National Parks Traveler Podcast
297 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★★ - 102 ratingsNational Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis.
Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.
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Episodes
National Parks Traveler: Counting Birds For The Holidays
December 13, 2020 13:00 - 45 minutes - 104 MBThis week’s show is going to the birds. Counting, birds, that is, what with the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count officially kicking off Monday and running through January 5. We sat down with Geoff LeBaron, who long has overseen the annual count for the National Audubon Society, to discuss the program.
National Parks Traveler: Canada's Glorious Parks
December 06, 2020 13:00 - 46 minutes - 106 MBIf you’re a truly devoted national parks traveler, you don’t let political boundaries get in your way when you consider which national park to visit. With that in mind, we’re going to look north to Canada and the incredible parks overseen by Parks Canada. There are some great destinations there, whether you’re a young family traveling with kids, wildlife watchers looking for bison or birds, or more experienced travelers looking for a wild backcountry experience.
National Parks Traveler: Wonders Of Sand And Stone, Utah's Parks And Monuments
November 29, 2020 13:00 - 38 minutes - 87.1 MBFrederick Swanson is a Salt Lake City writer who long has studied public lands issues in Utah, and his latest book delves into the history of the state's national parks and monuments. In our show he discusses the motivation that spurred "Wonders of Sand and Stone, A History of Utah’s National Parks and Monuments."
National Parks Traveler: The Raucous Crab Island Party At Gulf Islands
November 22, 2020 13:00 - 50 minutes - 115 MBGulf Islands National Seashore is developing a Commercial Services Strategy for Crab Island due to the raucous partying that goes on there. Lynn Riddick discusses the matter with Gulf Islands Superintendent Dan Brown.
National Parks Traveler: Glacier Bay, Wildfires, And Rocky Mountain Conservancy
November 15, 2020 13:00 - 57 minutes - 131 MBEstee Rivera, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, discusses the damage wildfires inflicted on Rocky Mountain National Park and the role the conservancy is taking in helping park staff rehabilitate areas impacted by the fires and interpret the intense fire season. And Kurt Repanshek visits with Kim Heacox, a former park ranger turned writer and photographer at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
National Parks Traveler: Chesapeake's Bald Eagles And National Parks
November 08, 2020 13:00 - 42 minutes - 97.1 MBDr. Bryan Watts, an authority on bald eagles, discusses his research that indicates that bald eagles that utilize national park lands around the Chesapeake Bay may have a slight advantage over those that use the bay’s other estuarine systems.
National Parks Traveler Episode: Pre-Election Round Table On The Parks
November 01, 2020 12:00 - 50 minutes - 116 MBHow might the 2020 presidential election impact the National Park Service? Former Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, Kristen Brengel from the National Parks Conservation Association, and Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, discuss that question.
National Parks Traveler: Beluga Whales And The Pebble Mine
October 25, 2020 12:00 - 39 minutes - 90.8 MBNational Parks Traveler’s Lynn Riddick connects with Dr. Tracy Romano of Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut to discuss the plight of beluga whales in Cook Inlet in Alaska and the threats they face, including the threats posed by the proposed Pebble Mine project.
National Parks Traveler: The Wilderness Land Trust
October 18, 2020 12:00 - 35 minutes - 81.1 MBThis week we look at a nonprofit organization whose sole existence is to acquire, from willing sellers, private lands surrounded by official, or proposed, wilderness in national parks, national forests, and other publicly owned lands. Once those lands are acquired and transferred to federal land managers, The Wilderness Land Trust will put itself out of business. But that’s not going to happen overnight, as the Trust’s executive director, Brad Borst, explains during our conversation.
National Parks Traveler: High Heat At Death Valley National Park
October 11, 2020 12:00 - 49 minutes - 113 MBIn this week’s show, we look at one of the hottest places on Earth, Death Valley National Park in southeastern California and western Nevada. And this summer was especially hot. The park broke records in a number of categories as it experienced some of the hottest days ever recorded on Earth. August was particularly brutal, with record temperatures reached 12 times for both the daily high and the daily low. To take a closer look at these numbers and why they don’t seem to be a deterrent...
National Parks Traveler: Roundtable Discussion On National Park News
October 04, 2020 12:00 - 47 minutes - 108 MBLife in the National Park System doesn’t pause for presidential elections. Indeed, there have been many issues across the parks to pay attention to and discuss. To help us with that task, we’ve invited Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, and Sheridan Steele, a Park Service veteran who sits on the executive council of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.
