Celebrating National Parks Podcast - Apple Podcast

2023/06/28

Yosemite National Park

California’s Sierra Nevada is home to a very special kind of tree, found nowhere else on Earth: the giant sequoia. For thousands of years, these towering trees withstood the trials of the world around them, including wildfire. Low-intensity fires frequently swept through groves of sequoias, leaving their cinnamon-red bark scarred but strengthened, and opening their cones to allow new seeds to take root. But in the era of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, these ancient trees are now in jeopardy. And Yosemite National Park is on the front lines of the fight to protect them. In the first episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham takes listeners inside this fabled landscape — from the hush of the Mariposa Grove to the rush of the Merced River — to explore one of America’s oldest and most-visited national parks. We’ll hear from Yosemite forest ecologist Garrett Dickman on the extreme measures he’s taken to protect iconic trees; from members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk working to restore Native fire practices to the park; and from Yosemite superintendent Cicely Muldoon about the tough choices it takes to manage a place like this. We’ll also examine the complicated legacies that conservationist John Muir, President Abraham Lincoln and President Theodore Roosevelt left on this land. The giant trees of Yosemite kick-started the whole idea of public land preservation in America. Join us as we visit the place where the idea of the national parks began — and ask what the next chapter might look like. You can see incredible photos of Yosemite and find more on the national parks here. Subscribe to The Washington Post with a special deal for podcast listeners. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.
2025/01/07

Glacier Bay National Park: Life after ice - the birth of a river

Melting ice is usually bad news, but this place in Alaska has turned from frozen to flourishing in just 200 years. Nestled in southeast Alaska, the stunning and famous Glacier Bay National Park is often called a “living laboratory.” Scientists from all over the world come here to study ecological succession: the step-by-step return of plants, insects, forests and animals. It’s a unique place to do that because just a couple hundred years ago, this whole landscape was covered in ice. But then, the ice started melting, uncovering a clean slate for nature to show us how she creates a flourishing ecosystem. On this episode of THE WILD, Chris time travels through Glacier Bay National Park to discover how fast biodiversity can build when nature is left alone, in the surprising spectacle of life after ice. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife or donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. For some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks, check out our Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek, written by Christopher Preston and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2025/06/02

National Parks Week: Take a Walk, Find A New Species

In March of 2024, a park ranger and volunteer were taking their regular walk together around Big Bend National Park. They came across a teeny tiny fuzzy little plant with unusual ribbon-like flowers bursting out of the center – something neither of them had ever seen before. As it turned out, they had stumbled on a rare scientific discovery. Learn more about the woolly devil, and check out iNaturalist. For more unusual stories, lists, and offbeat itineraries, check out the Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to the National Parks. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
2025/05/30

Return to the Bat Cave

Over a decade ago, an explorer conducting surveys at Grand Canyon National Park noticed what appeared to be an opening in a red rock cliff face high above him in the park’s remote backcountry. His team discovered a cave that appeared, by all accounts, to have been completely untouched by people. Researchers found a series of passageways with gypsum formations and a variety of wildlife, including thousands and thousands of mummified bats. In episode 4 of the podcast, we talked with several experts about this remarkable cave and its ancient remains. Since then, researchers have returned and ventured into a second cave, even more difficult to explore than the first, and made more exciting discoveries. This episode, host Jennifer Errick speaks Carol Chambers, professor of wildlife ecology at Northern Arizona University; Shawn Thomas, volunteer caver and bat expert; and Stephen Eginoire, photojournalist. We learn about the implications for science, the extreme lengths the team takes to preserve the cave, and profound feeling of being the first person to set foot in an unmapped place. The Secret Lives of Parks is a production of the National Parks Conservation Association. Episode 43, Return to the Bat Cave, was produced by Jennifer Errick, with help from Todd Christopher, Bev Stanton and Linda Coutant. Special thanks to Vincent Santucci. Original theme music by Chad Fischer. Read the Grand Canyon research team’s most recent paper at: parks.berkeley.edu/psf/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/psf_401_chambers_web.pdf Read Stephen Eginoire’s story for the Grand Canyon Trust at: www.grandcanyontrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/AdvocateMagFall2024Digital.pdf Learn more about this podcast and listen to the rest of our stories at thesecretlivesofparks.org For more than a century, the National Parks Conservation Association has been protecting and enhancing America’s national parks for present and future generations. And we’re proud of it, too. You can join the fight to preserve our national parks. Learn more and join us at npca.org
2024/12/17

