Afleveringen
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There are sounds that wake you up out of a deep sleep, only to be dismissed as you fall back to sleep. And then there are sounds that rivet you, make you sit bolt upright.
That was the type of sound that woke us while we were deep in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. Sunrise hadnât yet come, yet we were wide awake, listening to one of the most mesmerizing sounds you can encounter in the wilds: The melodious rising and falling howl of a wolf.
It was late summer in 2008 when two friends and I were lucky enough to catch that howling. Had it been 20 years earlier, there would have been an audible hole in the park sky because there were no wolves in Yellowstone in 1988.
It was an effort launched early in the 1990s that returned the predators to the park in January 12, 1995 â 30 years ago â when 14 wolves trapped in Canada were brought into Yellowstone to kick off an audacious effort to see healthy wolf packs loping through the park.
How have they done? To find out, our guest today is Eric Clewis, the Northern Rockies senior representative for Defenders of Wildlife.
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Weâre five days into 2025, and already thereâs a lot of news concerning national parks and the National Park Service. Traveler Editor-in-Chief Kurt Repanshek is joined today by Contributing Editor Kim OâConnell to discuss the Travelerâs 4th Annual Threatened and Endangered Park Series and other recent park-related news.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Many of us like to take a walk in our favorite national park, whether itâs a short stroll down one of the boardwalks at Yellowstone National Park, the hike to the top of Old Rag at Shenandoah National Park, or up the Mist Trail at Yosemite National Park, we like to get out and experience parks up close.
As you might imagine, there are walks in the National Park System, and then there are walks. Kevin Fedarko and his photographic sidekick Pete McBride took one of those âotherâ hikes in Grand Canyon National Park. And it didnât initially go as planned. While Fedarko raised some serious blisters on his feet that required duct tape to protect, McBride almost needed a medical evacuation from the backcountry.
Still, the hike - or rather hikes - generated a compelling book from Fedarko titled, appropriately enough, âA Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyonâ.
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There are across the country more than 430 units of the National Park System. And no doubt, most of us are only familiar with the so-called name brand parks. Places like Shenandoah, Acadia, Everglades, Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon⊠But just because youâre not already familiar with a park unit doesnât mean you should write it off your to-do list.
While I am familiar with the names of most park units due to my day job, I havenât had the chance to visit them all just yet. Being a lover of water and paddling, when I consider going for a break from the keyboard, I often have a requirement that water is required. And while I havenât been there yet, I am intrigued by St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and its two rivers.
Today Iâm going to learn a little bit more about this interesting park and share with you my conversation with Nate Toering, the parkâs Director of Communications and Education.
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Elephant seals are not your small, cuddly marine mammals. They are behemoths. Males, known as bulls, can reach 5,000 pounds, while females, known as cows, routinely clock in at around 1,000 pounds or so.
If youâre a wildlife watcher, now is the time to check elephant seals off your life list. Between December and March, they come en masse to Point Reyes National Seashore in California to give birth and mate again. But they donât come ashore to simply laze about and soak up the sun when itâs shining. Males are building their harems much like bull elk do, and that can sometimes lead to fights between these ponderous animals.
To learn more about elephant seals, how they spend their days, and where you can see them at Point Reyes, weâre joined today by Sarah Codde, a marine ecologist at the national seashore. -
Most, if not all of us, have bucket lists. Places we want to visitâŠbut donât always get the opportunity.
This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at the National Parks Traveler. One of the destinations on my bucket list is Gates of Arctic National Park and Preserve and the Noatak River that runs through it. A week or two floating the river sounds pretty ideal to me.
While itâs debatable whether Iâll cross that off my bucket list remains to be seen, todayâs guest has floated the river more than once and backpacked all over Gates of the Arctic. And Jon Waterman returned from those trips with incredible stories of the places he saw, the people he met, and the wildlife that came in range of his eyes.
But over the course of several decades Jon also has witnessed the impact of climate change to the region, and it hasnât been good. Itâs the main thread of a story he lays out in his latest book, Into the Thaw. -
Change happensâŠand sometimes it doesnât.
Change certainly is underway in Washington, where the incoming Trump administration is putting its players in position with promises of changing, or maybe upsetting, the status quo.
Against that, the National Park Service continues to face long-standing problems with not enough staff or funding, compounded by National Park System damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, sea level rise, wildfires, just about everything under the sun.
Weâre going to explore those topics today with Phil Francis from the Coalition to Protect Americaâs National Parks and John Garder and Chad Lord from the National Parks Conservation Association. -
As the calendar runs down on the current session of Congress, there are a number of pieces of legislation that would involve or possibly impact the National Park System if they find their way into an omnibus lands bill that gains passage before the session adjourns.
