National Parks Traveler Podcast

Kim O’Connell and Rita Beamish, seasoned writers at National Parks Traveler, dive into the hidden stories of national parks. They share captivating trivia, like the surprising weight of salamanders compared to bears in Great Smoky Mountains. The duo discusses the historical significance and preservation challenges of Jamestown against rising sea levels. They also address workforce changes in the Park Service and the threats to the Endangered Species Act, highlighting the intricate balance between conservation efforts and legislative pressures.

In this week’s podcast we thought we’d take a break from the unsettling news happening in and around our national parks and federal lands regarding park staff reductions and threats of reducing park boundaries to make way for mining.   Instead, the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick catches up with a former scientist who’s now a comedian to hear about his experiences during his artist-in-residency program at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Selected for the residency by the National Parks Arts Foundation, Ben Miller spent a month with park staff and scientists to absorb as much as possible about Hawaiian culture, landscapes and history. The end result was a comedy routine designed specifically for Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

There is, across the country, some upheaval going on as the Trump administration works to reduce the size of the federal government. Whether you support that effort or oppose it, you can’t deny there’s not upheaval going on. That upheaval has hit all federal government agencies. At the National Park Service, seasonal ranger job offers were rescinded back in January. Roughly 1,000 probationary employees were fired on Valentine’s Day. Another 700-1000 Park Service employees took up the administration’s offer to resign now, but stay on the payroll through the end of the fiscal year. And this week the Park Service and other government agencies are expected to send their plans for a reduction-in-force to the administration. To discuss these developments, we’ve invited Rick Mossman, president of the Association of National Park Rangers, to join us.

Across the United States there are hundreds of millions of acres of public lands. Indeed, there are more than 500 million acres of federal lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service, just to name the three largest land managers in federal government. A majority of those lands, the 245 million acres managed by the BLM and the 193 million managed by the Forest Service, are managed for multiple use. Logging, mining, recreation, and even official wilderness. The National Park Service lands, of course, are primarily managed for conservation of natural resources and enjoyment by you, the visitors. But the Trump administration has an eye on some of those lands for energy development and mining, whether that’s oil and gas production or hard-rock mining. To better understand what’s at stake under that strategy we’re joined today by Dan Hartinger, the senior director of agency policy at the Wilderness Society.

Angela Moxley, a skilled botanist and former employee at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, shares her experiences after being laid off due to extensive staffing cuts in the National Park Service. She discusses the critical yet overlooked roles of scientists in park conservation. The podcast dives into the emotional toll of sudden job losses, the confusion around probationary employment, and the pressing need for advocacy in preserving both park ecosystems and workforce integrity.

Kristen Brengel, a leader at the National Parks Conservation Association, and Phil Francis, a former National Park Service employee with decades of experience, dive into the current crisis facing national parks. They discuss severe staffing cuts and the implications for visitor services, along with the threat of privatization of these cherished spaces. The duo also sheds light on LGBTQ history erasure in national parks and the need for advocacy. With economic repercussions for local communities at stake, their insights highlight the urgent call to action for preserving these vital resources.

National parks are home to many iconic trees. Bristlecones pines, Whitebark pines, Sequoias, even mangroves. And, of course, redwoods. These trees hold many stories. The size alone of redwoods and sequoias are enough to hold your attention. But there are backstories, as well. In the case of redwoods along the Northern California coast, the backstory can be heart breaking. There are chapters of logging fever, of course, as well as of political machinations, and stories of loss. Greg King presents the stories swirling around Redwoods in his book, The Ghost Forest: Racists, Radicals, and Real Estate in the California Redwoods. One particularly interesting chapter for national park lovers is that Newton B. Drury, the 4th director of the National Park Service, actually worked against the creation of Redwood National Park.

Rising sea levels, stronger storms, eroding shorelines, and sinking terrain are taking a toll on the fragile ecosystems and historic resources at Cape Lookout National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey takes a close look at these threats and predicts how they will impact the national seashore over the coming years.   Climate change impacts are happening across the country, reaching into most, if not all, units of the National Park System. Sea level rise is particularly concerning because you just can’t up and move a park, and if that park is on an island, well, high water is coming.   This week the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick talks with Cape Lookout Superintendent Jeff West and authors of the USGS study about the challenges the National Park Service faces in creating sustainable coastal management practices for Cape Lookout.

Here we are, a week into the second administration of President Donald Trump. It’s certainly a time of change, some of which is expected, and some perhaps not. Do we really need to rename North America’s tallest mountain, Denali in Denali National Park and Preserve? There is much going on in the federal government, and not all is good. Hiring freezes are underway. There’s much talk about reducing the federal budget, which requires cutting agency funding.  To try to gain some clarity on what’s beginning to go on and what impacts it might have on the National Park System and the National Park Service, we’re joined today by Kristen Brengel, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Eric Clewis, the Northern Rockies senior representative for Defenders of Wildlife, dives deep into the transformative reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone. He discusses the wolves' ecological impact over the last 30 years, emphasizing their role in managing prey populations and the intricate balance of the ecosystem. Clewis also addresses the ongoing controversies and political hurdles in wolf management, showcasing the economic benefits of wolf-watching tourism and the challenges facing conservation efforts amid shifting policies.