National Parks Traveler Podcast

Hurricane Dorian literally sliced up Cape Lookout National Seashore, creating more than 50 breaches in the park's barrier islands. At Western Carolina University, Professor Rob Young says the hurricane's damage was astonishing. How that damage will impact recreation on the seashore remains to be seen. Traveler also discusses this summer's uproar over glacial predictions at Glacier National Park, and invites a winter visit to Voyageurs National Park.

How is climate change affecting fall colors? Stephanie Spera, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Richmond and a 2019 Second Century Stewardship fellow at the Schoodic Institute at Acadia, is using citizen science to help answer that question. Erika Zambello wonders how Hurricane Dorian affected the Abaco parrot (aka the Bahama parrot) and its habitat, and we get a quick update on legislation to cut deeply into the roughly $12 billion maintenance backlog across the National Park System.

"Hiker Trash," a new book that examines hiker life along the Appalachian Trail through the sketches of a graphic artist, is the topic of our interview with author Sarah Kaizar. We also look at the fisheries of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and comment on the long-running vacancy of a permanent director of the National Park Service.

How will climate change impact plants and animals at Acadia National Park? This week we talk with Dr. Jennifer Smetzer, who has been mapping areas of the park that could serve as refugia for many native species. We also take some time to look at some great park destinations for fall.

Lauren and Steven Keys wanted to see national parks, so they took seven months off from the daily routine and headed out on a 34,000-mile journey that took them through the National Park System. We ask them how they did this, what they saw, and how they afforded it. We also take a look at visiting Joshua Tree National Park, and raise a question of why the National Park Service continues to pursue capital projects when it struggles under a roughly $12 billion maintenance backlog.

As with many units of the National Park System, there are many needs along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile-long ribbon of bucolic landscape linking Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks. And without the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, many of those needs would go wanting and fall into neglect. To understand those needs, we reached out to Carolyn Ward, CEO of the foundation. Erika Zambello also spends a little time this week discussing Acadia National Park's falcons, and we conclude this episode with a look at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado.

Dr. Erin Devlin, a professor of American history from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, discusses her research into sites in national parks in Virginia that were associated with segregation during the first half of the 20th century. Host Kurt Repanshek takes a look at Everglades National Park and why it's a great park destination during the winter months.

eBikes are among the topics making the rounds in the National Park System, as the debate over where these motorized bikes should be allowed to travel. Those cycles, and topics ranging from the lack of a permanent director of the National Park Service are among the topics Traveler discusses this week with Kristen Brengel, vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, and Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. We also take a look at mealtime in the parks, with a focus on Dutch oven cooking

How are California condors doing in Zion National Park, and what about snail kites at Everglades National Park? We take a look at those two bird species in this week's show. And we visit the Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park to catch up on some research into rockweed, a type of seaweed that coats the rocky coastline there.

In this week's episode, we talk with Gemina Garland-Lewis, a photographer, EcoHealth researcher, and National Geographic Explorer, about her work in the parks, and how that has changed the way she experiences parks themselves. Next, we visit Schoodic Peninsula in Acadia National Park, a quieter part of the National Park System. Finally, we end with Walnut Canyon and Montezuma Castle national monuments, which are easy day trips from Flagstaff, Arizona, that open windows into past cultures.