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Cape Hatteras National Seashore has seen record visitation.

We’re all aware of the rush to the outdoors that the covid pandemic has spawned. From coast to coast, national parks, national forests, and state parks are being crowded, if not overrun at times, by visitors. Whether it continues now that the pandemic seems to be easing will be interesting to watch.

One part of the country that has seen record-breaking visitation has been the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and the Wright Brothers National Memorial combined welcomed nearly 4 million visitors last year.

To discuss that record visitation, and to discuss risks to ocean-front homes at Rodanthe, we’ve invited National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Superintendent Dave Hallec to join us.

:02 National Parks Traveler introduction
:12 Episode Introduction with Kurt Repanshek
:49 Flamingo - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of the Everglades
1:04 Wild Tribute
1:24 The Everglades Foundation
1:35 Washington’s National Park Fund
2:09 Cape Hatteras Superintendent Dave Hallec discusses record visitation and risks to ocean-front homes.
14:17 Whispering Winds - Grant Geissman - Sounds of the Caribbean
14:32 Yosemite Conservancy
14:53 Interior Federal Credit Union
15:19 Potrero Group
15:45 Nova Scotia Tourism
16:17 Superintendent Dave Hallec and Kurt Repanshek continue their discussion around visitation to Cape Hatteras, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Wright Brothers National Memorial.
28:52 Caribbean Song - Tim Heintz - The Sounds of the Everglades
29:09 Friends of Acadia
29:33 Grand Teton National Park Foundation
30:00 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
30:23 Superintendent Hallec discusses the risk ocean-front homes are facing at the national seashore.
42:14 Torch - Bill Mize - The Sounds of the Everglades
42:50 Episode Closing
43:17 Orange Tree Productions
43:49 Splitbeard Productions
43:59 National Parks Traveler footer

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National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 328 | How Wild

Today our guest is Marissa Ortega-Welch, a San Francisco-based freelance journalist who focuses on environmental issues. Last year she generated a series of podcasts surrounding the topic of official wilderness – the history of official wilderness and the idea of wilderness. It’s an interesting series that you can find by searching for How Wild wherever you download your podcasts.

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That’s a particularly interesting question, no doubt more so in recent years as the country seems to have drifted farther and farther apart because of our political beliefs. To that point, a reader reached out the other day to say our stories shouldn’t be negative on the Trump Administration because the national parks are going to need the help of all of us - Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and everything in-between - to survive.

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News around public lands these days seems to revolve entirely around the Trump administration. In the case of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, many of the steps the administration is taking with the operational efficiencies of the National Park Service and other land management agencies certainly are keeping PEER busy.
 

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True birders are some of the most determined and persistent hobbyists out there. If you want to call bird watching a hobby. For many, it’s more like a passion. Many look forward to “Big Day” competitions, where individuals and teams strive to see how many different bird species they can spot in a 24-hour period.

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