While we havenât seen exactly what might find their way into an omnibus lands bill, among the candidates are legislation that would turn Chiricahua National Monument into a national park, one that would create a âdesignated operating partnerâ to oversee the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and another that calls for a Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail feasibility study.
Thereâs also pending legislation that would approve expansion of Big Bend National Park by about 6000 acres, one that would transform Apostle Islands National Lakeshore into Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve, and one that, if passed, would forbid any official wilderness designation to be bestowed on Big Cpress National Preserve.
Weâre going to take a look at the Big Bend, Apostle Islands, and Big Cypress measures today with Bob Krumenaker, who, during his 40+ years with the National Park Service, was superintendent of both Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Big Bend National Park and served a stint as acting superintendent of Everglades National Park, which adjoins Big Cypress National Preserve. -
The vulnerable red-cockaded woodpecker is known to be found in national park units throughout the southeast. Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park in Florida, Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee are just a few of the parks that either are, or once were, home to the woodpecker.
Recently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved to downlist the red-cockaded woodpecker from being an endangered species to being threatened. While that normally would be welcome news, the decision has been criticized as being premature and ignorant of climate-change threats to the species.
This week the Travelerâs Lynn Riddick discusses this decision with the southeast program director of Defenders of WildlifeâŠand the thinking behind that organizationâs belief that this decision comes at a questionable time.
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Humans like to play, right? We play cards, we play baseball and basketball, we go fishing or take a hike into the mountains. Itâs our play time, time to recharge, refocus, relax.
Did you know animals like to play, too? And many times, our playgrounds infringe on wildlife habitat. But how does that affect their behavior? Does it affect their behavior? Todayâs guest, Dr. Joel Berger, a wildlife biologist based at Colorado State University but who considers the worldâs wild places as his playground, joins us today to talk about our human recreation and the impacts it has on wildlife. -
Whether this is your first listen of our weekly podcast or number 299, welcome and thank you for listening. We hope you find these episodes interesting and present information or a side to the parks that you previously didnât know about.
Frankly, thatâs the approach that we try to take at the Traveler. Not only to provide newsworthy information, such as National Park Service funding for hurricane impacts, but also to highlight aspects of the National Park System that you may not have been aware of.
For example, take Jennifer Bainâs story from Oregon Cave National Monument and Preserve, and its collection of purely American Monterey furniture, or Barbara Jensenâs article from Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Ohio and Eerie Canal Towpath there. Or Sharon McDonaldâs piece on the Eugene OâNeill National Historic Site in California.
Today, weâre joined by contributors Kim OâConnell and Lynn Riddick to talk about the unusual, and at times eclectic content that youâll find on the Traveler.
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The Natchez Trace Parkway is a scenic byway that rolls 440 miles through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. A unit of the National Park Service, the trace winds its way through lush landscapes, diverse ecosystems and interesting historical sites.
Originally the trace was a foot path for Native Americans and later used by early pioneers and traders. Today itâs popular for motorists, cyclists and others seeking adventure, tranquility and a peek into Americaâs past.
Most recently, it was the chosen location for a remarkable initiative by four women interested in promoting living kidney donations. All living kidney donors themselves, these women tackled the parkwayâs entire 444 miles, beginning in Nashville, Tennessee, and finishing in Natchez, MississippiâŠ.and did it in only four days.
This week the Travelerâs Lynn Riddick visits with these donor athletes to learn about their journey that they call â4Women 4Kidneys 444Miles 4Daysâ and also to get a sense of what the Natchez Trace Parkway can offer to everyone. -
The National Trail System in the United States spans many thousands of miles of foot trail. The crown jewels of that system, of course, are the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail.
While the adventurous might look at those long trails and set their sights on hiking one end from end, not all manage to complete the journey. Many become disillusioned after days spent hiking in the rain, or because they become homesick, or because of the blisters that sprout on their feet.
And some simply vanish. Today weâre joined by New York Times Bestselling author Andrea Lankford to talk about her book, Trail of the Lost, the Relentless Search to Bring home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail. Itâs an incredible story Andrea has researched and woven together around three young men seemingly determined to go end to end on that trail.
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Crime happens, even in national parks, national forests, and other public lands. There are murders, thefts, robberies and all sorts of crime that weâd hope to escape by heading into the kingdom of public lands.
It can be hard to accept that national parks are not immune from criminals and crimes. Just this past Fourth of July there was a horrific incident in Yellowstone National Park when a concessions employees armed with an automatic rifle threatened to go on a killing spree. Law enforcement rangers who responded prevented that from happening, killing the man in the process, but it really underscored the reality that parks are not immune from crime.
