National Parks Traveler Podcast

John Freemuth, who holds the Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for Environment and Public Lands at Boise State University, and Nada Culver, the vice president for public lands and senior policy counsel at the National Audubon Society, discuss efforts in Washington to tweak the National Environmental Policy Act as well as the Endangered Species Act.

Former National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis discusses the Institute for People, Parks, and Biodiversity that he launched at the University of California-Berkeley and how it's trying to guide climate change work in the National Park System. We also visit with Tumacácori National Historical Park Chief of Interpretation Anita Badertscher to learn about her park and what awaits visitors there.

Michael Kellett, the executive director of RESTORE: The North Woods, discusses a campaign to see the size of the National Park System roughly tripled to more than 182 million acres. And Traveler contributing editor Erika Zambello and Becky Lomax, author of Moon's USA National Parks, the Complete Guide to All 59 Parks, join Kurt Repanshek to discuss their favorite winter national park destinations.

The past year brought many news-making events to the National Park System. It started, of course, with the partial government shutdown that created more than a few problems for the park system, the continued lack of a Senate confirmed director of the National Park Service, hurricanes inflicting damage on coastal parks, and construction of a border wall in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument that possibly destroyed some archaeological sites there. To help us look back on 2019 and the national parks, we're joined by Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association.

With many national parks across the country in trouble from such myriad threats as climate change, overcrowding, energy exploration, invasive species, and poor air quality, National Parks Traveler's new "Threatened and Endangered Parks" lists identify parks that are struggling to retain the very essence that led to their inclusion in the National Park System in the first place. In this week's show, Phil Francis of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks and Mark Wenzler from the National Parks Conservation Association discuss the threats facing the parks.

How big of a problem are invasive animal species in the National Park System? This week we examine the topic of invasive animal species – think Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park, wild hogs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and even feral cats at Cape Hatteras National Seashore – and how the National Park Service is trying to tackle the problem. Traveler's staff looks at some of the most photogenic destinations in the National Park System. And we include some surprise locations.

Kyle Joly, a National Park Service wildlife biologist who long has studied terrestrial migrations in national park units in Alaska, discusses the world's longest land migrations in this week's show. Caribou and reindeer are at the top of the list of long-distance travelers, but what about wolves? Contributing writer Kim O'Connell, fresh back from a visit to New Orleans, gives us a preview of her time at Jean LaFitte National Historical Park and Preserve. 1

How are Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears faring? Kerry Gunther, the park's bear expert, joins the Traveler this week to discuss the current state of grizzlies in the park and whether their population is growing or dropping. Erika Zambello takes listeners on a short audio trip to Fort Matanzas National Monument in Florida.

John Garder, senior director of budget and appropriations for the National Parks Conservation Association, discusses congressional action on legislation to address the roughly $12 billion in backlogged maintenance needs across the National Park System. Becky Lomax, author of Moon USA National Parks, discusses what she's seeing in the parks in terms of that maintenance backlog, and we share thoughts about efforts to build a commercial spaceport just west of Cumberland Island National Seashore.

While there's concern that one day Joshua trees might no longer grow in Joshua Tree National Park, or that Glacier National Park might lose its rivers of ice, what about Saguaro National Park and its iconic cacti? Kurt Repanshek travels to Saguaro National Park to discuss the decadal survey of saguaros with park biologist Don Swann. Erika Zambello heads to coastal Georgia for an off-season visit to Cumberland Island National Seashore.