National Parks Traveler Podcast

National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno discusses the impact coronavirus is having on the National Park System, and we have a conversation with author Richard Louv on his latest book, Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform our Lives, and Save Theirs. And Lynn Riddick concludes her four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with a visit to Mission San Juan.

The impact of coronavirus on the National Park System truly is unprecedented. Unlike the impacts partial or full government shutdowns have on the parks, government funding won't solve those created by the growing spread of coronavirus overnight. To take a look at how coronavirus is affecting the parks and the National Park Service, for this week's show we've gathered three park experts, including former National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, who combined have more than a century of experience with the national parks and public lands. And Lynn Riddick continues her tour of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with a visit to Mission Espada.

National Parks Traveler continues its tour through San Antonio Missions National Historical Park as Lynn Riddick visits Mission Concepción, and David and Kay Scott discuss the high-end national park lodges you would stay in if money were not an object.

This week we feature Lynn Riddick's segment on Mission San Jose, the first of a four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in Texas. We also talk with Mitch Tobin, Director of The Water Desk at the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado, to understand why his organization is underwriting journalism revolving around the Colorado River.

This week we have a wide-ranging discussion about visiting the parks with Jason Epperson from the America's National Parks podcast and David and Kay Scott, authors of The Complete Guide To the National Park Lodges. We preview upcoming podcasts on the missions of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and recap our series on the Colorado River and its impacts on Canyonlands National Park and Glen National Recreation Area.

In recent years there has been a movement of sorts to rebrand units of the National Park System as "national parks," a movement motivated in large part by the economic boost such a redesignation is hoped to have. In New Mexico there's a group that's opposed to turning Bandelier National Monument into Bandelier National Park. We discuss that issue with Tom Ribe, executive director of Caldera Action, a nonprofit advocacy group in New Mexico. And we continue our series on how the health of the Colorado River impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. To get a better understanding of the river economics in play, we talk with Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics.

This week's show kicks off our coverage of the Colorado River and how its health, or lack of health, impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. We also take a peek at Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota and what awaits intrepid park travelers who put it on their to-do list.

Candy Harrington, a journalist who traveled the National Park System to see how accessible lodges and trails in the parks really are, discusses her new book on accessibility in the parks. And Cory MacNulty and Erika Pollard from the National Parks Conservation Association's Southwest Regional Office discuss the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's plans for managing the greatly reduced in size Bears Ears and Grand Staircase monuments.

Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller discuss their upcoming book, Scenic Science of the National Parks, an Explorers Guide to Wildlife, Geology, and Botany. The book, scheduled to arrive March 31, is a wonderfully new guidebook to help you get the most out of your national park adventures. Tanya Shenk, National Park Service scientist, explains a draft framework for bison stewardship in the Midwest Region of the park system. It's a region where you can find bison at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas, Badlands National Park and Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

This week's show, our 50th, looks at a Jurassic Period carnivore dubbed "AJ," a new species of allosaurus, found in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, and takes a short Revolutionary War history tour of Saratoga National Historical Park in New York State.