
The Landscape
News, interviews, and history with newsmakers and environmental advocates, focused on parks and public lands across the American West. Produced by the Center for Western Priorities, formerly known as Go West, Young Podcast.
Latest episodes

Jul 11, 2025 • 40min
Former Forest Service leader on how Trump is hollowing out the agency
Kate and Aaron talk to Steve Ellis, a 38-year veteran of both the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and current chair of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees, about what the Trump administration is doing, and trying to do, to the Forest Service, and what that means for everything from logging to wildfires.
News
How Congress and Trump are working together to drill, log, and mine virtually all public lands – Westwise
Mass layoffs can move forward, with devastating impacts for conservation and science – High Country News
Resources
Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
Episode transcript (coming soon)
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Oregon Mt. Hood National Forest Trillium Lake; USFS/Flickr
The post Former Forest Service leader on how Trump is hollowing out the agency appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Jun 27, 2025 • 43min
How do we protect BLM lands? We tell their stories
Kate and Aaron talk to writer, photographer, and adventurer Josh Jackson about his new book, The Enduring Wild, which beautifully captures the variety and vastness of California’s public lands—with a particular focus on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Josh is also the man behind the @forgottenlandsproject Instagram account, which he uses to share photos and stories of “forgotten” BLM lands in California, and soon, Nevada. Kate and Aaron also break down the public land sell-off and Roadless Rule repeal news.
News
5 House Republicans declare red line on megabill land sales – Politico
Mike Lee Flails As His Public Land Sale Triggers Firestorm – Public Domain
Trump to rescind ‘Roadless Rule’ protecting 58 million acres of forest land – NPR
Resources
Subscribe to the Forgotten Lands Project newsletter
Buy The Enduring Wild book
Follow The Forgotten Lands Project on Instagram
Follow Keep Parks Public on Instagram
Sign up for email updates about our summer tour
Episode transcript
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Carrizo Plain National Monument; Credit @forgottenlandsproject
The post How do we protect BLM lands? We tell their stories appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Jun 18, 2025 • 41min
Mining companies are knocking at the doors of our national parks
Kate and Aaron talk to experts at the National Parks Conservation Association about illegal mining inside of Mojave National Preserve and a recent uptick in mining claims on public lands, including those near national parks.
News
250+ million acres of public lands eligible for sale in SENR budget reconciliation package – The Wilderness Society
From ski resorts to popular trails, see the public land Mike Lee proposes selling across the West – Salt Lake Tribune
New report finds over 2,700 oil and gas-related spills occurred in West’s top oil-producing states in 2024 – Center for Western Priorities
Resources
The New Land Rush: Mining Claims Encroaching on National Parks – National Parks Conservation Association
Episode transcript (to come)
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Mojave National Preserve; Jeff Hollett/Flickr
The post Mining companies are knocking at the doors of our national parks appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Jun 13, 2025 • 18min
The DOJ just told Trump he can eliminate monuments. Now what?
Trump’s Department of Justice just released an opinion stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to shrink or eliminate national monuments at will. But what does that mean, for example, if Trump tries to undo Chuckwalla National Monument or shrink Bears Ears? Will this DOJ opinion stand up in court? We put those questions and more to John Leshy, professor at UC Law and former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Clinton.
News
DOJ finds Trump can abolish areas protected as national monuments – Washington Post
Resources
Episode transcript
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Bears Ears National Monument – Indian Creek; Photo by Bob Wick, BLM
The post The DOJ just told Trump he can eliminate monuments. Now what? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

May 22, 2025 • 0sec
Tracy Stone-Manning on the biggest threats to public lands right now
Kate and Aaron talk to Tracy Stone-Manning, former director of the Bureau of Land Management and current president of the Wilderness Society. Tracy tells us what it was like to inherit an agency that was decimated by the first Trump administration and what she’s worried about this time around—but also, what’s giving her hope for America’s public lands.
We also cover the news that a provision to sell-off hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Utah and Nevada has been stripped from the budget reconciliation package.
News
Maloy’s public land sell-off struck from Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ – Salt Lake Tribune
House GOP Passes Budget Dismantling Public Land Protections, But Stops Short Of Sell-Off – Public Domain
The Wilderness Society selects new president to lead conservation efforts
Resources
Follow CWP on Bluesky
Episode transcript
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Courtesy TWS
The post Tracy Stone-Manning on the biggest threats to public lands right now appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

