National Parks Traveler Podcast

Kurt Repanshek
  • 4.6 (105)
  • PLACES & TRAVEL
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
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.

  1. National Parks Traveler Podcast | The Elephant Seals of Point Reyes

    6 DAYS AGO

    National Parks Traveler Podcast | The Elephant Seals of Point Reyes

    Elephant seals are not your small, cuddly marine mammals. They are behemoths. Males, known as bulls, can reach 5,000 pounds, while females, known as cows, routinely clock in at around 1,000 pounds or so.   If you’re a wildlife watcher, now is the time to check elephant seals off your life list. Between December and March, they come en masse to Point Reyes National Seashore in California to give birth and mate again. But they don’t come ashore to simply laze about and soak up the sun when it’s shining. Males are building their harems much like bull elk do, and that can sometimes lead to fights between these ponderous animals.   To learn more about elephant seals, how they spend their days, and where you can see them at Point Reyes, we’re joined today by Sarah Codde, a marine ecologist at the national seashore.

    46 min
  2. National Parks Traveler Podcast | Into the Thaw

    DEC 8

    National Parks Traveler Podcast | Into the Thaw

    Most, if not all of us, have bucket lists. Places we want to visit…but don’t always get the opportunity.   This is Kurt Repanshek, your host at the National Parks Traveler. One of the destinations on my bucket list is Gates of Arctic National Park and Preserve and the Noatak River that runs through it. A week or two floating the river sounds pretty ideal to me.   While it’s debatable whether I’ll cross that off my bucket list remains to be seen, today’s guest has floated the river more than once and backpacked all over Gates of the Arctic. And Jon Waterman returned from those trips with incredible stories of the places he saw, the people he met, and the wildlife that came in range of his eyes.   But over the course of several decades Jon also has witnessed the impact of climate change to the region, and it hasn’t been good. It’s the main thread of a story he lays out in his latest book, Into the Thaw.

    42 min
  3. National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 303 | Change Happens

    DEC 1

    National Parks Traveler Podcast Episode 303 | Change Happens

    Change happens…and sometimes it doesn’t.   Change certainly is underway in Washington, where the incoming Trump administration is putting its players in position with promises of changing, or maybe upsetting, the status quo.    Against that, the National Park Service continues to face long-standing problems with not enough staff or funding, compounded by National Park System damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, sea level rise, wildfires, just about everything under the sun.   We’re going to explore those topics today with Phil Francis from the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and John Garder and Chad Lord from the National Parks Conservation Association.

    1 hr
  4. National Parks Traveler Podcast | Omnibus Lands Bill

    NOV 24

    National Parks Traveler Podcast | Omnibus Lands Bill

    As the calendar runs down on the current session of Congress, there are a number of pieces of legislation that would involve or possibly impact the National Park System if they find their way into an omnibus lands bill that gains passage before the session adjourns.   While we haven’t seen exactly what might find their way into an omnibus lands bill, among the candidates are legislation that would turn Chiricahua National Monument into a national park, one that would create a “designated operating partner” to oversee the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and another that calls for a Benton MacKaye National Scenic Trail feasibility study.   There’s also pending legislation that would approve expansion of Big Bend National Park by about 6000 acres, one that would transform Apostle Islands National Lakeshore into Apostle Islands National Park and Preserve,  and one that, if passed, would forbid any official wilderness designation to be bestowed on Big Cpress National Preserve.   We’re going to take a look at the Big Bend, Apostle Islands, and Big Cypress measures today with Bob Krumenaker, who, during his 40+ years with the National Park Service, was superintendent of both Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Big Bend National Park and served a stint as acting superintendent of Everglades National Park, which adjoins Big Cypress National Preserve.

    48 min
  5. National Parks Traveler Podcast | Red-Cockaded Woodpecker--A Decision Too Soon?

    NOV 17

    National Parks Traveler Podcast | Red-Cockaded Woodpecker--A Decision Too Soon?

    The vulnerable red-cockaded woodpecker is known to be found in national park units throughout the southeast.  Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park in Florida, Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee are just a few of the parks that either are, or once were, home to the woodpecker. Recently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved to downlist the red-cockaded woodpecker from being an endangered species to being threatened. While that normally would be welcome news, the decision has been criticized as being premature and ignorant of climate-change threats to the species.   This week the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick discusses this decision with the southeast program director of Defenders of Wildlife…and the thinking behind that organization’s belief that this decision comes at a questionable time.

    42 min
  6. National Parks Traveler Podcast | Wildlife at Play

    NOV 10

    National Parks Traveler Podcast | Wildlife at Play

    Humans like to play, right? We play cards, we play baseball and basketball, we go fishing or take a hike into the mountains. It’s our play time, time to recharge, refocus, relax.   Did you know animals like to play, too? And many times, our playgrounds infringe on wildlife habitat. But how does that affect their behavior? Does it affect their behavior? Today’s guest, Dr. Joel Berger, a wildlife biologist based at Colorado State University but who considers the world’s wild places as his playground, joins us today to talk about our human recreation and the impacts it has on wildlife.

    44 min
  7. National Parks Traveler Podcast | Essential Coverage

    NOV 3

    National Parks Traveler Podcast | Essential Coverage

    Whether this is your first listen of our weekly podcast or number 299, welcome and thank you for listening. We hope you find these episodes interesting and present information or a side to the parks that you previously didn’t know about. Frankly, that’s the approach that we try to take at the Traveler. Not only to provide newsworthy information, such as National Park Service funding for hurricane impacts, but also to highlight aspects of the National Park System that you may not have been aware of. For example, take Jennifer Bain’s story from Oregon Cave National Monument and Preserve, and its collection of purely American Monterey furniture, or Barbara Jensen’s article from Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the Ohio and Eerie Canal Towpath there. Or Sharon McDonald’s piece on the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site in California.  Today, we’re joined by contributors Kim O’Connell and Lynn Riddick to talk about the unusual, and at times eclectic content that you’ll find on the Traveler.

    47 min
  8. National Parks Traveler Podcast | 4 Women, 4 Kidneys, 444 Miles, 4 Days

    OCT 27

    National Parks Traveler Podcast | 4 Women, 4 Kidneys, 444 Miles, 4 Days

    The Natchez Trace Parkway is a scenic byway that rolls 440 miles through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. A unit of the National Park Service,  the trace winds its way through lush landscapes, diverse ecosystems and interesting historical sites.    Originally the trace was a foot path for Native Americans and later used by early pioneers and traders. Today it’s popular for motorists, cyclists and others seeking adventure, tranquility and a peek into America’s past.     Most recently, it was the chosen location for a remarkable initiative by four women interested in promoting living kidney donations. All living kidney donors themselves, these women tackled the parkway’s entire 444 miles, beginning in Nashville, Tennessee, and finishing in Natchez, Mississippi….and did it in only four days.     This week the Traveler’s Lynn Riddick visits with these donor athletes to learn about their journey that they call ”4Women 4Kidneys 444Miles 4Days” and also to get a sense of what the Natchez Trace Parkway can offer to everyone.

    49 min
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4.6
out of 5
105 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Kurt Repanshek
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2024
  • Episodes
    320
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2005-2022 - National Parks Traveler
  • Show Website
    National Parks Traveler Podcast

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