Over the weekend, Major League Baseball welcomed spectators back to stadiums for regular season games for the first time since October 2019. The significance of Californians returning to a large public gathering — albeit masked and socially distanced, and stadiums at about a quarter of capacity — wasn’t lost on anyone.

Over a dozen outdoor preserves throughout Oregon will soon open for the first time in more than a year. On April 1, the Nature Conservancy will reopen the majority of their Oregon locations that have been closed to public access during the pandemic.

Small ship cruise lines are pressing ahead with plans to restart overnight cruises on the Columbia and Snake rivers, around Puget Sound and in Alaska.

Californians may soon be able to return to outdoor ballparks, stadiums and theme parks as soon as next month under new guidelines announced Friday by state health officials.

Conservationists have been resisting a proposed nickel mine in Southern Oregon for many years. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a permanent mining ban in the area as part of a new public lands bill.

For many years, trail advocates have been looking at converting the unused railroad line that runs through California’s Mendocino and Humboldt counties. And now a decision by the agency that owns the rail corridor clears the way for the northern section of a 320-mile rail-to-trail path known as the Great Redwood Trail.

Nearly half of California’s 58 counties meet the new threshold allowing outdoor sports to resume. The new guidance applies to youth sports and adult recreation leagues.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has said in order to run full-contact sports outdoors, high schools have to offer some instruction indoors.

Rescheduled fall sports seasons for high school athletes are kicking off this month in large parts of Washington state and Oregon. The general happiness this brought came with a dose of consternation among some coaches and families over strict COVID-19 safety guidelines set down by state health authorities.

New CDC guidance warns schools about resuming athletic activities, especially indoors, but some districts are still sending their kids to play ball.

The legislation would add thousands of miles of rivers and streams to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program to expand recreation, safeguard water quality and prepare for wildfire.