wilderness camping along a trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

COLORADOElkhead Ranch, 8102 RCR 56, Hayden, CO 81639, 970/276-3920, www.ranchweb.com/elkhead. Budget rates of $140 per adult per night, available May-October only, including all meals, use of a horse, fishing, horseshoes and pool table. A historic cattle ranch in the Rockies of northwest Colorado.

La Garita Creek Ranch, E39, Del Norte, CO 81132, 888/838-3833, www.ranchweb.com/lagarita. Budget rates of $990-$1,250 per adult per six-night week, $550-$1,050 per child, available May-September only, including all meals, use of a horse, swimming and hot tub. Guests, if they wish, can take care of their own horse for the week, including saddling.

Sundance Trail Guest Ranch, 17931 Red Feather Lakes Road, Red Feather Lakes, CO 80545, 800/357-4930, www.sundancetrail.com. Budget rates of $860 per adult per seven-night week, variable rates for children, available October-May only, including all meals, use of a horse, pool table and hot tub. Offers an educational horseback-riding program.

FLORIDAHos Ponderosa Dude Ranch, 7586 Southwest 90th Avenue, Bushnell, FL 33513, 877/707-2624, www.hponderosa.com. Budget rates available year-round: $650 per six-night week for adults, $425 for children, including all meals, use of a horse. Special extras include volleyball, swimming, a rodeo, and sing-alongs.

GEORGIASouthern Cross Ranch, P.O. Box 35, Madison, GA 30650. 888/987-2457, www.southcross.com. Budget rates available year-round of $550-$875 for seven nights for adults, $210 to $480 for children, including meals, use of a horse, swimming, and unescorted horseback riding.

IDAHOGranite Creek Guest Ranch, P.O. Box 340, Ririe, ID 83443, 208/538-7140, www.granitecreekranch.com. Budget rates available June-August: six nights start at $960 for adults, $480?$720 for children, including use of a horse, all meals, fishing. Family-oriented working cattle ranch at 6,000 feet.

Shepp Ranch, P.O. Box 5446, Boise, ID 83705, 208/343-7729, www.sheppranch.com. Budget rates available April-June, seven nights cost $980 for adults, $775 for children, including all meals, hot tub, sauna, boating. A small ranch in the Nez Perce National Forest on the Main Salmon River.

Western Pleasure Guest Ranch, 1413 Upper Gold Creek Road, Sandpoint, ID 208/263-9066, www.westernpleasureranch.com. June through September, budget rates of $1,000 for seven nights for adults, $655 for children, including all meals, use of a horse, hot tub, volleyball, swing set. A small family ranch in the foothills of the Selkirk and Cabinet Mountains.

KANSASHomestead Ranch, R.R. 1, Box 32, Matfield Greeb, KS 66862, 620/753-3416. Year-round, rates from $840 for seven nights for adults, $840 for children, including all meals and riding, hot tub, horseshoes. In the midst of a tall-grass prairie.

KENTUCKY

First Farm Inn, 2510 Stevens Road, Idlewild, KY 41080, 800/277-9527. Open year-round, $540 for seven nights for two adults, $126 per child, all breakfasts included (there are nearby budget restaurants), hot tub, fishing. 1870s vintage farmhouse, with massage therapy additional. Horseback riding is $35 for a two-hour ride.

LOUISIANASt. John Ranch and Lodge, 2424 St. John Road, Homer, LA 71040, 318/927-4484, www.guestranches.com/stjohn. Budget rates of $460 per adult per seven-night week, same for children, available year-round, including all meals, use of a horse, swimming. The ranch offers rides through hilly north Louisiana forest and pastures.

MICHIGANHappy Hollow Ranch, 4773 Mack Road, Howell, MI 48843, 517/546-3351, www.zfarms.com. All-year budget rates of $125 per adult per day, same for children, including all meals, use of a horse, swimming, fishing. Small, private, and quiet.

MISSOURITurkey Creek Ranch, HC 3 Box 3180, Theodosia, MO 65761, 417/273-4362. Private cabins for four people or more start at $497 per week. Meals are extra, riding is $15 per hour. Swimming and water activities at Bull Shoals Lake, tennis, volleyball, and ranch activities.

MONTANA

Bull Lake Guest Ranch, 15303 Bull Lake Road, Troy, MT 59935, 800/995-4228. Budget rates, May-November, of $340 per adult per seven-night week (childrens rates vary), including all meals, game room, and horseshoes. Riding costs extra. Beside five-mile long Bull Lake with swimming and boating.

CB Cattle and Guest Ranch, P.O. Box 146, Cameron, MT 59720, 760/723-1932 or 406/682-4954, www.cbranch.com. Budget rates apply June-August: $850 per person for seven nights, including all meals and riding. Horseshoes, volleyball, and fly-fishing near Yellowstone Park.

Laughing Water Guest Ranch, P.O. Box 157, Fortine, MT 59918, 800/847-5095, www.lwranch.com. In May, early June, late August and September, budget rates are $625 per person for seven nights, including all meals, horseback riding and hot tub. Family atmosphere.

Parade Rest Guest Ranch, 7979 Grayling Creek Road, West Yellowstone, MT 59758, 800/753-5934, www.parade-rest-ranch.com. From June through September, adult rates are $125 per person per day (childrens rates vary), including all meals, hot tub, volleyball, campfires, and all riding (through the Gallatin National Forest).

Sweet Grass Ranch, 460 Rein Lane, Big Timber, MT 59011-7745, 406/537-4477, www.sweetgrassranch.com. From June 10-Labor Day, seven-night budget rates of $900 for adults, $500 for children, including all meals, unlimited riding, swimming. Participation in family ranch life is a highlight of the stay.

NEBRASKAJX Ranch, P.O. Box 484, Crawford, NE 69339, 308/665-1585, www.jxranch.com. Budget rates from May 15-September 30: $910 for seven nights for adults, $455 for children, including all meals and riding. This is a working cattle ranch on the Pine Ridge overlooking Fort Robinson where Crazy Horse was killed.

NEW MEXICOHartley Guest Ranch, 50 Guest Ranch Lane, Roy, NM 87743, 800/687-3833, www.hartleyranch.com. A small working cattle ranch on 25,000 acres, from April-September it charges a budget rate of $950 ($100 less for kids) for five nights of room, board, riding, and amenities/activities such as hot tub, volleyball, fishing, and zooming around on all-terrain vehicles.

NEW YORKPinegrove Dude Ranch, P.O. Box 209, 30 Cherrytown Road, Kerhonkson, NY 12446, 800/346-4626, www.pinegrove-ranch.com. Its open all year round in New Yorks Catskills Mountains, with a seven-night summer rate from $720 per adult and $360 per child for room, board, use of a horse, and seasonal swimming and tennis facilities.

