Tuesday February 15, 2022

River guides working on federal lands this coming season will receive a $15 minimum wage with overtime after a federal judge denied a request by outfitters that they be exempted from the rule. Today on the news, we hear from the executive director of a foundation providing counseling and scholarships to river guides about this ruling. And, a new bill seeks to end mail-in ballots and drop-off collection boxes in Utah. Critics say the measure is aimed at political organizers. Plus, grazing fees on public lands are lower than they were forty years ago. And a report on stray cows in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest recently shot by the Forest Service.

// Show Notes //

Photo: Rafters paddle down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Courtesy Flickr user Al_HikesAZ/Creative Commons

// KZMU: Often Living ‘Hand to Mouth,’ Local River Guides Weigh in on Wage Increase
https://www.kzmu.org/often-living-hand-to-mouth-local-river-guides-weigh-in-on-wage-increase/

// Whale Foundation
https://www.whalefoundation.org

// What’s getting more expensive? Everything but grazing fees.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/south-public-lands-whats-getting-more-expensive-everything-but-grazing-fees