National Parks Traveler Podcast

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 pos...

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. Host Kurt Repanshek suggests that the National Park Service be pulled out of the Interior Department and set up as a freestanding agency.

Independent filmmaker Tom Huang discusses his new project, Find Me, a movie that uses national parks as a backdrop for a story about personal reflection and rejuvenation in nature. It also touches on the issue of cultural diversity in park visitors. With the official start to summer on June 21, we also offer some tips for staying safe in parks, and look at the gateway town of Estes Park, Colorado.

Are you familiar with Sooty terns? It's an interesting seabird species with mysterious travels. In this week's National Parks Traveler podcast episode, Erika Zambello speaks with Dr. Ryan Huang about a decades-long research study on Sooty Terns in the Dry Tortugas. After they nest in the spring, where do they go? What do they eat? What will they face in the future? We also spend a little time with...

Jacob W. Frank is one of the photographers who frames Yellowstone National Park's wildlife, geysers, lakes and forests for you to enjoy. How did he get his job with the National Park Service, and how many parks has he captured with his cameras? He discusses his job with host Kurt Repanshek. You'll also find an overview of visiting South Dakota's national parks, monuments, and memorials in this epi...

Phil Francis, chair of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, and Kristen Brengel, vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, join host Kurt Repanshek for this special roundtable discussion about current events in the National Park System.

What is the state of wildlife in the National Park System? Defenders of Wildlife President Jamie Rappaport Clark discusses the health of wildlife in the national parks. Steve Markle of O.A.R.S. provides a forecast for the upcoming white-water season in Utah and California on the Green, Colorado, Merced, and Tuolumne rivers, and Erika Zambello tours Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site and Tus...

Who is "thenationalparksgirl.com"? In this week's Traveler podcast, Erika Zambello tracks down Sonja Saxe to discuss her national park explorations. Erika and her husband visit Gulf Islands National Seashore to catch dinner. We conclude with a question of whether Dinosaur National Monument should be renamed "Dinosaur National Park"?

Grand Teton National Park Foundation CEO Leslie Mattson discusses how her organization is able to help raise the visitor experience at Grand Teton National Park. Kurt Repanshek reviews two books focused on the Civil War, and Erika Zambello explores Russell Cave National Monument in Alabama.

Andrew Herrington, a search-and-rescue expert at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, outlines how to stay safe on your hikes into the backcountry, while artist Molly Hashimoto explains how she comes away from her park visits with beautiful bird sketches, drawings, and paintings. Finally, we take a short hike into the Peaked Hill Bars Historic District at Cape Cod National Seashore.

Dr. Rolf Peterson, a long-time wolf biologist at Michigan Tech University, discusses Isle Royale National Park's wolf recovery program in this week's episode, while host Kurt Repanshek reviews a book on butterflies you might encounter in national parks and another on marine life photography, and ends the program with a look at the many national parks with caves you can explore.

Dan Wenk, who spent four decades working for the National Park Service, shares his views on the current state of the agency and the National Park System. Host Kurt Repanshek discusses efforts to plan a restoration of the Tidal Basin at the National Mall and Memorial Parks with Katherine Malone-France of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Erika Zambello wraps up the show with a visit...

Utah State University wildlife researcher Dr. Dan MacNulty discusses wolves, bears, elk and other prey and predators in Yellowstone National Park in this week's episode, while Erika Zambello talks birding in Katadhin Woods and Waters National Monument with Doug Hitchcox of Maine Audubon. Host Kurt Repanshek wraps up the episode with a look at where you can find some incredible spring and summer wi...

Kevin Poe, the original "Dark Ranger" of the National Park Service, talks dark night skies in the National Park System in this week's episode. Traveler contributing writer Kim O'Connell discusses what she's learned while researching a story on the state of Venezuela's national parks during the current social and political turmoil in that country, and host Kurt Repanshek concludes with a look at so...

John Freemuth, the executive director of the Cecil D. Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University discusses the current political landscape and how it's impacting national parks and public lands.

This week, Traveler Contributing Editor Erika Zambello discusses the lionfish invasion in national park marine waters, while Contributing Photographer Rebecca Latson talks about a winter visit to Olympic National Park. Host Kurt Repanshek wraps up the show with a look ahead at harvesttime in the National Park System and where you can find tasty apples and juicy peaches.

There are thousands of miles of hiking trails in the National Park System. Traveler host Kurt Repanshek discusses some of the best with Michael Lanza, who keeps track of his adventures via his blog, The Big Outside . He's also the author of Before They're Gone, a Family's Year-long Quest to Explore America's Most Endangered National Parks. Also in this week's show, Kurt discusses the status of end...

In this week's edition of National Parks Traveler , host Kurt Repanshek discusses lodging in the National Park System with David and Kay Scott, authors of The Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges, updates congressional efforts to whittle away the park system's nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog, and reviews a once-in-a-lifetime visit to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

In this inaugural National Parks Traveler podcast, host Kurt Repanshek talks with Friends of Acadia Communications Director Earl Brechlin about when best to visit the park, where to go, and what issues the park staff is facing. Traveler contributor Rita Beamish provides a preview of her story on the recovery Santa Monica Mountains NRA is going through following last fall's Woolsey fire.