Rocking Horse Ranch Resort, 600 Route 44-55, Highland, NY 12528, 800/647-2624, www.rhranch.com. In New Yorks Hudson Valley, its open year round and charges a spring rate of $765 for adults and $300 for kids, including seven nights lodging, breakfast, dinner, and warm-weather facilities for swimming, tennis, golf, and basketball.

Ridin-Hy Ranch, PO Box 369, Warrensburg, NY 12885, 518/494-2742. Seven nights of room, board, and riding cost $720 for adults, $350-$565 for children at this year-round ranch in New Yorks Adirondack Mountains. Swimming available in season.

NEVADA

Soldier Meadows Guest Ranch, PO Box 310, Gerlach, NV 89412, 530/233-4881, www.soldiermeadows.com. Ride among wild mustangs and bathe in natural hot springs. From April through October, its seven-night budget rate is $875 per person, whether adult or child.

Spur Cross Ranch, PO Box 38, Golconda, NV 89414, 800/651-4567. Costing $800 per person (for both adults and children) for seven nights of room, board, and riding, its a working cattle ranch at 4,500- feet in northern Nevadas high desert, and the above budget rate applies from April through October. Other activities include fishing.

NORTH CAROLINAClear Creek Ranch, 100 Clear Creek Drive, Burnsville, NC 28714, 800/651-4510, www.webranch.com/clearcreek. From April-May and September-November, its seven-night budget rates for lodging, meals, and use of a horse are $950 for adults and $190 to $600 for youngsters. It offers a family atmosphere in the Blue Ridge Mountains, plus lots of activities, including swimming, hot-tub soaking, fishing, and a swing set.

OKLAHOMARebel Hill Guest Ranch, HC 70, Box 848, Antlers, OK 74523, 580/298-2851, www.rebelhillranch.com. Open all year; besides riding among bountiful wild deer, turkeys, and other game, it has a petting zoo, and kids can sleep in covered wagons. The charge for seven nights of lodging and all meals is $625-$800 per cabin (up to four people); riding is $15 per person per hour.

OREGONAspen Ridge Resort, P.O. Box 2, Bly, OR 97622, 800/393-3323, www.aspenrr.com. A working ranch with 1,000 head of cattle on 14,000 acres, it has swimming and tennis facilities, and from April-February charges a seven-night budget rate of $490 per person for lodging. Riding is an extra $40 per day.

Bar M Ranch, 58840 Bar M Lane, Adams, OR 97810, 888/824-3381, www.guestranches.com/barm. From September through May, the seven-night budget rate is $856 for adults, $417 for kids, including all homestyle meals, riding, and swimming in the hot springs pool. Riding is extra at $25/hour per person. In summer, prices rise by about $200.

Long Hollow Ranch, 71105 Holmes Road, Sisters, OR 97759, 877/923-1901, www.guestranches.com/lhranch. From May-October, come ride in central Oregons high desert, and enjoy other amenities such as a hot tub and golf, for a budget rate of $895 for seven nights (room, board, and horse included). Sorry, no kids.

PENNSYLVANIABuck Valley Ranch LLC, 1344 Negro Mountain Road, Warfordsburg, PA 17267, 800/294-3759, www.buckvalleyranch.com. In the Appalachian Mountains of south-central Pennsylvania, its open all year, has a hot tub and swimming facilities, and charges $350 (kids) to $675 (adults) for seven nights of lodging, all meals, and riding.

SOUTH DAKOTABadlands Ranch and Resort, HCR Box 53, Interior, SD 57750, 877/433-5599, www.badlandsranchandresort.com. Open year-round overlooking the White River and the Badlands, it charges $315 (except June September) for seven nights with meals, and fun activities like swimming, fishing, paddleboating, and nightly bonfires. Kids stay free, but riding costs extra.

The Brink Outfit, HC 78, Box 515, Union Center, SD 57787, 605/985-5285. A family ranch accommodating one group at a time, it operates all year and charges $900 per person for seven nights worth of room, board, and riding. You can fish, too.

Western Dakota Ranch Vacations, 22023 Trask Road, Wall, SD 57790, 605/279-2300. Ride year-round among the rugged cedar-covered hills along the Cheyenne River, for $700 per person for seven nights of lodging, meals, and use of a horse. Swimming and fishing are also options.

TENNESSEEFrench Board Outpost Ranch, 461 Old River Road, Del Rio, TN 37727, 800/995-7678, www.frenchbroadriver. The $960-per-adult rate ($750 per child) covers seven-nights lodging, all meals, riding, and use of a hot tub. That budget rate is in effect September-May.

TEXASDixie Dude Ranch, P.O. Box 548, Bandera, TX 78003, 800/375-9255. Swimming and fishing complement trail rides through the Texas hill country year-round, with an emphasis on cowboy staff and food. Seven nights of lodging, plus all meals and riding, are covered by the per-person adult rate of $700 (kids $185-$400).

Bar H Dude Ranch, P.O. Box 1191, Clarendon, TX 79220, 888/987-2457. Amid wide open plains, it offers year-round riding, room, and half-board (breakfast and dinner, including some barbecues), along with swimming facilities, for a low seven-night price of $425 for adults and $265 for children.

Flying L Guest Ranch, P.O. Box 1959, Bandera, TX 78003, 800/292-5134, www.flyingl.com. Year round, enjoy trail riding through Texas hill country, lodging, breakfast and dinner, and golf and tennis facilities, all at a seven-night cost of $560 for adults and $280 for kids.

Primitive Acres Guest Ranch, Route 1, Box P11, Mt. Enterprise, TX 75681, 800/248-1541, www.primitiveacres.com. The year-round per-person rate is $700 for seven nights of room, board, riding, swimming, fishing, and hot tub soaking, all on a small ranch that touts its personal service.

What is a dude ranch, anyway? Some are working cattle ranches with dude seasonswhen guests pay to play cowboywhile others are full-time tourist operations. Theres such a variety, says Amey G. Adams, a former ranch owner who gives seminars to people thinking of getting into the business. Before booking anything, ask, Is this a basic ranch with horseback riding, or is this an upscale place where all our needs are taken care of, including very elaborate meals?

Where do I find one? Its no surprise most dude ranches are out west. The Wyoming-based Dude Ranchers Association (307/587-2339, www.duderanch.org) is particularly trustworthy, because it inspects every one of its 116 member properties. State dude-ranch associations, such as www.coloradoranch.com and www.montanadra.com, are also good sources. (Find other state associations by doing a Google search. Investigate the criteria involved in getting listedif it only involves paying a fee, look elsewhere.) Finally, there are websites, such as www.ranchweb.com and www.duderanches.com, which list ranches around the country.

