National Parks Traveler Podcast

National parks offer a variety of treasures: spectacular views, scenic trails and waterways and vast ecosystems of plants and wildlife. And what would these things be without accompanying soundscapes -- wind howling through a canyon on a scorching afternoon… or the "wall-of-sound" created by insects as soon as the sun sets… or birds singing so loudly outside your tent, they wake you up before you really wanted to wake up. For natural sound, too, is a treasure, and like many other aspects of the national parks affected by too much human activity.

An early detection of a wildland fire in Denali National Park in June brings to light how enhanced satellite technology is catching smaller fires sooner, providing better detail and more accurate fire predictions and assessments. As a result, fire managers are better able to determine needed actions and resources to meet the unique conditions of Alaska's landscape. National ParksTraveler's Lynn Riddick spoke with Alaska fire analyst Robert "Zeke" Ziel about this satellite technology, and Larry Weddle, National Park Service fire management officer for the Alaska Western Area and Denali National Park and Preserve, on how the season peaked without much drama this year.

We look back at the top news stories from the National Park System in July. There was the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act by Congress, the ongoing issue of the coronavirus pandemic and how parks have been dealing with it, and news that the renowned Sea Turtle Science and Recovery Program at Padre Island National Seashore is to be greatly scaled back. Joining host Kurt Repanshek to discuss some of the news impacting national parks in July is Mike Murray, a member of the executive council of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks.

Residential environmental learning centers are nonprofit facilities that connect people to nature. But they are tasked with serving a greater good -- to foster the development of better global citizens. Lynn Riddick speaks with Catey McClary of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont to better understand this organization whose roots in outdoor learning go back some 50 years.

Nature is an incredibly powerful and successful teacher. Of course, students need teachers to deliver the lessons. That's where Residential Environmental Learning Centers come into play in national parks. Organizations like NatureBridge, the Cuyahoga Valley Institute, the Yellowstone Institute, The Great Smoky Mountains Institute. And the North Cascades Institute. These nonprofit organizations use national parks as their classrooms. Lynn Riddick talks with Saul Weisberg to understand how the North Cascades Institute teaches children well.

Have you ever stopped to listen during your national park vacation? What do you hear? We share some of the sounds in this week's episode with hopes they inspire you to let your ears play a greater role in your enjoyment during your national park visit.

The survival of Residential Environmental Learning Centers in national parks is in jeopardy. As the president of one such center says, "the impact of coronavirus is an 'extinction-level event.'" Listen to how they are working to keep their doors open.

June has been an especially newsworthy month across the National Park System. The U.S. Senate passed what has been called the most important public lands bill in decades, and more national parks have reopened areas to the public. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is proposing a large oil and gas lease auction for lands near Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a natural gas pipeline could be tunneled beneath the Appalachian Trail. Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, discusses the news events.

We take a look at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's move to offer more than 110,000 acres in Utah for oil and gas development. How might that proposal impact Arches, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands national parks? Erika Pollard from the National Parks Conservation Association joins us to explain some of the issues in play. After listing to our conversation, take a look at this story that looks at the issue in more detail. Finally, we leave you with a rationale for instituting a reservation system for visiting some units of the National Park System.

There's always a lot of shaking, rattling, and occasional rolling going on in Yellowstone National Park. Keeping track of it is the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, one of five such observatories under the purview of the U.S. Geological Survey. It keeps real-time tabs on volcanic, hydrothermal, and earthquake activity in the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field. Lynn Riddick speaks with the scientist-in-charge of the observatory, Michael Poland, Ph.D. From his home in Vancouver, Washington, Poland gives us a glimpse into the latest monitoring systems in Yellowstone National Park and the park's recent geologic activity.