National Parks Traveler: Visiting The Blue Ridge Music Center
September 27, 2020 12:00 - 42 minutes - 96.9 MBIn this week’s show, we look at a national park site that celebrates distinctly American music -- the Blue Ridge Music Center near Galax, Virginia. Traveler’s Lynn Riddick visits with Richard Emmett, director of the center, to find out what’s happening in the interpretation, presentation, and promotion of traditional American mountain music. We’ll kick it off with a clip from the Chatham Rabbits, who recently performed at the center.
National Parks Traveler: Fall Lodging In The Parks And Migratory Acadia
September 20, 2020 12:00 - 59 minutes - 136 MBIn this week’s show, we welcome you to fall with a conversation with lodging experts David and Kay Scott on where best to relax and enjoy the fall foliage in the National Park System. And Lynn Riddick catches up with Seth Benz, the bird ecology director at the Schoodic Institute, to discuss fall migrations at Acadia National Park.
National Parks Traveler: Put Parashant NM On The Bucket List, Gone From The Parks
September 13, 2020 12:00 - 34 minutes - 78.8 MBWe’re going to dream a little bit about places in the National Park System we’d like to visit with hopes we can help you discover a new park destination. To launch this audio bucket list, we’re looking towards Arizona and Parashant National Monument, which despite its more than 1 million acres seems to fly below most park visitors’ radar. Following that, we’re going to continue to ponder the topic of species extinction, and whether national parks can help slow the sixth mass extinction.
National Parks Traveler: Covid-19's Impact On Outdoor Rec & Outdoor Afro Fundraiser
September 06, 2020 12:00 - 54 minutes - 125 MBThis week we take a look at the outdoor recreation industry and how it has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. We also take a look at the upcoming fundraiser for Outdoor Afro. Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson will host the fundraiser for the organization that inspires and facilitates the connection of Black Americans to natural spaces everywhere.
National Parks Traveler: Yosemite Turns Into Assateague, And Species Extinction
August 30, 2020 12:00 - 47 minutes - 109 MBIn this week’s show, we question whether national parks can serve as a barrier to slow the sixth mass extinction. But first, what can turn a five-day trip to Yosemite National Park into a one-day trip to Assateague Island National Seashore? Covid can. In this lighthearted and informative story of their trip to the beach, the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick and her friend Michele Hogan demonstrate that it’s all about flexibility when trying to find some outdoor space in the age of a global pandemic.
National Parks Traveler: Pandemics And Their Impact On National Park Travel
August 23, 2020 12:00 - 43 minutes - 98.4 MBIn this week’s show, we’re focusing on the current coronavirus pandemic as well as the 1918 flu pandemic and how those diseases impacted national park visitation. After discussing those two pandemics with Professor Terence Young from California Polytechnic State University, we visit with contributing writer Rita Beamish, who tried to escape the current pandemic by taking to the John Muir Trail for nine days. She found that many other hikers were being careful by keeping their distance and we...
National Parks Traveler: Listening To Nature In National Parks
August 16, 2020 12:00 - 50 minutes - 116 MBNational parks offer a variety of treasures: spectacular views, scenic trails and waterways and vast ecosystems of plants and wildlife. And what would these things be without accompanying soundscapes -- wind howling through a canyon on a scorching afternoon… or the “wall-of-sound” created by insects as soon as the sun sets… or birds singing so loudly outside your tent, they wake you up before you really wanted to wake up. For natural sound, too, is a treasure, and like many other aspects o...
National Parks Traveler: Using Satellites To Spot Wildfires In National Parks
August 09, 2020 12:00 - 47 minutes - 110 MBAn early detection of a wildland fire in Denali National Park in June brings to light how enhanced satellite technology is catching smaller fires sooner, providing better detail and more accurate fire predictions and assessments. As a result, fire managers are better able to determine needed actions and resources to meet the unique conditions of Alaska’s landscape. National ParksTraveler’s Lynn Riddick spoke with Alaska fire analyst Robert “Zeke” Ziel about this satellite technology, and ...
National Parks Traveler: July's National Parks News Review
August 02, 2020 12:00 - 45 minutes - 105 MBWe look back at the top news stories from the National Park System in July. There was the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act by Congress, the ongoing issue of the coronavirus pandemic and how parks have been dealing with it, and news that the renowned Sea Turtle Science and Recovery Program at Padre Island National Seashore is to be greatly scaled back. Joining host Kurt Repanshek to discuss some of the news impacting national parks in July is Mike Murray, a member of the executive...