Whats it going to cost? Anywhere from $800 to $3,000 per head per week. Sounds steep, but most dude ranches are all-inclusiveone price covers all riding, meals, beverages, and activities, with three- to seven-night minimum stays, and you can expect mucho pampering on the high end. If youre priced out of traditional dude ranches, consider a horse-friendly B&B. Some, like West Pawnee Ranch in Grover, Colo. (970/895-2482, www.westpawneeranch.com), offer lodging by the night ($60$100) and riding by the hour ($20).

Is this ranch right for my kids? Dude ranches seem like they all should be kid-friendly, but many are not. They dont come right out and say, We dont take any kids, but they make it pretty obvious, says Cheri Helmicki, co-owner of Bar Lazy J in Parshall, Colo. (800/396-6279, www.barlazyj.com). Ask up front about kids programs and discounts. Ranches that want to please everyone have been known to stay open a few weeks into the fall, when they only accept adults.

What are my options? Call up and find out. Do you want short beginner rides? An overnight trip? Other activities such as fishing or swimming? Bigger ranches tend to have more options, while smaller ones usually yield closer friendships. And ask about chow: Many are heavy on steak and potatoes; others hire chefs rather than cooks. At Bar Lazy Jco-owner Helmicki is a vegetariantheres fare like vegetable medley Alfredo (in addition to meat). Its not the norm, she admits.

A floating house party

Ever wanted to rent a house boat? Let this be the summerthey're fun, easy to drive and best of all, highly affordable

Think of houseboats as RVs on wateronly with houseboats, theres a lot less traffic, and every day you can roll out of bed and take a dip or drop your fishing line. You dont need a special drivers license, and anyone can figure out how to operate the equipment.

Every rental company will give you a manual and run you through a full orientation, says Steve Smede, executive editor at Houseboat magazine. Some boating experience is helpful, but thats mostly for your own peace of mind. No ones going to turn you away if you havent driven a boat before.

Here are five great spots to rent a houseboat. But first, a few things to keep in mind.

1. Reservations are essential in summer.

2. Gas is not included in the rental price, and its rare to use less than $100 worth over a long weekend.

3. Shop for groceries in townstores at the marinas are notorious for ridiculously high prices.

Lake Powell, ArizonaUtahHidden coves and orange-maroon cliffs. A 44-foot boat that sleeps 10 is $1,742 for four days (three nights). Lake Powell Resorts & Marina, 800/528-6154, www.lakepowell.com.

Lake Cumberland, KentuckyFive species of bass and 1,200 miles of shoreline. A 64-foot boat that sleeps 12 is $1,357 to $1,704 for four days. State Dock, 888/782-8336, www.statedock.com.

Shasta Lake, CaliforniaWarm waters near 14,162-foot-high Mt. Shasta. A 56-foot boat that sleeps 12 is $1,550 to $2,230 for four nights. Shasta Marina Resort, 800/959-3359, www.shastalake.net.

Lake Roosevelt, WashingtonWinds among forests and craggy shores (theyre perfect for jumping off ofjust look at our cover). A 62-foot boat that sleeps 13 is $1,995 to $2,795 for four days. Lake Roosevelt Houseboat Vacations, 800/635-7585, www.lakeroosevelt.com.

Voyageurs National Park, MinnesotaIn summer, much is accessible by foot or boat only. A 42-foot boat that sleeps five is $1,130 to $1,260 for four days. Ebels, 888/883-2357, www.ebels.com.

Resch Dud Ranch Assn

Can conference car be found on cross country trips?

Riding the rails from Anchorage to Seward

A whirlwind four hour tour through some of Alaskas most spectacular scenery

Named for the poor chap who fell into a crevasse there in 1914, the Spencer Glacier is the first of several well see along our journey. This is glacier country, after all. There are more than 2,000 of them in the state, according to the Bruce Molnia, a glacial geologist with the United States Geological Survey, even though there is about fifty percent less ice here than there was 10,000 years ago, during the last ice age.

We are traveling by train through the heart of Southwest Alaska, riding the "Coastal Classic" from Anchorage to Seward. My wife and I agree that the ride is an impressive value at just $98 per person. (The Coastal Classic from Anchorage to Seward departs Anchorage daily at 6:45 am from May 15 to Sept. 13, 2004.) The train ride is a mere 120 miles, and takes just four and a half hours, but it is without question one of the most beautiful routes in the country. This is truly an excellent way to see Alaska, to gape at its awesome scale, its epic beauty. Any cube-dwelling city-slickers looking for a drastic change of scenery in their lives could hardly do better than coming to the 49th state.

Our trip officially began in Anchorage, where we spent several days enjoying festivals celebrating the summer solstice on June 21, the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. On the morning of our departure, we were up at 5 am, and made our way to the spartan, but efficient, Anchorage station, where, according to Tim Thompson of the Alaskan Railroad, trains have one of the best reputations in the country for running on time. "Were very proud of that fact," he says. A fact that is pretty amazing if you consider the size of the state of Alaska.

Getting here was easy. We booked our United Airlines flight several weeks in advance from New York to Anchorage through Orbitz for $500 per person. Several airlines, including Alaska Airlines, occasionally run Web specials to Anchorage, so keep your eyes out for them. Also, its significantly cheaper if you fly from the West Coast.

Along with scores of tourist-focused families and Seward residents heading home, we boarded the Coastal Classic, a gleaming blue and yellow chain of railroad cars, cars that appeared so well maintained, theyd make a New York City transit worker seethe with envy. The train offers reserved seats and a dining car, but there is also a dome viewing car with a kind of sunroof on steroids, that allows riders to gawk and snap pictures with panoramic abandon.

Shortly after leaving Anchorage, the train passes through the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. Also known as Potter's Marsh, the area is teeming with wildlife. We spot thousands of migratory birds gathered in broad ponds and see several Moose loping around the edge of the water. We come upon the resort town of Girdwood and then chug further down the Southeast edge of the Turnagain Arm, a broad mirror of grey water that forms a branch of the Cook Inlet and experiences the world's second highest tides at over 30 feet. The Arms name comes from an 1778 expedition led by Captain James Cook. Cook had entered the arm during his search for the Northwest Passage, but upon reaching the dead end of the arm, he was forced to "turn again", leaving it with the somewhat awkward-sounding name.

The train we are on has recently been through several major changes. Four years ago, the Alaskan Railroad Corporation, which is owned by the State of Alaska, decided to improve the line to make it more inviting to tourists. They spent almost $5 million restoring the cars and adding dome viewing cars. The result is a remarkably appealing rail adventure that has an almost Disneyesque feel to it. In a good way.