To learn more about âcrime off the grid,â weâre joined today by Tara Ross and Nancy Martinz, former law enforcement rangers in Yellowstone who these days work to educate the public about crime on public lands via their podcast, Crime off the Grid. -
Who could have predicted that Hurricane Helene would carry her fury from the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of Florida hundreds of miles north into Appalachia? While there were forecasts calling for the hurricane to be downgraded to a tropical storm and drop quite a bit of rain in the region, the extent of damage in western North Carolina has been breathtaking.
Jacqueline Harp had her hands full when she took over as CEO of Smokies Life, a nonprofit organization that works with the National Park Service to develop educational and interpretive materials for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She had barely settled into that job when Helene reached North Carolina.
Weâve invited Jacki to join us today both to learn how recovery efforts are going in the national park, and to discuss her new role and ambitions with Smokies Life.
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The coastal town of Rodanthe, North Carolina is just a small spot on the map, but itâs a big place in the hearts of the people who live, own property, and vacation there. Located along Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Rodanthe has been in the national spotlight because of a succession of houses that have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean due to beach erosion. There have been ten houses affected in the past four years, and five this year alone.
As the Traveler and other national media outlets have reported, every time a beach house succumbs to the sea, it creates a massive debris field that is carried down the shore for miles, posing serious hazards to people, flora and fauna alike. Residents have described the phenomenon as a slow-motion hurricane.
In addition to the ongoing discussions about other at-risk houses, there is the very real issue of cleanup. The National Park Service brings in contractors who take out debris in truckloads, but that doesnât mean that local residents are just standing idly by. Recently Traveler correspondent Kim OâConnell had the pleasure of interviewing local Tom Brueckner the day before he was set to join a group of residents to do a big beach cleanup as part of the National Park Serviceâs newly launched Adopt-A-Beach program.
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Concessions are the backbone of the National Park System. True, the National Park Service manages the parks and the wildlife and the visitors, but the concessionaires provide you with a bed, or campsite, to sleep in, restaurants to dine in, and gift shops to browse in.
Xanterra Parks and Resorts is one of the key players in the national park concessions industry. They operate lodges in Yellowstone, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Glacier, Grand Canyon and, until the end of this year, Zion National Park.
A newcomer on the park concessions scene is POWDR Corp., a self-branded adventure company most tied to snow sports. This past January, however, POWDR took over the concessions at Stovepipe Wells Village in Death Valley National Park, and this coming January itâll be operating concessions at Zion National Park.
To learn more about POWDR and why itâs seeking opportunities in the National Park System, weâve invited Justin Sibley, the companyâs CEO, to discuss the transition. Weâll be back in a minute with Justin.
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The National Park System is an incredible reservoir of wildlife, from charismatic animals such as grizzly bears, bison and wolves, to animals such as moose, and pronghorn and sea turtles that, while not usually labeled as charismatic, are indeed just that.
Wolves certainly fall under the charismatic megafauna classification. They're majestic and mystifying, and perhaps even lend some romanticism to your backcountry adventures if you are lucky enough to hear a pack howling in chorus after sundown.
While itâs well-known that Yellowstone National Park and Isle Royale National Park have wolf populations, you might not know that Voyageurs National Park also has a resident population of the predators. To learn more about the wolves at Voyageurs National Park and their behavior, weâre joined today by Dr. Thomas Gable, the project lead for the Voyageurs Wolf Project. -
It was back in 1967 when the Congress chartered the National Park Foundation to serve as the official charity of the National Park Service, and over the decades it has raised millions of dollars for the parks.
The Foundation is in the midst of its Campaign for National Parks, a billion-dollar campaign that has already raised $815 million. A big chunk of that total came from a recent $100 million grant that greatly moved the foundation closer to its billion-dollar goal.
To discuss the campaign, how the money is raised and where itâs being spent, weâre joined today by Will Shafroth, the president and CEO of the National Park Foundation. -
Have you ever been to Mammoth Cave National Park? Itâs really not that impressive, is it. Sure, itâs more than 425 miles long, but only about 10 miles are open to the public.
Mammoth Cave is indeed a big, dark hole in the ground. And apparently there are a fair number of visitors to the national park in Kentucky who are not impressed with the cave and its underground artworks created by dripstones, stalactites, and stalagmites. In fact, a recent survey ranked Mammoth Cave as the third-most disappointing destination in America.
Really? To get the parkâs response, weâre joined today by Molly Schroer, the parkâs management analyst. Weâll be back in a minute with Molly.
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