Mountain & Prairie with Ed Roberson

Jackie Miller is the Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), and Carlos Fernández is the Colorado State Director for The Nature Conservancy. Both are highly respected leaders in Colorado's conservation community, and they've played pivotal roles in shaping the state's approach to protecting land, water, wildlife, and outdoor access. While Carlos has joined me on the podcast several t...

Sonnie Trotter is a world-renowned rock climber, father, husband, writer, and the author of the new book "Uplifted: The Evolution of a Climbing Life." For the past three decades, Sonnie has built a career as one of the most accomplished climbers of his generation— pushing standards, putting up first ascents, and bringing a sense of creativity, humility, and grit to every project he tackles. His ne...

Cassidy Randall is a journalist and author whose work explores the intersections of adventure, history, and the natural world. Her new book, "Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women's Ascent of Denali," tells the gripping true story of six women who, in 1970, became the first all-female team to summit North America's tallest mountain. It's a meticulously researched, bea...

Sara Domek is Wyoming's Migration Program Director for The Nature Conservancy. Sara grew up in the small town of Kemmerer and later moved to Pinedale, giving her a rare, firsthand perspective on Wyoming's working landscapes—both from a natural resources and a conservation standpoint. Her upbringing, paired with years of experience working in nonprofits, agencies, and boots-on-the-ground conservati...

Cody Wellema is a master hatmaker and the founder of Wellema Hat Co., a highly regarded, California-based custom hat business. For over a decade, Cody built a reputation as one of the country's premier craftspeople in the art of traditional hatmaking, creating heirloom-quality hats by hand, using vintage tools and techniques that harken back to a slower, more intentional era. His work has been wor...

This is a special live episode recorded this past March at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and it features a conversation I had the honor of moderating with two powerhouse guests: Cate Havstad-Casad of Range Revolution and Daniel Mouw of Duckworth. The title of the panel was Farmer-Founded Brands Will Save American Fashion. At first glance, that might sound like a bold claim, but these two are actually doi...

Elliot Ross is a photographer and writer whose work focuses on the intersection of landscape, identity, and justice in the American West. His images have appeared in Time, National Geographic, and The New York Times, and he's known for deeply researched, long-term projects that combine striking visual storytelling with a journalist's rigor. Whether he's documenting water access on the Navajo Natio...

Aaron Citron is the Associate Director of External Affairs at The Nature Conservancy, where he leads state-level policy engagement across Colorado. His work spans a wide array of conservation priorities, including water management, healthy forests, renewable energy siting, and partnerships with private landowners and tribal nations. Aaron plays a key role in bridging on-the-ground conservation eff...

David Cronenwett is the owner of Helena Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a third-degree black belt under American Jiu-Jitsu legend Rafael Lovato Jr. David started his Jiu-Jitsu journey in Seattle in 1996, back when finding a place to train was like stumbling upon a secret society. Over the years, he's not only refined his own game but has shared this art with hundreds of students in Montana's capital city...

Helen Augare Carlson and Dylan DesRosier are leaders, community builders, and proud members of the Blackfeet Nation. Helen, the Chair of the Piikani Studies Division at Blackfeet Community College, has dedicated over two decades to education, cultural preservation, and building pathways for future generations. Dylan, the Blackfeet Program Manager with The Nature Conservancy, brings a wealth of exp...

George Hodgin is a former Navy SEAL turned entrepreneur who is revolutionizing the world of medical cannabis research. George is the founder and CEO of BRC - Biopharmaceutical Research Company, one of the only federally legal cannabis research organizations in the United States. His company is leading the charge in developing safe, regulated, and scientifically-backed cannabis-based therapeutics—o...

Ivan McClellan is a photographer, writer, and storyteller who's shining a light on Black cowboy culture in a way that's never been done before. When we first talked back in 2020, Ivan was in the early stages of immersing himself in this world—capturing rodeos, meeting cowboys, and telling stories that had largely been overlooked. Now, nearly five years later, he's once again forging his own path b...