They [the Alaska Rail company] really does a phenomenal job catering to tourists, says train buff John Coombs who runs alaskarail.org, a private site dedicated to the Alaska rail. "Theyve done a terrific job restoring it. When the sun is shining, [the Anchorage to Seward route] is probably the most beautiful ride in the country."

While glaciers and rivers are a treat, the wildlife seems to capture the attention of our cars passengers, particularly the children. Already we have seen Dall sheep scaling the rocky mountainside with balletic ease. Further on, we see a baby brown bear sneak into the brush and a six-foot tall Moose munching grass next to a shallow stream. Several bald eagles soar overhead, easily identifiable from the white shock of their head feathers.

Of course, were lucky. The early explorers to this part of the country were deprived of such a glorious (and comfortable) way to see the Alaskan countryside. The railroad wasnt finished until 1923, when President Warren Harding drove in the famous golden spike near Anchorage, thus opening up easy passage to Seward, once a lonely fishing village. Since then, traffic has grown impressively. Last year, over 400,000 passengers rode on the Alaskan railroad.

We pass several other glaciers along the way, including the Bartlett and Trail Glaciers, each of which Candace brings to our attention with her inimitable charm. We climb a mountain via sweeping switchbacks that take the train back and forth up the mountainside and which must have been an engineering nightmare. We pass Kenai Lake, whose turquoise blue color comes from suspended glacial silt in the water, but whose hues seem unreal.

After four and a half hours that pass like two, we arrive in the town of Seward on Resurrection Bay. It is a magnificent summers day and the town is gearing up for the famous 4th of July celebration a few days away, when the population will double and the Mt. Marathon race will pit extreme athletes against one another to race to the top of the races namesake.

Even though it is our destination, Seward is known as the "gateway" to Alaska because it is here that the railroad "officially" starts. The town is named in honor of William H. Seward who, in one of the sweetest deals in American history, orchestrated the purchase of Alaska from the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million, or little more than two cents an acre.

Having reached our destination, we step off the Coastal Classic and made our way to the charming Van Gilder Hotel, where we booked a spacious room for $150 per night. We feel distinctly saddened that the trip was over. There is nothing like traveling by train. Of course, the feeling is short-lived, eclipsed by the excitement that a new stage of our trip was just beginning.

http://www.alaskarailroad.com/

http://www.alaskarails.org/

PORTAGE VALLEY, Alaska - Travelers interested in a good look at Alaska wildlife but not interested in hiking or camping out can find grizzly bears, musk oxen, moose, caribou and much more at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Just an hour's drive south of Anchorage on scenic Turnagain Arm, the center is spread out over 140 acres and provides a more natural setting for viewing wildlife than many zoos.

We are trying to create more of an experience, said Mike Miller, AWCC's director.

The center's area is readily navigated and set up so that visitors can see the animal viewing areas from their cars. Walking around the park is also an easy option.

All the animals at the center were taken in because they were injured, ill or orphaned. They can't be released to or survive in the wild, so the center adopts them and uses them in its educational programs. A nonprofit organization, AWCC generates its operating funds through admission fees, gift shop sales, grants and donations.

One of the biggest draws at the center is a female grizzly bear named Hugo. An encounter with a porcupine left Hugo with hundreds of quills imbedded in her skin. She is doing well now and has an 18-acre section to herself. Miller said it's the largest bear enclosure in North America.

Also of interest is the herd of wood bison, a species that once ranged across a vast region of northwestern Canada and Alaska. Like their smaller cousins on the plains, wood bison were nearly extinct by the early 1900s because of hunting and loss of habitat. Wood bison are being bred in captivity, and the state Department of Fish and Game is exploring population restoration possibilities in the interior part of the state.

Eventually there will be herds of wild wood bison in Alaska, Miller said.

In addition to mature animals, the center has its share of young critters. AWCC's newest animals are seven coyote pups found wandering around on an air strip after their mother was hit by a plane. There is also a young moose calf that arrived at the center after a collision with a car killed her mother.

Except for a donated Siberian wild boar, all the animals at AWCC could at one time be found naturally in Alaska. The animals rely on the center's habitat for much of their food and are adapted to cold weather.

The center is open through the winter, giving visitors an idea of how Alaska wildlife live in snow and ice.

If you go

LOCATION: The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is at Mile 79 Seward Highway.

ADMISSION: Adults, $5. Children 4-12, seniors 55 and older and active military with ID, $3. Maximum charge per vehicle, $20.

HOURS: Open daily - May 11 through Sept. 20, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (no entry after 7:30 p.m.); Sept. 21 through May 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (no entry after 4:30 p.m.)

CONTACT: (907) 783-2025

ON THE NET:www.alaskawildlife.org

Summer camps for adults and families

Each year, the Audubon Society, The Sierra Club, The YMCA and other such organizations sponsor inexpensive sleepaway campsand theyre not always for kids!

Sleepaway camp. Was there ever a better vacation? A more treasured time of childhood? And can those joyful, vibrant, inexpensive holidays be re-experienced at a later time, as an adult?

The answer is a limited yes. Provided you apply soon enoughsay, by early spring, before the rolls are filled and closedyou can stay at one of nearly 50 widely scattered camps that operate for people of all ages, 18 to 80, in a setting almost identical to those cherished memories of youth.

AUDUBON ECOLOGY CAMPS

These have existed for over 60 years. On a thickly wooded 300 acre island off the mid-coast of Maine, at a lofty ranch in the Wind River Mountains of northwestern Wyoming, beside a cold, clear lake in the pine forests of Minnesota, and in a 150-year-old oak forest of Wisconsins Northwoods, the National Audubon Society has enabled adults from all over the nation to enjoy an intense, camp-style experience, for one or two summer weeks, with all forms of plant and animal life: birds and marine mammals, insects, herbs and wildflowers, mink, beaver, otter, and eagles. You go birding or canoeing at 7 a.m., take leisurely hikes through open meadows or on mountain trails, make field trips to a hemlock gorge, and alternate all the outdoor activity with attendance at classroom lectures by expert naturalists. The simple aim is to reintroduce you to nature and its delicate balancing act; to show how all life is interdependent, and what you can do to protect it.

In the undeveloped, wilderness settings of all four camps, you quickly forget all urban concerns, but enjoy a reasonable standard of comfort at the same time: dormitory rooms with air-conditioning and private bath in Minnesota, wood-frame dormitories and a restored 19th-century farmhouse on Hog Island in Maine, slightly more modern facilities and private rooms in Connecticut, and a long, wood-frame dormitory in Wisconsin. Hearty meals are served buffet style, three times a day.

For the summer of 2004, Minnesota's North Woods camp offers five weeklong programs with an option of earning graduate credits.Some of the programs are "Lake Superior: From Duluth to Thunder Bay," "The Mammals of Badland," and "Boundary Water Canoe Area Field Studies." The all-inclusive price for the week is $750.

