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National Parks Traveler Podcast

National Parks Traveler Episode 69: A Conversation With Photographer Clyde Butcher

National Park podcasts, best national park podcast, Clyde Butcher
In 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 her conversation with Butcher from his home in Venice, Florida, he doesn’t mind wading chest-deep through a cypress swamp or facing off against a hoofed animal to show why a place is worth protecting.

National Parks Traveler Episode 68: Monthly News Roundup, Black-footed Ferrets In Danger

National park podcasts,National Parks Traveler

This week we sit down with Becky Lomax, author of Moon’s USA National Parks, to discuss news stories that arose around 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 Episode 66: Camping's Popularity, And The Dark Side Of National Parks

In this week’s show, 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.

National Parks Traveler Episode 65: Sea Level Rise And National Parks, Great Sea Kayaking Park Destinations

The potential cost of sea level rise to national parks, and sea kayaking destinations.
This 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 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation

National Parks Traveler Episode 64: Artistic Interpretation and Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
Who 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. He explains his work to Lynn Riddick in this week's podcast.

National Parks Traveler Episode 63: National Park Nostalgia, Friends Of Acadia Update

National Parks Traveler podcast
This 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.

National Parks Traveler Episode 62: Ranger Doug To The Rescue, Rethinking America's Best Idea

Lynn 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 Episode 61: 21st Century National Park Campgrounds

Camping in the National Park System/Kurt Repanshek
What 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 Episode 60: Wild Yellowstone, Public Lands Alliance, And Your National Park Library

National Parks Traveler podcast 60: Wild Yellowstone

We’re going to take a trip to start this week’s show, 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 Episode 59: COVID-19, "Our Wild Calling," And Mission San Juan

This week we talk with National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno about the impact coronavirus is having on the National Park System, and check in with author Richard Louv on his latest book, Our Wild Calling, How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives, and Save Theirs. If you visit national parks to view the wildlife, you’ll want to listen to this conversation. And Lynn Riddick concludes her four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with a visit to Mission San Juan.

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