Kate and Aaron speak with Len Necefer, CEO & Founder of NativesOutdoors, a native owned outdoor media, apparel and consulting company. You may also know him as the man behind the Sonoran Avalanche Center Instagram account. Len talks about his latest project, a documentary film about the Colorado River basin titled The American Southwest, and how he…

Kate and Aaron nerd out with John Ruple, public lands professor at the University of Utah and a former member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) about recent changes to how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is being implemented across federal agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service. News Tru…

Kate and Aaron talk to two experts about recent executive orders that negatively affect public lands. Mitch Friedman, founder and executive director of Conservation Northwest, talks about how Trump’s executive order aimed at increasing logging in national forests squares with existing law and forest management plans, while Rachael Hamby, policy dir…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Jimmy Tobias, a public lands reporter and contributor to the Public Domain substack, and Jacob Malcom, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Environmental Management at the Interior Department, to talk about Elon Musk’s attacks on the Interior Department and its employees. Jimmy has been covering changes insi…

This week, we take a break from bad news to talk about what nature does to your brain. Kate and Aaron speak to author Florence Williams about her book, The Nature Fix, which came out in 2017 but is just as relevant today. Her book looks at the science behind why nature makes us feel happier, healthier, and more connected to humanity. Qualities we c…

Aaron and Kate break down the results of Colorado College’s annual State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll with pollsters Lori Weigell and Dave Metz. The poll found that voters in the West support preserving and protecting public lands more than ever before in the poll’s 15-year history. That’s right—just as President Trump and Interior …

Kate and Aaron are joined by Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Mitch Flanigan, a former ranger at Denali National Park, to talk about recent firings across Interior department agencies, including the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Managment, as well as at the U.S. Forest Servi…

Aaron and Kate are joined by Mark Squillace, natural resources law professor at the University of Colorado Law School. Professor Squillace provided legal counsel to the Interior Department under President Bill Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and he’s a two-time veteran of this podcast. Today, we discuss the legality of President Trump…

Kate and Aaron talk through the effects of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders on public lands with Drew McConville, a senior fellow on the Conservation Policy team at the Center for American Progress. His research is focused on energy, public lands, and Alaska. News Trump Signs Orders to Promote Fossil Fuels and End Climate Policies – …

Kate and Aaron talk to CWP colleagues Lauren Bogard and Sterling Homard about our recent report on President Joe Biden’s final year on public lands, which looks at the president’s conservation achievements over the past year in the context of his full presidential term. They also recap Trump Interior Secretary Nominee Doug Burgum’s Senate confirmat…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Alan Zibel, a research director at Public Citizen who focuses on energy and environmental issues. He breaks down what Donald Trump and the incoming Congress’s so-called “energy dominance” agenda could mean for public lands—given that the U.S. is already the world’s top exporter of natural gas (otherwise known as […] The…

Kate and Aaron talk to Chris Clarke, host of the 90 Miles from Needles podcast, about the Cadiz pipeline project, a water mining project that poses a huge threat to the Mojave Desert. This project has been around in some form or another for over four decades and the latest iteration is especially insidious. News […] The post This company is trying …

In this special episode of The Landscape, Kate visits the Dolores River Canyon Country in southwest Colorado, along with CWP’s Lauren Bogard and Sterling Homard, to meet with folks who support protecting this special region. The Dolores River’s riparian zone contains the largest and most biodiverse stretch of unprotected public lands in Colorado. A…

Kate and Aaron are joined by CWP Executive Director, Jennifer Rokala, and Curtis Hubbard, a political consultant based in Colorado, to break down the what the results of the 2024 election mean for public lands. News With Ready Orders and an Energy Czar, Trump Plots Pivot to Fossil Fuels – New York Times Trump gave […] The post What the results of t…

Kate and Aaron talk to Sanjay Narayan, managing attorney of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program, about a lawsuit over the proposed Uinta Basin oil train that could have some major implications for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The case is set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in December. News With […] The post Choo! Cho…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Dr. Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage, a project of the Earth Island Institute. Dr. DellaSala came on The Landscape twice last year to talk about the Biden administration’s plans to protect mature and old growth forests. He recently wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times in which […] The post What Biden…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers CEO Patrick Berry to talk about why Utah’s lawsuit seeking control of over 18 million acres of national public land in the state would be terrible for sportsmen across the West. News Other states urge Supreme Court to hear Utah federal land case – E&E […] The post How Utah’s land grab lawsu…