The camp on Hog Island in Maine is open from June to August, and each week has a different focus: Bird Studies for Teens, Natural History of Maine Coast, Naturalizing by Kayak, and Field Ornithology are examples. Prices a weeks program, including room and board, range from $660 to $1125. The Wisconsin camp dedicates most of the summer to youth programs, but one week in July is adults-only. The six-day session Wade into Ecology is $695.There is also a family week at the end of June which is $475 for adults and $450 for children ages five to 15.

Theres not another cent to pay (except your transportation to the camp), nowhere at all to spend additional money, and no supplement for single persons traveling alone.

Who attends the Audubon camps? Adults of all ages and backgrounds: an accountant from Atlanta alongside a professional educator from San Francisco, college students, firemen, and retired senior citizens. Their common tie: the urge for a vacation with more substance to it than sitting on a beach, in the words of Philip Schaefer, Audubons former director of camps and summer programs. Returning to nature, he adds, is an emotional as well as a learning experience, and at the final campfire, there isnt a dry eye.

For extensive, colorful literature and application forms relating to these camps, call or e-mail the Audubon offices individually or go to http://www.audubon.org/. For Maine: 888/325-5261 or camps@maineaudubon.org ; Wisconsin: 877/777-8383 or hunthill@spacestar.net ; Minnesota: 888/404-7743 or audubon1@audubon-center.org .

SIERRA CLUB BASE CAMPS

Heres an even older program of adult summer camps, a small part of the much broader year-round schedule of outings operated since 1901 by the fierce and powerful (500,000 members) environmental organization called the Sierra Club. In wild places of the United States, at least a dozen times each summer, experienced Sierra volunteers establish base camps at small cabins or lodges, or at tented camp areas, to which other participants then usually hike in from a road several miles away. Once established at the base camp, to which supplies have been brought by mule or vehicle, campers make day hikes into the surrounding countryside, or simply enjoy the outdoor pleasures of their wilderness base.

Most of the base camps are in California, Utah and Arizona, or the Sierra Mountains of California/Nevada; a few are in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Florida, Virginia, Washington, New Jersey, Idaho, New York, and the Great Smoky Mountain Park of Tennessee/North Carolina. With a minor exception or two, charges are remarkably low, even though all inclusive: as little as $455 for some one-week stays, an average of about $1100, and some topping $3,000. Thats because all campers pitch in to perform camp tasks, including cooking, supervised by the camp staff.

Sample base camp stays planned for 2004: Acadia National Park and Mt. Desert Island in Maine, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska, and Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada. Though the accent throughout is on funthe sheer pleasure of removing oneself for a week or two to an untouched, untrammeled wildernessparticipants (of all ages, and including families) have the added opportunity to network with other kindred sorts, the dedicated environmentalists of our nation.

The full list of base camps appears in a larger directory of club outings bound each year into the January/February edition of Sierra, the clubs magazine. For a copy, or for other specific information or longer leaflets on individual base camps, contact the Sierra Club Outing Department, 85 Second St., Second Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 (phone 415/977-5630, fax 415/977-5795, e-mail national.outings@sierraclub.org). Since base camps are open only to Sierra members or applicants for membership, youll later need to include your membership application and fee ($25 introductory price, $39 regularly) with your reservation request. A full listing of Sierra Club outings can also be found online at www.sierraclub.org/outings.

UNITARIAN CAMPS

And then you have the often more comfortable and more numerous adult summer camps of the merged Unitarian/Universalist church, each one of which is openas a matter of firm church policyto Americans of all religious persuasions and of none. Acting from the same tolerant impulses that led them to found the American Red Cross, the ASPCA, and much of the public school movement, Unitarian/Universalists have here created a major travel/vacation resource, yet one that is unknown to much of the traveling public.

Why do they invite people of all religious persuasions to make use of their summer camps? Certainly not to proselytize or seek convertsthey dont believe in that. Rather, as its been explained to me, because they seek to discover common bonds among all humankind, and common spiritual truths; because their creed is without dogma and broadly compatible with all other faiths. What better place to experience such unity, they theorize, than at a summer gathering, in a pleasant, unstressed, cooperative camp?

Because some of the Unitarian/Universalist camps fill up by summer, youd be well advised to apply quickly to one of the following:

Star Island Religious and Educational Conference Center, New Hampshire: A rustic, rocky, sea-enclosed marsh connected to the mainland by a single telephone line, Star Island is one of the historic Isles of Shoals off the New England coast (reached by ferry from Portsmouth, N.H.). A naturalists dream, a photographers vision, it has been owned by the Unitarians since 1915, and used as an adult summer camp (swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, tennis, softball) open to all, but mainly patronized by Unitarian/Universalists. From mid-June to early September, singles, couples, and families can opt for theme weeks focused on the arts, natural history, international affairs, psychology, and the like. In 2004, these include International Affairs, Religion in an Age of Science and Life on a Star. They stay either in a wooden main building or a number of cottages (comfortable but not modern) at charges from $502 per adult per week for room and full board with a discount for children. (Star Island also operates six-day conferences at charges starting at $448 per adult). Add about $50 to $100 per person for program registration fees. Figure an extra $80 for the ferry and parking. Technically, campers are supposed to register in February for these summer programs, but usually theyll let people sign up until all the spots are full. Prior to summer, contact Star Island Corporation, 10 Vaughan Mall, Suite #8, Worth Plaza, Portsmouth, NH 03801 (phone 603/430-6272); thereafter, P.O. Box 178, Portsmouth, NH 03802 (phone 603/964-7252, e-mail www.starisland.org).

De Benneville Pines Camp, near Angelus Oaks, California: Half an hour from the better-known town of Redland on the mid-Pacific coast, in a heavily wooded area laced with hiking trails, is De Benneville Pines Camp. Its Unitarian programsusually open to allconsist primarily of a family week in August, a four-day Womens Retreat in May (with activities ranging from yoga to silk screening to belly dancing), a Yoga/Meditation week in September and a weekend Folk Music Camp: Music in the Mountains in November. Family week is devoted to classic summer recreations, with the Unitarian theme largely limited to evening campfire discussions of broad ethical themes. Accommodation is in cabins; meals, according to staff, are honest-to-goodness homemadei.e., bread done from scratch; all inclusive weekly charges average $300 per adult for family weeks, much less for children (although there is a complicated price structure, aimed at allowing people of all economic backgrounds to attend). Contact De Benneville Pines, 41750 West Jenks Lake Road, Angelus Oaks, CA 92305 (phone or fax 909/794-1252, e-mail uucamp@aol.com or online at www.debenneville.org).