May 13, 2025 • 29min
How are the national parks holding up against DOGE and Trump’s attacks?
Kate and Aaron talk to Kurt Repanshek, founder and editor of National Parks Traveler, about President Donald Trump’s proposed funding cuts to the National Park System as well as how staffing cuts imposed by Elon Musk’s DOGE are affecting the Park Service.
News
In the dead of night, House committee votes to sell off public lands – Center for Western Priorities
Zinke wants public land sales out of Republican megabill – E&E News
Nevadans distance themselves from Nevada rep’s attempt to sell public lands – Center for Western Priorities
Resources
National Parks Traveler Podcast
Subscribe to Look West
Episode transcript (to come)
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: U.S. Dept of State/Flickr
The post How are the national parks holding up against DOGE and Trump’s attacks? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

May 2, 2025 • 42min
New nature doc frames the Colorado River as an opportunity, not a crisis
Kate and Aaron speak with Len Necefer, CEO & Founder of NativesOutdoors, a native owned outdoor media, apparel and consulting company. You may also know him as the man behind the Sonoran Avalanche Center Instagram account.
Len talks about his latest project, a documentary film about the Colorado River basin titled The American Southwest, and how he’s advocating for public lands under the second Trump administration.
Follow NativesOutdoors and Fin & Fur Films on Instagram for updates on the 2025 theatrical release of The American Southwest.
News
STATEMENT: White House proposes disposing of national park sites, national forests, and giving DOGE control over fighting wildfires – Center for Western Priorities
Resources
Subscribe to Look West
Episode transcript
Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: The Upper Colorado River; Source: BLM/Flickr
The post New nature doc frames the Colorado River as an opportunity, not a crisis appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Apr 17, 2025 • 37min
How the White House is making federal permitting less efficient
Kate and Aaron nerd out with John Ruple, public lands professor at the University of Utah and a former member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) about recent changes to how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is being implemented across federal agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service.
News
Trump’s new goal: Revive a major climate pollutant that power markets have turned against – Politico
Trump administration rolls back forest protections in bid to ramp up logging – Associated Press
Trump nominee for public lands post withdraws after her criticism of Jan. 6 attack surfaces – Associated Press
Federal judge orders immediate thaw of climate, infrastructure funds – Politico
Resources
Subscribe to Look West
Episode transcript (to come)
Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Logging in national forest; USFS
The post How the White House is making federal permitting less efficient appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Apr 3, 2025 • 40min
Unpacking Trump’s mining and timber EOs
Kate and Aaron talk to two experts about recent executive orders that negatively affect public lands. Mitch Friedman, founder and executive director of Conservation Northwest, talks about how Trump’s executive order aimed at increasing logging in national forests squares with existing law and forest management plans, while Rachael Hamby, policy director at the Center for Western Priorities, covers Trump’s recent order seeking to ramp up mining on public lands.
News
Republicans weigh sales of public land in reconciliation – E&E News
Anti-public lands bills take hits in Legislature – Missoula Current
Resources
Subscribe to Look West
Episode transcript (to come)
Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: The White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, USA; weesam2010/Flickr
The post Unpacking Trump’s mining and timber EOs appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Mar 26, 2025 • 45min
How Elon Musk is trying to dismantle the Interior department
Kate and Aaron are joined by Jimmy Tobias, a public lands reporter and contributor to the Public Domain substack, and Jacob Malcom, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Environmental Management at the Interior Department, to talk about Elon Musk’s attacks on the Interior Department and its employees. Jimmy has been covering changes inside Interior since President Donald Trump took office, and Jacob chose to leave his job at the Interior Department last month in response to the mass firings and changes implemented by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
News
Trump Executive Order Streamlines Mining Permits. Environmentalists Fear What Comes Next – Inside Climate News
Interior, HUD to offer federal lands to build affordable housing – E&E News
Plan to Sell Off ‘Underutilized’ Federal Land for Affordable Housing Is Ineffective and Inefficient, Experts Say – Outdoor Life
Federal appeals court sides with corner-crossing hunters in Wyoming dispute – Montana Free Press
Resources
Subscribe to Public Domain
Episode transcript
Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Interior Dept/Wikimedia Commons
The post How Elon Musk is trying to dismantle the Interior department appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.