National Parks Traveler Podcast

A century of seasons has worn the appearance of the log cabin Roy Fure built in present-day Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, but his care of the small cabin, and later National Park Service restoration efforts, have enabled it to stand the test of time. Dovetail-notched spruce logs still sit tightly together, the corrugated metal roof Fure replaced his sod roof with in 1930 and painted...

After more than 50 years as one of the country's landmark environmental laws, the Endangered Species Act has gone from one of the most popular measures before Congress to one fueling demands that it be revised, if not discarded. The National Parks Traveler is reviewing the Endangered Species Act's work and its record, spotlighting individual species that it's protected, those that it failed, and t...

Haleakalā National Park is deceptively wonderful and rich in biodiversity. But if we're not careful, we could lose some of that biodiversity.  Located on the island of Maui in Hawaii, the first thing you notice about this national park is its towering dormant volcano, Haleakalā, which rises from sea level to more than 10,000 feet. While many visitors simply want to head to the top of the volcano t...

It's Thanksgiving Weekend, usually interpreted as a bountiful time of year when we can all sit back and be thankful. But can many who work for the National Park Service feel thankful in the wake of the staff reductions this year?  This year has been hard on the Park Service, what with the loss of roughly a quarter of the full-time workforce and questions around how the agency has long interpreted...

Gazing up at mountains from their valleys down below, it's hard, if not impossible, to detect any change on the top of the mountains. But change is ongoing, especially in recent history as the climate continues to warm. From Tacoma or Seattle in Washington state, the snowy summit of Mount Rainier National Park appears unchanged from how it's always looked. Snowy. But is that truly the case? What w...

The government shutdown has been record-setting in terms of its length. So, too, has been the time that many employees of the National Park Service have been furloughed without pay. How has the shutdown affected the parks, and how have the friends groups that support the parks responded? We're going to discuss that today with Chris Lenhertz from the Golden Gate Conservancy, Jacki Harp from Smokies...

What is a "typical" day at the National Parks Traveler like? When you surf over to the website there's always content there, ready to update you on news from around the National Park System. How is it generated, and who generates it? Editor Kurt Repanshek and Contributing Editor Kim O'Connell dive into the logistics of running a news operation that's focused on national parks and protected areas.

Though the Revolutionary War didn't officially end until September 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, a key turning point in the war for independence occurred six years earlier in a small corner of today's New York state. The Battle of Saratoga stretched out from September 19 until October 7, 1777, and marked the first time the British Empire had been forced to surrender. British Genera...

The federal government is shut down, but the national parks – most of them, anyway – are open. Back during his first term in office President Donald Trump also kept the parks open during the government shutdown that stretched from the end of 2018 into early 2019. That led to some vandalism to the parks and damage to some park resources. How are things going this shutdown? To explore that question,...

Kansas is a big place, and not one particularly well-known for national park destinations. But that doesn't mean you should overlook the Sunflower State. In the closing days of September, as the country seemed destined for a government shutdown, the Traveler's Kurt Repanshek and Patrick Cone headed into Kansas to visit some of the parks there to better understand their role in the National Park Sy...

How do national parks develop their interpretive materials? What influences come into play when a park begins to outline its approach and the direction it takes when crafting educational materials for visitors? Is the National Park Service careful to take a truthful path when presenting history? Those are topical questions considering the Trump administration's efforts to rid the National Park Sys...

Nearly 700 volunteers, including some from as far away as Japan, descended on the Appalachian Trail in the past year in an unprecedented effort to recover a landscape forever scarred by Hurricane Helene. The storm in September 2024 shut down 431 miles of the AT. Trees were snapped in half, piled in what looked like a bizarre game of pickup sticks. Landslides and flooding tore away trails and tread...

This past week unspecified interpretive materials related to slavery were either removed or tagged for removal from Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. It also was reported that a troubling photo known as the "Scourged Back" that depicted the scar-riddled back of an enslaved man was taken down from Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia. The National Park System has been pu...

We can't escape history. We're born into a world full of it, and we're making it as we go from day to day. But how are we at preserving history? There's been a lot of concern this year that the administration of President Donald Trump is altering, if not entirely trying to erase, history. But can that actually be done? The National Park Service, often called the nation's storyteller, has been inte...

We've made it past Labor Day. Which means fall colors in some parts of the country aren't too far off, seasonal wildlife migrations are getting under way, and summertime crowds in the national park system have thinned out. Fall is a glorious time to be out in the park system. The question right now, though, is how will the park system be functioning come October? That's a very pertinent question,...

Once upon a time, there were tens of millions of bison on the North American continent. Today, there are somewhere between 400,000 and 500,000. Most are in commercial herds, with a relative few in private herds and on public lands. Should there be more bison on the continent? There potentially is space for them on places like the 550,000-acre Thunder Basin National Grassland in Wyoming, the nearly...

It's been said that the night skies are the other half of the National Park System. And it only makes sense, for when you're in a park and the sun goes down you tend to look into the night sky to spot constellations or, if you're lucky enough and in the right place, a comet overhead. Keeping that other half of the park system in mind, today's podcast will be a somewhat dark one. Our guest is Jeff...

Vessel-whale collisions are a significant concern in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, where nutrient-rich waters support a seasonal influx of humpback whales and other marine mammals. As one of the most visited marine parks in Alaska, Glacier Bay sees a high volume of vessel traffic, including cruise ships, tour boats, and private craft. This summer an adult humpback whale was seen with a f...

Is nature nonpartisan? Earlier this year we had an interview with Dr. Caleb Scoville from Tufts University, who received an Andrew Carnegie fellowship to explore whether environmental issues are highly partisan. It can certainly seem that here in America just about everything is partisan these days, but is nature partisan?  As another of our guests pointed out, those who enjoy going out into natur...

El Camino Real de Los Tejas is a network of trails that connected Spanish missions, settlements, and military outposts from Mexico through Texas and into Louisiana. Now a national historic trail, this road played a crucial role in the Spanish colonization of the region in the late 1600s. It served as a vital route for communication, trade, and military movement.  Over time, that trail facilitated...

The National Parks Conservation Association is almost as old as the National Park Service. The Service, as you probably know, was established in 1916, and NPCA came along three years later. Through the 106-year history of NPCA, there has been only one woman who held the title of president and Chief Executive Officer. That woman is Theresa Pierno, who has worked for the park advocacy group for more...

Grizzly bears. They define charismatic megafauna. Huge animals that draw both human admiration and fear. Once they roamed the entire country, though that was a long time ago. Today there are pockets of grizzly bear populations in the Rocky Mountains from Yellowstone to Glacier National Parks. Among the questions that revolve around grizzly bears is how many are too many, are they a threat to human...

Running nearly 2,200 miles along the spine of the Appalachian Range from Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail arguably is the world's most famous long-distance trail. Some think it's also one that can be very crowded in spots. Morgan Sommerville, the director of visitor use management for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, joins us today to discuss the trail in general and wheth...

Heading into the National Park System this summer? Going it alone, or have you booked a tour company? What do you think about how the Trump Administration and Congress are treating the National Parks and the National Park Service? Have you reported any park signs to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that disparage Americans, dead or alive?   As you can tell there's a lot going on in the parks. Some g...

Anniversaries and birthdays give us time to reflect on individuals, accomplishments, and moments in history. They often refresh our memories and can serve as motivators to do something. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which was established in 1925, just two years after the first sections of the Appalachian Trail opened. To discuss the trail, some of its...