National Parks Traveler: Great Smoky Mountains Institute At Tremont
July 26, 2020 12:00 - 51 minutes - 117 MBResidential environmental learning centers are nonprofit facilities that connect people to nature. But they are tasked with serving a greater good -- to foster the development of better global citizens. Lynn Riddick speaks with Catey McClary of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont to better understand this organization whose roots in outdoor learning go back some 50 years.
National Parks Traveler: North Cascades Institute's Park Connections
July 19, 2020 12:00 - 47 minutes - 108 MBNature is an incredibly powerful and successful teacher. Of course, students need teachers to deliver the lessons. That’s where Residential Environmental Learning Centers come into play in national parks. Organizations like NatureBridge, the Cuyahoga Valley Institute, the Yellowstone Institute, The Great Smoky Mountains Institute. And the North Cascades Institute. These nonprofit organizations use national parks as their classrooms. Lynn Riddick talks with Saul Weisberg to understand how...
National Parks Traveler: National Park Acoustics, And Wildfire Ecology
July 12, 2020 12:00 - 37 minutes - 86.8 MBHave you ever stopped to listen during your national park vacation? What do you hear? We share some of the sounds in this week's episode with hopes they inspire you to let your ears play a greater role in your enjoyment during your national park visit.
National Parks Traveler: Teaching Children Well In National Parks
July 05, 2020 12:00 - 54 minutes - 125 MBThe survival of Residential Environmental Learning Centers in national parks is in jeopardy. As the president of one such center says, “the impact of coronavirus is an 'extinction-level event.'” Listen to how they are working to keep their doors open.
National Parks Traveler: Monthly News Review With Kristen Brengel
June 28, 2020 12:00 - 47 minutes - 108 MBJune has been an especially newsworthy month across the National Park System. The U.S. Senate passed what has been called the most important public lands bill in decades, and more national parks have reopened areas to the public. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is proposing a large oil and gas lease auction for lands near Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a natural gas pipeline could be tunneled beneath the Appalachian Trail. Kriste...
National Parks Traveler: Oil and Gas and National Parks
June 21, 2020 12:00 - 32 minutes - 74.6 MBWe take a look at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s move to offer more than 110,000 acres in Utah for oil and gas development. How might that proposal impact Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands national parks? Erika Pollard from the National Parks Conservation Association joins us to explain some of the issues in play. After listing to our conversation, take a look at this story that looks at the issue in more detail. Finally, we leave you with a rationale for instituting a reserva...
National Parks Traveler: The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
June 14, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 140 MBThere's always a lot of shaking, rattling, and occasional rolling going on in Yellowstone National Park. Keeping track of it is the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, one of five such observatories under the purview of the U.S. Geological Survey. It keeps real-time tabs on volcanic, hydrothermal, and earthquake activity in the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field. Lynn Riddick speaks with the scientist-in-charge of the observatory, Michael Poland, Ph.D. From his home in Vancouver, Washington, ...
National Parks Traveler: A Conversation with landscape photographer Clyde Butcher
June 07, 2020 12:00 - 42 minutes - 96.7 MBIn this week’s show, we’re going to delve into landscape photography in the National Park System. “Good photography is about creating a feeling of things, rather than a picture of things.” That’s the philosophy of our guest, Clyde Butcher, acclaimed photographer and environmentalist. You might be familiar with his iconic black and white large format landscape photos that often are part of larger efforts to protect fragile ecosystems that he knows so well. And as Lynn Riddick found out in he...
National Parks Traveler: Monthly News Recap, Endangered Black-footed Ferrets
May 31, 2020 12:00 - 51 minutes - 118 MBWe sit down with Becky Lomax, author of Moon’s USA National Parks, to discuss news stories that arose from the National Park System during May. And we bring you an interesting story about efforts to recover populations of endangered black-footed ferrets in the West. Two places where they’re working on that are Wind Cave and Badlands national parks in South Dakota.
National Parks Traveler: Close The Park, And An Extension To Lewis And Clark National Historic Trail
May 24, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 161 MBWe're joined this week by Costa Dillon, a National Park Service veteran who ended his long career as superintendent of Indiana Dunes National Park, to discuss a novel management decision in Thailand to close that country’s national parks every year for two months to give wildlife a break from humans. Would such a move be good for America’s national parks? Lynn Riddick returns this week with a story about a roughly 1,200-mile extension to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail that runs ...