Betsy Gaines Quammen is a Montana-based historian and writer whose work explores the history and myths of the American West and how those stories have endured and shaped life in the region today. Betsy joined me on the podcast several years ago to discuss her amazing book, American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Public Lands in the West , and since then, she's published another must-read: True West:...

Chris Pague is the Senior Conservation Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy, and he is deeply involved in so many of the topics we discuss here on the podcast– grasslands, bison, endangered species, landscape-scale conservation, and more. For many decades now, Chris has been working on the frontlines of TNC's science-based conservation efforts, and during his tenure, he's accumulated a mind-blowing...

Nicole Qualtieri is an outdoor writer and editor, a conservationist, and a committed outdoorswoman. Over the past decade, she's worked with some of the most notable brands in the outdoor industry, including MeatEater, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and GearJunkie, and she has bylines with many well-known outdoor publications, such as Outside, Modern Huntsman, and Backcountry Journal. But despite...

Hal Herring is an award-winning outdoor journalist, fierce public lands advocate, and thoughtful, action-oriented conservationist. He's also an accomplished podcaster and host of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers' Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring . If you're a longtime listener of Mountain & Prairie, you may remember my first episode with Hal back in December of 2019– pre-pandemic, when the world wa...

Scott Hulet is a legendary writer, editor, and current Creative Director at The Surfer's Journal . He also has a new book titled Flow Violento: A Scott Hulet Omnibus , which is a compilation of more than thirty years of his writing about surfing, fishing, travel, food, music, and more. If you subscribe to my book recommendations email, then you'll already know how much I loved the book– Scott brin...

Rusty Bell is the Director of Gillette College's Office of Economic Transformation, and Justin Loyka is the Wyoming Energy Program Director at the Nature Conservancy. Rusty and Justin are working together to find sustainable, economically viable solutions to the energy transition that is currently taking place in and around Gillette, Wyoming. Gillette and Campbell County, Wyoming have long been le...

Joe Whitworth is the President and CEO of The Freshwater Trust ("TFT"), an innovative and action-oriented conservation organization whose mission is to preserve and restore freshwater ecosystems. With a focus on technology and an all-star staff made up of scientists, attorneys, GIS experts, systems analysts, and more, TFT is pioneering the next generation of conservation by focusing on quantifiabl...

Jesse Smith is the Director of Land Stewardship at the White Buffalo Land Trust , which is a global hub for regenerative land stewardship, ecological monitoring and research, education, and more. Jesse brings a unique perspective and a diverse set of experiences to his work in regenerative agriculture– his early interest in architecture led him to pursue an education in design, which then led to a...

Nichole Barger is an ecologist, former university professor, and the current deputy chief scientist and lead global scientist for The Nature Conservancy. She earned her master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and her PhD from Colorado State University, and her career has included extensive time researching, teaching, and practicing on-the-ground, frontline conservation on iss...

Mark Easter is a Colorado-based ecologist and author whose new book is titled "The Blue Plate: A Food Lover's Guide to Climate Chaos." If you care about food and you care about Planet Earth, "The Blue Plate" is a must-read. It explores the production, consumption, and disposal of many of our favorite foods– seafood, salad, bread, chicken, steak, potatoes, ice cream, and more– and offers a thoughtf...

Kelsey Molloy is the Northern Great Plains Director at The Nature Conservancy and Angel DeVries is the Executive Director of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA)– they both live and work on the Northern Great Plains in Malta, Montana. While they work for different organizations, Kelsey and Angel collaborate on a long list of critical projects, most of which are focused on grassland conservation...

If you're a longtime Mountain & Prairie listener, then you're already familiar with the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts , also known as PORT. But for any new listeners, PORT is an alliance of agriculture-focused conservation organizations dedicated to preserving working farms and ranches and conserving productive agricultural lands. PORT is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, and in those...

Kevin Grange is a Wyoming-based author, paramedic, and firefighter. His most recent book is titled " Grizzly Confidential: An Astounding Journey Into the Secret Life of North America's Most Fearsome Predator ," which is a must-read for anyone interested in the evolving relationship between humans and bears. The book follows Kevin's journey throughout the American West and Alaska as he seeks to bet...