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National Parks Traveler Podcast

National Parks Traveler Episode 54: Colorado River Economics, Rebranding Bandelier National Monument

National Parks Traveler Episode 54: Colorado River Economics, Rebranding Bandelier National Monument
In 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. But in New Mexico a group is opposed to turning Bandelier National Monument into Bandelier National Park. We discuss that issue with Tom Ribe, executive director of Caldera Action. But first, we continue our series on how the health of the Colorado River impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. To get a better understanding of the river economics in play, we reached out to Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics. And for bonus content, an audio version of RVing The Parks | Choose Your National Park RV Carefully.

National Parks Traveler Episode 53: Special Report On The Colorado River, Grand Portage NM

This week’s show kicks off National Parks Traveler's 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 to see what awaits intrepid park travelers who put it on their to-do list.

Bonus coverage: Paddling The Border Route In The Boundary Waters

National Parks Traveler Episode 52: Accessible Parks, Utah's Dismantled Monuments

Candy 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, and the roughly 2 million acres that were pulled out of the monuments so they could be opened to mining, grazing, and other resource-impacting activities.

National Parks Traveler Episode 51: Scenic Science In the Parks, Bison Management Plan

Scenic Science In the National Parks and Bison Management Plans
In this week’s show, we sat down with Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller to discuss their upcoming book, Scenic Science of the National Parks, an Explorer's Guide to Wildlife, Geology, and Botany. The book, scheduled to be available March 31, is a wonderfully new guidebook to help you get the most out of your national park adventures. We also talk with Tanya Shenk, a National Park Service scientist who helped develop 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 Preserve in Kansas, Badlands National Park and Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

National Parks Traveler Episode 50: "AJ," The New Allosaurus From Dinosaur National Monument, And Saratoga National Historical Park

National Parks Traveler podcast, Allosaurus, Saratoga National Historical Park
This week’s show is our 50th, a number that looked so distant a year ago. Today we talk with Dr. Mark Loewen, a paleontological research associate at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah, about a Jurassic Period carnivore dubbed "AJ," a new species of allosaurus, found in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Lisa Dittman, chief of interpretation at Saratoga National Historical Park in New York, provides us with a short Revolutionary War history tour of the park. It was on that landscape in 1777 that the British army suffered its very first defeat on the battlefield.

National Parks Traveler Episode 49: Public Lands, Federal Regulatory Changes

National Parks Traveler Episode 49: Public Lands, Federal Regulatory Changes
John 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 Episode 48: Institute for Parks, People and Biodiversity, Visiting Tumacácori National Historical Park

Jon Jarvis took a detour from the typical retirement path after his National Park Service career, which he wrapped up with eight years as director of that agency. Instead of traveling for enjoyment and relaxation, he's working to help guide the Park Service's approach to climate change from outside the agency. He discusses the Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity that he launched at the University of California-Berkeley and its mission with National Parks Traveler. 

National Parks Traveler Episode 47: Expanding The National Park System And Winter Park Destinations

National Parks Traveler Podcast
Michael Kellett, the executive director of RESTORE: The North Woods, discusses a campaign to see the size of the National Park System roughly tripled to more than 182 million acres. And Traveler contributing editor Erika Zambello and Becky Lomax, author of Moon’s USA National Parks, the Complete Guide to All 59 Parks, join Kurt Repanshek to discuss their favorite winter national park destinations.

National Parks Traveler Episode 46: Looking Back On 2019 In The National Park System

National Parks Traveler Episode 46: Looking Back On 2019 In the National Parks
The past year brought many news-making events to the National Park System. It started, of course, with the partial government shutdown that created more than a few problems for the park system, the continued lack of a Senate confirmed director of the National Park Service, hurricanes inflicting damage on coastal parks, and construction of a border wall in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument that possibly destroyed some archaeological sites there. To help us look back on 2019 and the national parks, we’re joined by Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association.

2019 Year In Review: Top National Parks Traveler Podcasts

Can firearms protect you from a bear attack in the backcountry of a national park? How are Yellowstone National Park's wolves and grizzlies doing these days? Did you hear what Hurricane Dorian did to Cape Lookout National Seashore? Those audio stories were among the most downloaded podcasts from National Parks Traveler in 2019.

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