National Parks Traveler: Camping's Popularity, And The Dark Side of National Parks
May 17, 2020 12:00 - 37 minutes - 86.3 MBIn this week’s program, we talk with Toby O’Rourke, the president and CEO of Kampgrounds of America, about a study KOA commissioned to gauge Americans’ interests in returning to campgrounds on and near public lands as the fight with the coronavirus pandemic continues. The findings are quite interesting and point to renewed interest in camping as a recreational pursuit. After that conversation, we tempt you to explore the dark side of the National Park System. No, not the night skies overhead...
National Parks Traveler: Sea Level Rise And National Parks, Great Sea Kayaking Park Destinations
May 10, 2020 12:00 - 47 minutes - 108 MBThis week we talk with Robert Young, director of Western Carolina University’s Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines about a project to more accurately determine the cost sea level rise could inflict on coastal units of the National Park System. We also take a look ahead to summer in the National Park System, the watery side of the system specifically, with a look at some of the prime sea kayaking destinations awaiting paddlers in the National Park System.
National Parks Traveler Episode 64: Artistic Interpretation And The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
May 03, 2020 12:00 - 52 minutes - 120 MBWho makes those colorful interpretive panels found in the National Park System? One person is Steve Patricia. He’s an independent artist and content specialist who provides illustrations and diagrams for waysides, exhibits, and murals at national parks, monuments, and historic sites all over the country. From his home in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania, he shares some insights with Lynn Riddick.
National Parks Traveler: National Park Nostalgia, Friends Of Acadia Update
April 26, 2020 12:00 - 38 minutes - 87.2 MBThis week we pick up with the musings of Doug Leen. As a young park ranger in the 1970s, Leen stumbled upon a poster promoting a meet-the-ranger event at the Grand Teton National Park. It turned out to be one of 14 long-forgotten silk-screened posters made under the Works Progress Administration to promote tourism to the national parks. In the 50 years since that discovery, Leen has been searching high and low for the rest of the missing posters. His efforts have yielded noteworthy suc...
National Parks Traveler: Ranger Doug To The Rescue, Rethinking America's Best Idea
April 19, 2020 12:00 - 45 minutes - 104 MBLynn Riddick sits down with Doug Leen, the force behind Ranger Doug Enterprises, to discuss his decades long search for original Works Progress Administration posters that depicted national parks across the West. And we leave you with some thoughts on what we all should be thinking about for National Park Week.
National Parks Traveler: 21st Century Campgrounds In The National Parks
April 12, 2020 12:00 - 49 minutes - 114 MBWhat will the 21st century national park campground look like? What amenities are you interested in finding when you pull into a campground? Derrick Crandall, counseler for the National Park Hospitality Association, joins us to discuss two studies that examine the campgrounds, the issues they face, and the demands today’s campers want.
National Parks Traveler: Wild Yellowstone and the Public Lands Alliance
April 05, 2020 12:00 - 37 minutes - 84.7 MBJoin us for a trip, at least an audio trip of sorts, to the heart of Yellowstone National Park and its wild kingdom. A place where wolves, grizzlies, and elk roam free and sandhill cranes catch your attention with their curious chortling. And Dan Puskar, the president and CEO of the Public Lands Alliance, discusses how its membership works to provide educational and interpretive materials for the parks, and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted those groups.
National Parks Traveler: Richard Louv and Our Wild Calling, Mission San Juan
March 29, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 164 MBNational Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno discusses the impact coronavirus is having on the National Park System, and we have a conversation with author Richard Louv on his latest book, Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform our Lives, and Save Theirs. And Lynn Riddick concludes her four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with a visit to Mission San Juan.
National Parks Traveler: Coronavirus in the Parks, Mission Espada at San Antonio Missions NHP
March 22, 2020 12:00 - 58 minutes - 133 MBThe impact of coronavirus on the National Park System truly is unprecedented. Unlike the impacts partial or full government shutdowns have on the parks, government funding won’t solve those created by the growing spread of coronavirus overnight. To take a look at how coronavirus is affecting the parks and the National Park Service, for this week’s show we’ve gathered three park experts, including former National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, who combined have more than a century of exper...
National Parks Traveler: Mission Concepción In San Antonio, High-End Lodgings In The Parks
March 15, 2020 12:00 - 54 minutes - 124 MBNational Parks Traveler continues its tour through San Antonio Missions National Historical Park as Lynn Riddick visits Mission Concepción, and David and Kay Scott discuss the high-end national park lodges you would stay in if money were not an object.