Ferry Beach Center, on the coast of Maine: For its summer-long, ten-week program of adult activities, open to all without question, Ferry Beach makes use of 30 woodland acres on Saco Bay and adjoining sand dunes and pine groves, with access to bike paths and walking trails in a state park. Though participants are free to romp and relax, they can also attend weekend and week-long conferences from the end of June through the Labor Day weekend. Conference themes for the 2004 season: a four-day "Kayaking for beginners and intermediate paddlers" ($265) and a three-day "Spirit of West Africa: Drumming and Dance ($300). Expect to pay about $550 per adult for a weeks room, board, registration, and activities, slightly less for children, much less for those occupying tented campsites. Contact Ferry Beach Park Association, 5 Morris Ave., Saco, ME 04072 (phone 207/282-4489 or, for reservations 207/284-8612, fax 207/283-4465, e-mail ferrybeach@ferrybeach.org or online at www.ferrybeach.org).

Rowe Camp, in the Berkshires of northwestern Massachusetts: A Unitarian childrens camp for much of the summer, Rowe largely replaces the youngsters with adults during three warm-weather periods: for one week in June (Mens Wisdom Council), and the last two weeks of August (Kindred Spirits and Womens Circles); the third is a consciousness-raising program for females only, while the second attempts to free all participantssingles, couples, familiesfrom whatever confines their spirits. In all three, daily workshops deal with growth in the physical, emotional, spiritual, and political realms; and all is combined with swimming, dancing, canoeing, silk-screening, and picnicsa joyful, dynamic, but intensely spiritual atmosphere. Scattered wooden cabins and main lodges resemble the camps of your own youth. The program cost for a week ranges from $420 to $495 based on your familys yearly income (the more you make, the more you pay). If youre willing to work during your stay (helping with meals, changing sheets, carpentry), you can barter for a lower fee, and there are group discounts offered too. Contact Rowe Camp, Kings Highway Road, Box 273, Rowe, MA 01367 (phone 413/339-4954 fax 413/339-5728, e-mail info@rowecenter.org or online at www.rowecenter.org).

The classic summer camp for adults: Amuuse Camps for Singles. Also Unitarian-sponsored, Amuuse takes place over series of weeks from mid-June to mid-August at three campsites in the upper Midwest (in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio). Mornings are devoted to classes led by experienced camper facilitators in 2003, these included lessons in massage, dream interpretation, and improvisational comedy. Afternoons are left free for more traditional camp activities swimming, volleyball, golf, ping pong, hiking and crafts. On most evenings, participants meet to watch the sunset, after which the group disperses to a wide variety of scheduled social events coffeehouses, theme parties and dances, campfires and sing-a-longs. The fee is $450/person per week, inclusive of room, all meals, snacks and most activities. And get ready for kitchen duty all participants are expected to pitch in with chores-cooking, cleaning and organizing events. Contact Amuuse Camps for Singles, AMUUSE c/o Sharon Spinler, 336 Birchwood Court, Vernon Hills, IL 60061(phone 847/816-3356, e-mail amuuse@compuserve.com ) Also online at www.amuuse.org.

YMCA CAMPS

Like the Unitarian/Universalists, the YMCA (Young Mens Christian Association) also hosts several summer camps suitable for adults and families. Although Christian in heritage, the YMCA is nondenominational in practice, sponsoring programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. Check with your local YMCA to see if it offers any summer camp opportunities. These camps have a high return rate and fill up quickly, so start making inquiries a year in advance.

On the slopes of Mount Davis (the highest peak in Pennsylvania), 90 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, the Deer Valley YMCA Camp has opened its doors each summer since 1957 to singles, couples, and families from June through August for its popular Family Camp.

Aquatic activities, such as sailing, windsurfing, and kayaking, take center stage on the 125-acre Deer Valley Lake. Hiking and biking trails wind through the other 600 acres amidst tall pines and maples (FYI- its the Maple Capital of Pennsylvania). Other available pastimes at this lakeside haven run the gamut from horse-back-riding (for an extra fee) to bacci ball to arts and crafts. A morning daycamp is scheduled for children only with family activities throughout the afternoon; nightly programs like karaoke and murder mysteries are adults-only. Accommodations consist of 36 heated, two-bedroom cabins with private baths (be forewarned: cold water only and no showers) and eight private rooms (but no baths) in the Lakeview Lodge for about $1,500 per family of four. Communal shower and bathhouses supplement the rustic amenities. Single adults and couples can arrange to share a cabin or vie for one of the few dorm-style rooms. There are also tent sites available for $20/night. Meals, served family-style, are all included in the room cost. In addition to the Family Camp, Deer Valley sets aside a week in June and another in October for Womens Week, a women-only retreat focused on gender issues, self-improvement, and fitness.

Contact the Deer Valley Camp Office in September to reserve a space for the following summer. For more information or to make reservations, write Deer Valley YMCA Camp, 254 Deer Valley Drive, Fort Hill, PA 15540, call 800/YMCA-FUN (962-2386), or e-mail deervalleyymca@juno.com . View their web site at www.deervalleyymca.org.

The YMCA Camp Nawakwa (run by the Metropolitan Chicago YMCA), just 15 miles west of Minocqua, Wisconsin, has also offered an annual family camp from Memorial Day to Labor Day for singles, couples, and kid-toting parents, since the 1930s. On 170 acres of thick pine and birch forest, the camp is located on a Native American Reservation, nestled between two crystal-clear lakes, Big Crooked and Little Sugarbush (the camp staff claims you can spot bottom, 15 feet down). Opt for all, some, or none of the camp-organized activities, which range from running and rowing in the camps triathlon, to crooning a tune in songfest, to visiting a nearby Native American museum. Thirty-three housekeeping cabins, all heated and with kitchen facilities, spot the lakeshore, and sleep from four to six people. About a third are full facility, with private baths; the others are more rustic (and, consequently, cost less), with only hot and cold-water sinks, but fully equipped bathhouses are nearby. Campers pay by the cabin, from $425 to $625 per family of four (rates depend on type of cabin and time). No meals are provided, but you can cook your own in any of the cabins and theres a town just 10 minutes away. The low rates of this back-to-nature camp make it a hot ticket reserve a cabin six months in advance just to be safe. For more information or to make reservations, contact YMCA Family Camp Nawakwa, 13400 Camp Nawakwa Lane, Lac-du-Flambeau, WI 54538 (in summer, phone 715/588-7422, or e-mail Kirby_Petersen@ymcachgo.org . View the camps Web site at www.nawakwa.com.