Kate and guest host Sterling are joined by journalist and producer Marissa Ortega-Welch to talk about her new podcast series, How Wild, which was recently released by KALW and distributed by NPR. The podcast explores how the concept of capital W wilderness is changing due to climate change, technology, crowding, and shifting views on colonialism. […

Aaron and Kate are joined by members of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe to talk about the proposed Kw’tsán National Monument in southern California. This is part of our Road to 30 postcards series, in which we highlight local efforts to protect iconic landscapes around the country. A Tribal elder, a Tribal youth, and […] The post Meet the propos…

Kate and Aaron talk to Inside Climate News reporter Wyatt Myskow about an incredible story he wrote about what’s unfolding in Nevada’s Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, where the endangered Devil’s Hole pupfish is undergoing a rebrand from villain to hero. Click here for a transcript of this episode. News The National Monuments Disinformation B…

In this episode of the Landscape, Kate and Aaron discuss Utah’s attempt to sue the federal government for control of over 18 million acres of federal public land with John Leshy, Professor Emeritus, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. Leshy served as Solicitor (General Counsel) of the U.S. Department of the Interior […] The …

The whole Center for Western Priorities team sits down to talk about what brought us each into conservation work, and recount some of the most memorable moments we've had as public lands advocates. The post Episode 200! (Behind the scenes at CWP) appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.By Center for Western Priorities

Kate talks to author Zak Podmore about his upcoming book, Life After Deadpool: Lake Powell’s Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River, which explores various aspects of Lake Powell’s emptying due to drought, from how to replace the loss of hydropower to how wildlife and plant life is returning to Glen Canyon as […] The post The future of Lak…

Kate and Aaron talk to Syren Nagakyrie, founder and director of Disabled Hikers, a nonprofit group seeking to make the outdoors more accessible for people with disabilities. Nagakyrie has been outspoken about the tokenization of disabled hikers by U.S. Senator Mike Lee, who recently filed a bill called the Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act th…

Aaron and Kate talk to Dr. Hitesh Tolani, creator of the Gays of National Parks Instagram account, which is aimed at fostering community among LGBTQ people through a love of the outdoors. Hitesh began the account as a joke in 2022, but it has since grown into a community with over 15,000 followers. Hitesh talks […] The post How an Instagram ‘joke’ …

Murphy Woodhouse covers wildfires and wildfire policy across the West, informed by his past experience as a wildland firefighter. In a wide-ranging discussion, Murphy talks about the bleak state of wildfire pay, the possibility of much of the West becoming uninsurable because of wildfire risk, and much more. The post Reporter Murphy Woodhouse on th…

The proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument would add protections for lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management in Luna County, New Mexico near the city of Deming. The collaborative effort is locally-led by elected leaders, business owners, economic development advocates, hunters, youth leaders, conservationists, and students. The proposal w…

Aaron and Kate are joined by Kristen Miller, Executive Director of the Alaska Wilderness League, to talk about some big steps to protect public lands in Alaska made by the Biden administration this spring. They include increased protections for 13 million acres inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, as well as the cancellation of a proposed …

Aaron and Kate are joined by Davina Smith, who represents the Navajo Nation on the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, and Lauren Henson, who is the Collaborative Management and Tribal Support Specialist for the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, to talk about the Bears Ears draft monument management plan, which came out in March. We talk about […] …

Kate and Aaron are joined by the Wilderness Society’s Michael Carroll and Justin Meuse to talk through a handful of federal regulations, or rules, that were finalized in late March and April. These rules touch on everything from methane waste on public lands to ecosystem restoration to caribou herds in Alaska. Some of these rules […] The post Why A…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Trout Unlimited CEO Chris Wood, who has been with TU for twenty years, following a career as chief policy director at the U.S. Forest Service during the Clinton administration. Chris talks about how an influx of federal funding for ecosystem restoration is supercharging the group’s work reconnecting streams and […] The …

Kate and Aaron are joined by author Betsy Gaines Quammen to talk about public lands and extremism. Betsy has written two books about extremism in the West. Her first, American Zion, looks at the connection between Mormonism and extremism. Her second book, True West, which came out last year, digs into the myths that define […] The post Talking publ…

Kate and Aaron are joined by three members of the reporting team behind, Lithium Liabilities, a groundbreaking investigation into how lithium mining could affect the West’s water supply. Emma Peterson, Morgan Casey, and Lauren Mucciolo are part of a large team of editors, photographers, and reporters who worked on the investigation at the Howard Ce…