Past, Present, and Future | Ferrying Frogs and Measuring Mice

During warm, wet nights in early spring, thousands of amphibians shake off their winter grogginess and take to the roads. Hardy small mammals scamper along the forest floor and make extensive homes within the cracks of Acadia’s mountains. Some of the park’s smallest creatures, that play outsized roles in nature’s food web, are also some of its most mysterious. Learn about two survey projects asking what it’s like to take the pulse of Acadia National Park on Season 3 Episode 3 of Sea to Trees.
2025/01/28

Yellowstone National Park: Celebrity bears, and a tale of two trout

You can’t come to Yellowstone without thinking about the grizzly bear. This thriving ancient ecosystem is like a sacred space for them. And a critical source for food which they are constantly in search of in order to get the needed calories that will sustain them through their long winter sleep. But what many grizzly bear lovers might not think about are the fish at the heart of the bear feeding frenzy. Yellowstone has the largest high elevation lake in North America, and under the surface, a fight is going on between the native cutthroat trout and the invasive lake trout. And for a long time the invasive lake trout have been winning the battle, throwing the whole lake’s food chain into disarray. On today’s episode, Chris visits Yellowstone to see how scientists are turning an ecological disaster into a rare invasive species success story, and how the beloved Yellowstone grizzlies are faring amongst this drama. We’d love to hear what you think of THE WILD. Which shows did you like the best? What would you like to hear more of? If you have a moment please fill out this quick survey. Your feedback will help us plan for future episodes. Thanks! You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by joining THE WILD Patreon community at www.patreon.com/chrismorganwildlife or donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you. For some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks, check out our Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife. THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek, written by Christopher Preston and edited by Jim Gates. THE WILD is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/c/ChrisMorganWildlife See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2023/07/05

Everglades National Park

Many people mistake the landscape of Everglades National Park for a swamp, full of mosquitos and razor-sharp sawgrass. Technically it’s a wetland, home to a stunning array of wildlife and beloved by visitors and conservationists alike. But that view of the Everglades as a treacherous and hostile place informed more than a century of efforts to tame and transform the landscape in ways that are still playing out today. In this episode of “Field Trip,” Washington Post reporter Lillian Cunningham tells the story of how the water flow through South Florida was radically altered to make the region more habitable for people. Then, how that unintentionally disrupted one of the country’s most important ecosystems. And finally, why we’re racing to unravel those mistakes today. We’ll meet Jerry Lorenz, an Audubon Society scientist who’s spent more than three decades trying to protect his beloved roseate spoonbills and other species of birds. We’ll journey by fan boat across the marshes with Houston Cypress, a member of the Otter Clan in the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and an advocate for Everglades restoration, and Durante Blais-Billie, an environmental and Indigenous rights advocate from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. We’ll learn about the legacy of environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas and how groups like the National Parks Conservation Association and the Captains for Clean Water are following in her footsteps today. And we’ll hear from Eva Velez of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about what went wrong originally and what it now means to approach engineering “with nature.” We have incredible photos for this series. You can see them and find more on the National Parks here. “Field Trip” would not have been possible without the support of Washington Post subscribers. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can unlock a special deal as a listener to this series. Your first four weeks are free when you sign up here.
2023/03/15

Dark Night Skies

In this episode of Where Two Deserts Meet, we chat with Physical Science Technicians Stacey Manson & Megan Richie. Together, we examine what makes the night sky so special, what we can do to better protect it for future generations, and how to best take it in while visiting Joshua Tree National Park.