The St. Paul YMCA chapter hosts another family camp, Camp du Nord (once again, open to all), this one on the shores of Burntside Lake in Ely, Minnesota. Amidst a wilderness setting of wooded grounds, the wide-ranging activities are all optional. Storytelling, kayaking, sailing, canoeing, and fishing are among your choices. Du Nord is divided into three camp villages, that are spread out along a mile of the lakefront property. Pitching your own tent is the cheapest way to go: from only $395/week for the site. If youd prefer a something a little less rustic, there are 23 housekeeping cabins to choose from, and like Camp Nawakwa, you pay per cabin, not per person. Prices start at $800/week for a two-person bungalow without a bathroom and they go up from there, depending on occupancy and amenities (the most expensive sleeps 16 for $2,140/week). If you opt for meals, served buffet-style in the communal dining room, youll tack on between $70 and $135 extra, depending on the meal plan you choose. But all cabins are equipped with kitchens and the nearest supermarkets only a half-hour away. If these prices dont fit you budget, ask about the sliding scale pricing option, which lets you pay 10 to 20% less, no questions asked. All rates are flexible, structured to allow poorer campers and families to vacation here.

The registration process for this camp is a little complicated (its a lottery system), so make sure you contact the office before December (when the drawing takes place) for the following summer. If youre too late for that deadline, check anyway for cancellations. For more information or to make reservations contact Camp du Nord, 3606 North Arm Road, Ely, Minnesota 55731, call Shirley at the Camp Office 651/645-2136 or the Wilderness Office 218/365-3681, or e-mail info@dunord.org . View its web site at www.dunord.org.

SPORTS AND ADVENTURE CAMPS

For the past 20 years, the non-profit Four Corners School of Outdoor Education has offered Southwest Ed-Ventures in the (you guessed it!) four corners area of the United States, combining adventure travel with serious education. Most of the trip leaders have Masters or doctorate degrees and evenings are spent in lectures or informal seminars. Trips scheduled for 2004 include mapping Native American ruins in Ute Tribal Park, a 26-mile rafting expedition down the San Juan River, and studying rock art and archaeology at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. In June and August the school sponsors family programs. For many of the excursions, youll be camping in the field and youll need to bring your own tent and sleeping bag. All meals are provided, but if youre backpacking, be prepared to carry a fair share of food and camp supplies. Trips are rated according to difficulty (from novice to expert) and all cost about $150 per person per day. A few are research-oriented, however, so some of the costs are tax-deductible. Also, ask about discounts for groups of three or more. For more information or to make reservations, call Southwest Ed-Ventures at 800/525-4456 or view its Web site at www.sw-adventures.org.

From the shores of Maine to the Delaware Water Gap, the 128-year old Appalachian Mountain Club organizes a vast spectrum of outdoor camping programs and workshops throughout the year. Founded on principles of eco-conscious camping, the clubs leave no trace mantra prevails in all its outings. Many of the trips are based in the White Mountains and Mt. Cardigan of New Hampshire, the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts, the Catskills in New York, and a myriad of rivers and basins throughout the Northeast. They cover pretty much all the outdoor basics (hiking, canoeing, biking, etc) and range from two-day hut-based workshops to 10-day guided hikes through rough mountain terrain. Programs offered in recent years include Women of the woods, The Taste of Tundra, Outdoor Cooking and Baking, Llama Trekking, Tracking: The Art of Seeing, Kayaking Coastal Maine, Beginner Fly Fishing, and Hiking and Yoga. Professional wilderness experts guide each trip.

Outings cost from $72 day-trips to over $1,000 for longer adventures, but most weigh in under $100/day (some much less). The fee covers all lodging costs (the club provides camping gear and even some sleeping bags are available at no extra cost), instruction, guides and most meals. Because AMC is a non-profit organization, each club trip is run on a break-even basis, meaning the fee you pay just covers the administrative costs and your personal expenses. Appalachian Mountain Club members receive a 10% discount on all trips, so its worth your while to sign up. Hundreds of trips are offered, so be sure to check out their web site www.outdoors.org or call for a catalogue for the whole enchilada. For more information, contact the Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy Street, Boston, MA 02108 (phone 617/523-0636, e-mail information@outdoors.org .

Smith College Adult Sports and Fitness Camp, for both men and women, is a highly active week of classroom instruction in fitness, nutrition, and stress management, alternating with active participation in yoga, cycling, hiking, swimming, climbing, tai-chi, canoeing, badminton, squash, tennis, and other forms of aerobics. The colleges facilities for all this are among the best in the nation. One session for 2004 is scheduled from June 12 to 18. Sessions average 30 to 40 participants. A single fee of $1,125 (there is a discount if you register early) per person covers sports, instruction, and room and board (single or double rooms) from dinner Sunday through breakfast the following Friday. Contact Michelle Finley, Adult Sports and Fitness Camp, Scott Gymnasium, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063 (phone 413/585-3971, e-mail mfinley@smith.edu ). Or view the Web site at www.science.smith.edu/exer_sci/camp.

A VEGETARIAN CAMP

Located on the shores of Lake Champlain near Burlington, Vermont (on the YMCA grounds of Camp Hochelaga), Camp Common Ground is a cooperative, family-camp rooted in its dedication to a strictly vegetarian and organic cuisine. Since its beginning in 1994, families have regularly convened on the lakefront each summer, fulfilling the vision of camp founders Peg and Jim (still on the staff) of a community-oriented, family-run summer camp. From kayaking, to dance, to creative cooking, all activities are infused with this cooperative spirit, including daily chores, which the campers also share. Meals are prepared by an amazing staff of vegetarian cooks, with years of experience and served family-style.

Between 150 and 160 campers fill the summertime retreat during its two-week run in August. Adults pay $450/week, teens $360, and kids, between $80 and $315 (book after the end of March and you can add $10 to these prices). To encourage diversity (one of the camps founding principles) Camp Common Ground offers scholarships to about 35% of its attending families. Bunkbeds in 12 rustic-style cabins and 10 platform-tents house most of the campers; the rest bring their own tents.If you want a solid sleeping structure, be sure to make reservations early. Private cabins cost an additional $120 and shared cabins cost an additional $15 per bed. Very few of these accommodations come with private baths, so for the others, there are three communal bathhouses (mens, womens, and coed). Priority is given to returning families (about 60%) and the rest of the slots are filled on a first come-first served basis. For more information or to make reservations, contact Camp Common Ground, 159 Lost Road, St. George, VT 05495, phone 800/430-COOP (2667) or 802/482-3670, or e-mail info@cgcvt.org . View the Web site or register online at www.cgcvt.org.