Kate and Aaron are joined by pollsters Lori Weigel and Dave Metz to discuss the 14th Annual Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West poll. The poll surveys voters in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colorado on their environmental views. This year, it found support for conservation […] The…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Justin Meuse, Director of Government Relations for Climate and Energy at the Wilderness Society, to talk about a proposal from the Bureau of Land Management to prioritize around 22 million acres of public land for utility scale solar development across the West. They discuss why planning matters, how much […] The post M…

Driven by high uranium prices, domestic uranium mining has resumed at three locations in the U.S. after an eight-year hiatus. Kate and Aaron are joined by Amber Reimondo, Energy Director at the Grand Canyon Trust and Scott Clow, Environmental Programs Director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, to discuss how that will impact the Grand […] The post Ur…

Kate and Aaron are joined by I Ling Thompson, CEO of The Foundation for America’s Public Lands. The Foundation is the official charitable partner of the Bureau of Land Management. Its job is to engage with local communities and the public on behalf of the agency. Thompson discusses the challenges the BLM faces and how […] The post Inside the Founda…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Tony Caligiuri, president and CEO of Colorado Open Lands, a nonprofit land trust that exists to protect Colorado’s land and water resources. Colorado Open Lands works primarily with private landowners to place voluntary agreements called conservation easements on their property. Tony talks about how private land and wat…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala for a year-end public lands news roundup and a look ahead at 2024. Overall, 2023 was a great year for public lands. The Biden administration took some really important and concrete steps toward protecting 30 percent of U.S. lands by 2030, […] The post The …

Kate and Aaron are joined by Dr. Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage, a project of the Earth Island Institute. We had Dr. DellaSala on the Landscape back in June to talk about the Biden administration’s efforts to protect old growth forests. At the time, the U.S. Forest Service had just released data that […] The post Behind the he…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Rachel Morgan, author of Sins of the Shovel: Looting, Murder, and the Evolution of American Archaeology. Rachel is an archaeologist based near Washington, DC, and her book, which was published last month, is largely focused on the Southwest. She gives a detailed account of the Wetherill family, which settled […] The pos…

Aaron and Kate are joined by Julia Stuble, Wyoming State Senior Manager with the Wilderness Society. Julia is a Wyomingite who’s lived and worked in the state for decades. She’s here to talk about a proposed Bureau of Land Management resource management plan, or RMP, for southwest Wyoming that’s making waves in the state. The […] The post How a Wyo…

Aaron and Kate are joined by Laura Peterson, staff attorney with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, to talk about the Bureau of Land Management’s recently finalized Labyrinth Rims/Gemini Bridges Travel Management Plan. The plan will guide land management decisions for a 300,000-acre landscape to the north of Moab for years to come, and will hel…

Kate and Aaron are joined by three other members of the Center for Western Priorities for this episode focused on a new report from CWP. The Conservation Toolbox report is a directory of the major land protection tools available to help preserve federal public lands. CWP’s Director of Campaigns and Special Projects, Lauren Bogard, Policy […] The po…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Tim Davis, founder and executive director of Friends of the Owyhee, and Karly Foster, campaign manager at the Oregon Natural Desert Association, to talk about how we can better protect the Owyhee Canyonlands. The Owyhee Canyonlands span from southeast Oregon into southwest Idaho, and it is one of the […] The post Protec…

Kate and Aaron are joined by Alan Zibel with Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group focused on the influence of big business in government, and Nichole Heil with the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a watchdog group focused on bringing transparency and accountability to the private equity sector, to talk about a report they co-authored. The r…

Aaron and Kate are joined by Ben Goldfarb, an award-winning environmental journalist and author who covers wildlife conservation, marine science, and public lands management, to talk about his new book, Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, which is out now from Norton. In Crossings, Goldfarb explores how roads have made …

Kate and Aaron are joined by pollster Lindsay Vermeyen, senior vice president at Benenson Strategy Group, and Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala to dig into the results of our 2023 Winning the West poll. Spoiler alert: Western voters really love public lands, and they want to see them protected. Kate and Aaron […] The …

Aaron and Kate are joined by I Ling Thompson, vice president of strategy and engagement at the Trust for Public Land, to discuss a new report from the Trust called the Power of Parks to Promote Health. The report looks at the myriad ways urban parks improve human and environmental health, as well as how […] The post How urban parks improve public h…

In a special Road to 30: Postcards episode, Aaron and Kate talk to two members of the Havasupai Tribe about the proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument. The proposed monument would partially surround and help protect the Grand Canyon National Park, as well as the communities that live in and near the […] The post Inside t…