National Parks Traveler: Mission San Jose and The Water Desk
March 08, 2020 12:00 - 49 minutes - 115 MBThis week we feature Lynn Riddick's segment on Mission San Jose, the first of a four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in Texas. We also talk with Mitch Tobin, Director of The Water Desk at the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado, to understand why his organization is underwriting journalism revolving around the Colorado River.
National Parks Traveler: Parks For Newbies, San Antonio Missions, And Voices From The River
March 01, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 174 MBThis week we have a wide-ranging discussion about visiting the parks with Jason Epperson from the America’s National Parks podcast and David and Kay Scott, authors of The Complete Guide To the National Park Lodges. We preview upcoming podcasts on the missions of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and recap our series on the Colorado River and its impacts on Canyonlands National Park and Glen National Recreation Area.
National Parks Traveler: Colorado River Economics, Rebranding Bandelier National Monument
February 23, 2020 13:00 - 51 minutes - 118 MBIn recent years there has been a movement of sorts to rebrand units of the National Park System as “national parks,” a movement motivated in large part by the economic boost such a redesignation is hoped to have. In New Mexico there’s a group that’s opposed to turning Bandelier National Monument into Bandelier National Park. We discuss that issue with Tom Ribe, executive director of Caldera Action, a nonprofit advocacy group in New Mexico. And we continue our series on how the health of th...
National Parks Traveler: Special Report On The Colorado River, Grand Portage NM
February 16, 2020 13:00 - 42 minutes - 96.6 MBThis week’s show kicks off our coverage of the Colorado River and how its health, or lack of health, impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. We also take a peek at Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota and what awaits intrepid park travelers who put it on their to-do list.
National Parks Traveler Podcast
February 09, 2020 13:00 - 41 minutes - 95.1 MBCandy Harrington, a journalist who traveled the National Park System to see how accessible lodges and trails in the parks really are, discusses her new book on accessibility in the parks. And Cory MacNulty and Erika Pollard from the National Parks Conservation Association’s Southwest Regional Office discuss the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plans for managing the greatly reduced in size Bears Ears and Grand Staircase monuments.
National Parks Traveler: Accessible Parks, Utah's Dismantled Monuments
February 09, 2020 13:00 - 41 minutes - 95.1 MBCandy Harrington, a journalist who traveled the National Park System to see how accessible lodges and trails in the parks really are, discusses her new book on accessibility in the parks. And Cory MacNulty and Erika Pollard from the National Parks Conservation Association’s Southwest Regional Office discuss the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plans for managing the greatly reduced in size Bears Ears and Grand Staircase monuments.
National Parks Traveler: Scenic Science In The National Parks, And Bison Management Planning
February 02, 2020 13:00 - 51 minutes - 117 MBEmily Hoff and Maygen Keller discuss their upcoming book, Scenic Science of the National Parks, an Explorers Guide to Wildlife, Geology, and Botany. The book, scheduled to arrive March 31, is a wonderfully new guidebook to help you get the most out of your national park adventures. Tanya Shenk, National Park Service scientist, explains a draft framework for bison stewardship in the Midwest Region of the park system. It’s a region where you can find bison at Tallgrass Prairie National Prese...
National Parks Traveler: New Allosaurus From Dinosaur NM, And Saratoga National Historical Park
January 26, 2020 13:00 - 48 minutes - 112 MBThis week’s show, our 50th, looks at a Jurassic Period carnivore dubbed "AJ," a new species of allosaurus, found in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, and takes a short Revolutionary War history tour of Saratoga National Historical Park in New York State.
National Parks Traveler: Public Lands, Federal Regulatory Changes
January 19, 2020 13:00 - 40 minutes - 91.7 MBJohn Freemuth, who holds the Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for Environment and Public Lands at Boise State University, and Nada Culver, the vice president for public lands and senior policy counsel at the National Audubon Society, discuss efforts in Washington to tweak the National Environmental Policy Act as well as the Endangered Species Act.
National Parks Traveler: Institute for Parks, People and Biodiversity, Visiting Tumacácori National Historical Park
January 12, 2020 13:00 - 55 minutes - 127 MBFormer National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis discusses the Institute for People, Parks, and Biodiversity that he launched at the University of California-Berkeley and how it's trying to guide climate change work in the National Park System. We also visit with Tumacácori National Historical Park Chief of Interpretation Anita Badertscher to learn about her park and what awaits visitors there.