18 episodes
Working Wild U Alexandra Few, Jared Beaver
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- Science
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4.9 • 81 Ratings
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Working Wild U is a new podcast that takes you out into the field, forest and range with the people and wildlife of the American West to tell you the big stories at the heart of the struggle to sustain resilient and connected landscapes and communities.
We bring you immersive stories at the crossroads of culture and science focused on the challenges and successes of sharing and managing farms and ranches with wildlife.
If you are passionate about open spaces, wild places and healthy communities that sustain people and wildlife, listen in.
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Wolves in the West | 01 | Defining the Problem
In the western United States, wolves represent many things to many people. To some, wolves are a symbol of wildness. To others, wolves represent a very real threat to their livelihoods and well-being. Join us as we explore how people’s values impact how they think about wolves. When it comes to wolves, can we find a shared vision for the future?
Complete show notes: workingwild.us -
Wolves in the West | 02 | How did we get here?
To understand how we got to where we are today, hosts Alex and Jared go to Albert Sommers’ operation and the Green River Drift, a cattle migration in Wyoming that’s been taking place for generations. We’ll learn about the land management policies that shaped predator eradication, public lands, and the West we know today.
Complete show notes at workingwild.us -
Wolves in the West | 03 | Whose blood, sweat and tears are in your hamburger?
96% of wolves in the Northern Rockies live in the working wild: public and private lands where people and wildlife share the landscape. But who pays the cost of supporting biodiversity on the landscape? To find out, we explore the economics of our food system and take a look at how one ranch family is getting creative in order to share the landscape with wolves and maintain open space.
Complete show notes: workingwild.us -
Wolves in the West | 04 | Return of the wolf: A landscape of fear
In 1995, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after decades of absence. It didn't take long for them to make their way to Julia Childs' ranch, located just north of the park. When wolves were reintroduced in the Northern Rockies, they were entering a complex social and political landscape that continues today.
In this episode, Alex and Jared explore the nuances of the wolf reintroduction and recovery, made possible by the Endangered Species Act. This landmark environmental law passed with bipartisan support in 1973. Join us as we untangle how the ESA became just as controversial as the wolves it would seek to protect, and what that means for the future of species recovery on the eve of its 50th anniversary.
Complete show notes: workingwild.us -
Wolves in the West | 05 | Wolves in town
Do wolves pose a threat to people? What is “normal” wolf behavior? What happens when wolves set up shop in your neighborhood? Join hosts Alex and Jared as they explore a collection of stories about wolves getting a little too close for comfort, and the difficult choices wildlife managers face when wolves come to town.
Complete Show Notes at workingwild.us -
Wolves in the West | 06 | Hunting and the North American model of wildlife conservation
It’s easy to see wolf management in two buckets: full protection under the Endangered Species Act or unregulated wolf hunting. But successful management of established wildlife populations is most often somewhere in the middle, with hunting used both as a tool and a conservation funding mechanism.
Join Alex and Jared as they explore hunting as a management tool and take a look at how the North American model of wildlife conservation allows species to fund their own conservation and management. Plus, they’ll take a look at how Wyoming’s unique approach to managing wolves has helped increase acceptance and reduce conflicts.
Full show notes are available on our website.
Customer Reviews
Working Wild U…Wolves in the West
The entire series presents a broad view of the situation and then focuses on the may important parts which then make up the whole…a complex whole with many interrelated parts. Each viewpoint is presented with real examples from the people and organizations involved so the listener gets the scoop on why people feel the way they do. At the end Alex and Jared show how consensus may provide the most viable path forward. The entire series is professionally assembled and presented (good use of technologies) and will help anyone sincerely interested on learning about the ‘whole’ of the situation and thinking of next steps.
Best podcast!!
This podcast is exceptionally well done, revealing the intertwined complexity and beauty that is the shared working landscapes of the American West. Really great scripts, sound quality, pacing, great history and notes. Thanks for putting out real and meaningful stories and voices of the American West to the world.
Great work
I’ll admit I began listening to this skeptical and concerned about the direction it would go (I’ve re-written my review 3 times now as the season progressed). What I didn’t realize at the beginning was the strategy behind why the episodes (and each’s content) are arranged the way they are - and now I gotta say it’s a 5 star for me. Particularly the time spent explaining societal wildlife values and how instrumental those are to helping you understand why we as people can seem to be on such different pages when it comes to the value of wolves. Really looking forward to how this series continues and very hopeful it will be successful at inspiring rural and urban populations in the west to do a better job of understanding one another, and hopefully helping one another.