A POLITICAL SUMMER CAMP

Finally, a group of proud and unrepentant, happy and defiant liberals from all over the nation (of all ages, families and singles) converges each summer on the World Fellowship Center in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a special vacation. With its 455 acres of forest, mile-long Whitton Pond for swimming and boating, cookouts, campsites and rustic lodge buildings, WFC would seem at first to be a standard resort for standard, warm-weather relaxation. But from late-June to early- September, every week and weekend of the summer there is devoted to such atypical, even unsettling, resort themes as The Science and Politics of Genetically Altered Food, War and Violence in Jewish Tradition and Thought, The Politics of Food, Monopoly Militarism, the US and the Threat of Terrorism, Dismantling Corporate Rule, and Electoral Politics. Noted lecturers take to the stump on each weeks topics, and twice-daily discussions, at 10:30 a.m. and after dinner at 8 p.m., alternate with lighthearted blueberry-picking, exercise sessions, swimming, boating and nature and photography workshops. All three meals are included in the room rates, and yet those charges amounted to only $275 to $550 per person per week (depending on room category) or to only $250 per week for people bringing a tent (depending on the meal plan chosen). Children stay with their parents for a fraction of these prices, depending on age. At those price levels, space fills up fast.

For information and applications, contact World Fellowship Center, c/o Andrew Davis & Andrea Walsh, P.O. Box 2280, Conway, NH 03818-2280 (phone 603/447-2280, fax 603/447-1820). You can also e-mail worldf@worldfellowship.org or go online to www.worldfellowship.org.

Cruise may be a political forum

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

Knight Ridder Newspapers

MIAMI, Fla. - (KRT) - It was supposed to be a sea voyage commemorating the birth of a nation, not a crash course in Haitian politics.

But that's exactly what "Cruising into History," a seven-day Caribbean excursion commemorating Haiti's bicentennial, will become Saturday for organizers and 500 voyagers scheduled to set sail from the Port of Miami-Dade.

The cruise passengers, including such luminaries as famed dancer Katherine Dunham and National Urban League President Marc Morial, are in the middle of a political tug of war between supporters of ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and those who support Haiti's current U.S.-backed interim government.

Following pressure from pro-Aristide groups, organizers say they have scaled back their itinerary to prevent the voyage from becoming a showcase for the new government. Instead of visiting historical sites in Haiti, the passengers will see only a private beach.

Chief organizer Ron Daniels of the New York-based Haiti Support Project announced this week that "Cruising into History" was changing course. The decision, the political activist said in a widely circulated press statement, was the result of discovering that "the U.S.-backed `interim government' is attempting to showcase our arrival in Haiti to bolster its legitimacy."

So instead of commemorating the Haitian Revolution with a daylong excursion through the northern city of Cap-Haitien and the town of Milot, including a horseback trip to see King Henri Christophe's famous San Souci Palace and the 19th century Citadel fortress, passengers will have to settle for Labadee beach, the private landing for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, outside of Cap-Haitien. It's expected to arrive there Thursday after stops in other Caribbean ports of call.

Daniels declined to speak to The Herald without actor Danny Glover, a key supporter who has championed the cruise since Daniels began planning it more than two years ago with Aristide's blessing. He and Glover are scheduled to give a news conference today before the boat departs.

U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James Foley, however, called Daniels' circulated comments "a coerced but nonetheless shameful statement."

Daniels, he said, had succumbed to a pro-Aristide propaganda campaign, despite efforts by the Haitian government to prepare for the cruise passengers' arrival with road improvements and other measures.

"For the organizers to now turn around and accuse the government of wanting to exploit the cruise to bolster their legitimacy - when the fact is, it was the organizers who were in effect pressuring the government that was reluctant to spend scarce resources - is amazingly cruel," Foley said in a telephone interview from Port-au-Prince.

"It is also unfortunate they are leaving in the lurch hundreds of merchants in Milot who were hoping to put Milot and the Citadel on the map as a future tourist destination for Americans."

The controversy over the cruise first erupted during last month's Democratic National Convention in Boston, when several pro-Aristide Haitian Americans confronted U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, about his support of the trip.

Following the meeting, organizers mounted an Internet pressure campaign, demanding that "everyone concerned about protecting and saving the life of the average Haitian person in Haiti" contact Daniels and other prominent celebrity supporters including Glover to demand that they "publicly disavow the Feb. 29, 2004, Coup d'etat against Aristide and call for an end to the widespread repression of the people of Haiti and Haiti's occupation by the U.S. and others."

In one e-mail, New York attorney and activist Marguerite Laurent even provided a sample letter to send, expressing dismay that "Cruising into History is in somewhat of an alliance with perpetrators of the coup d'etat and has, since early March, not condemned the human rights violations, murders and disappearances taking place in Haiti on a daily basis."

Laurent did not return a Herald phone call or e-mail seeking comment.

This is not the first time Aristide proponents have attempted to politicize an event commemorating Haiti's bicentennial.

In May, scores of Aristide supporters protested a fundraising event in North Miami for this summer's Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, on the National Mall.

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2004, The Miami Herald.

Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.herald.com

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

TRIBES AND TRIBULATIONS Indigenous Tribe in Ecuador Resists Big Oil

Ecuador is one of South America's poorest countries, and like many poor countries, it is in considerable debt to developed nations. Fifty percent of its national budget comes from oil, and the International Monetary Fund is using its debt to pressure it to extract still more. Yet despite decades of oil development, the country's debt continues to grow and poverty continues to spread. So, finally, an indigenous group whose land is threatened with oil exploration is saying "no thanks." "Petroleum development has been a disaster in Ecuador, generating environmental, social, and cultural crises, and ultimately causing the extinction of indigenous peoples," says Mario Santi, a member of the Sarayacu tribe and coordinator of Kampari (Voice of Resistance). "We want to maintain our way of living, free of contamination, in harmony with nature." Despite offers of payouts from oil companies and the threat of military action from the Ecuadorian government, the Sarayacu have successfully kept oil drills off their land -- for now.

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Marisa Handler, 13 Aug 2004

Prototype of Registration form

Annual Conference Registration

Please fill out the pre-registration form and send it to:Anita R. Picas250 Ansley DriveAthens, GA 30605Postmark deadline for pre-registration: August 14, 2004

__________________________________________________________

Name: ____________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________

E-mail: __________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________hm _______________________wk

Please enclose check or money order payable to: AATSP-GA.(No Cash Please)

Pre-registration includes lunch and breaks. Onsite registration will not include lunch.

_____ Current AATSP members (dues paid before 8-7-2004):$10.00 pre-registration includes lunch.

_____ Current AATSP members: $20.00 onsite registrationlunch not included.

_____ General Participants: $40.00 pre-registration, includes lunch.

_____ General Participants: $50.00 onsite registration, lunch not included.

_____ Full-Time Undergraduate Students: $20.00 pre-registration, includes lunch. Must have letter from school registrar indicating full-time, undergraduatestatus.