National Parks Traveler Podcast

National Parks Traveler is the world's top-rated, editorially independent, nonprofit media organization dedicated to covering national parks and protected areas on a daily basis. Traveler offers readers and listeners a unique multimedia blend of news, feature content, debate, and discussion all tied to national parks and protected areas.

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National Parks Traveler Episode 25: eBikes And Dutch Oven Cooking

National Parks Traveler Episode 25: eBikes and Dutch Oven Cooking
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 is not without controversy. Those cycles, and topics ranging from the lack of a permanent director of the National Park Service to reorganization of the Interior Department, 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.
August 4th, 2019 Read More

National Parks Traveler Episode 24: Condors, Snail Kites, And Rockweed

How are California condors doing at Zion National Park?
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. We also 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.
July 28th, 2019 Read More

National Parks Traveler Episode 23: Photography in the Parks, Schoodic, and Arizona Monuments

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 pay a visit to the Schoodic Peninsula in Acadia National Park, a quieter part of the National Park System. Finally, we end with a look at Walnut Canyon and Montezuma Castle national monuments, which are easy day trips from Flagstaff, Arizona, that open windows into past cultures.

July 21st, 2019 Read More

National Parks Traveler Episode 22: What Do You Know About Capitol Reef National Park?

The Capitol Reef Reader Dives Deep Into The Park's Geologic And Cultural Backgrounds
The Capitol Reef Reader is not your typical national park guidebook. No trail, dining, or lodging information. Rather, The Capitol Reef Reader offers an incredible wealth of information in the essays Stephen Trimble has pulled together for this collection. Essays by the likes of Clarence Dutton who traveled the Southwest with Major John Wesley Powell, Ed Abbey, and that literary conservation giant, Wallace Stegner.
July 14th, 2019 Read More

National Parks Traveler Episode 21: Can Guns Protect You Against Bear Attacks?

Tom Smith, a professor of wildlife sciences at Brigham Young University and a member of the National Rifle Association, discusses how effective guns in backcountry locations are in defending against bear attacks. What he says might surprise you. This episode also looks at the Volcanic Legacy Highway that ties Lassen Volcanic National Park and Crater Lake National Park together.

July 7th, 2019 Read More

National Parks Traveler Episode 20: Everglades' Python Problem

Burmese pythons long have presented a significant problem for native wildlife in Everglades National Park. Erika Zambello talks to a contractor hired to study and remove these invasive snakes. We also take a look at Acadia, Shenandoah, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Blue Ridge Parkway, and review Ramble On: A History of Hiking.

June 30th, 2019 Read More

National Parks Traveler Episode 19: Parks As Classrooms, And Katahdin Woods and Waters

Using national park settings as a backdrop for these programs can serve double duty – the resources are the perfect educational tool, and the settings can really connect youth to nature. These settings seem to resonate with students', teachers', and adults' innate thirst for nature. Saul Weisberg, who helped found the North Cascades Institute in 1986, has seen students from every walk of life positively affected by their experiences in North Cascades National Park and other public lands that the Institute uses as outdoor classrooms. Saul joins us today to talk about the benefits of these outdoor programs.
June 23rd, 2019 Read More

National Parks Traveler Episode 18: Staying Safe In Bear Habitat, And Thomas Moran And The Parks

National Parks Traveler Podcast 18: Staying Safe In Bear Habitat, Thomas Moran And The Parks
Kim Titchener, the founder of bearsafety.com, discusses how humans can stay safe in bear habitat, while Erika Zambello visits Washington, D.C., and tracks down some of Thomas Moran's famed paintings of national parks. In his commentary, host Kurt Repanshek suggests that the National Park Service be pulled out of the Interior Department and set up as a freestanding agency
June 16th, 2019 Read More

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