 Editor-in-Chief Kurt Repanshek and Contributing Editor Kim O'Connell discuss news from around the National Park System, from black bear incidents along the Blue Ridge Parkway to a Yellowstone visitor being sentenced to jail for getting too close to a grizzly bear sow and her cubs.  

National Parks Traveler Podcast

National Parks Traveler: News From Around The National Parks

Why visit Cumberland Gap National Historical Park? The gap was the portal to the heart of the country, as Daniel Boone discovered in the 1700s. And it's the one unit of the National Park System where you can take turns standing in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Lynn Riddick gives you a brief preview of the historical park with this audio postcard.

National Parks Traveler Postcard From The Parks: Cumberland Gap

We’re in the middle of a world-wide extinction crisis. Here in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just announced that nearly two dozen species, from the Ivory-billed woodpecker to two freshwater fish species, are extinct. How are wildlife in the parks doing? To explore that and other questions surrounding wildlife, we’re joined by Dr. Joel Berger, a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society as well as the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair in Wildlife Conservation at Colorado State University.

National Parks Traveler: Wildlife Extinctions, Recoveries, And Future

Key to the survival of many threatened and endangered species is the designation of wildlife corridors. The Traveler’s Lynn Riddick talks to Tori Linder of the Path of the Panther Project about efforts to formalize the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a large and growing mosaic of protected forests and timberlands, swamps, pastures, and orchards that provide the green spaces that animals need to thrive.

National Parks Traveler: Why Florida Needs A Wildlife Corridor

Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado year-in and year-out is one of the most popular units of the National Park System. Its rugged peaks attract climbers, its heavily forested backcountry lures hikers and backpackers, and its wildlife attracts photographers and visitors hoping to glimpse elk, or catch their unique bugling, or spot bighorn sheep. As popular as Rocky Mountain National Park is, it's not too surprising that the heavy visitation brings problems to the park. And in 2020, those problems were exasperated by the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak wildfires. To discuss those issues, and other issues in the park, we've invited Rocky Mountain Superintendent Darla Sidles to join us.

National Parks Traveler: Solving Congestion At Rocky Mountain National Park

NPT Ep 136 Spot List - Run Time - 48:00 :02 National Parks Traveler introduction :12 Episode introduction with Kurt Repanshek 1:05 Parks Book Reviews 23:14 The Offering - Bill Mize - The Sounds of the Great Smoky Mountains 23:33 WNPA 23:54 Yosemite Conservancy 24:17 Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation 24:38 Potrero Group 25:06 North Cascades Institute 25:24 Nova Scotia 25:56 Parks Book Reviews Continue 43:22 Bass Harbor - Nature’s Symphony - The Sounds of Acadia 44:07 Episode Closing 44:50 Washington’s National Park Fund 45:26 Interior Federal Credit Union 46:00 Friends of Acadia 46:27 Grand Teton National Park Foundation 46:59 Orange Tree Productions 47:32 Splitbeard Productions 47:42 National Parks Traveler footer

National Parks Traveler: What's In Your National Park Library

Have you ever visited the "other" side of Yellowstone? Left the Old Faithful and Steamboat geysers behind, fled the conga lines of vehicles mired in bison and bear jams in the Hayden and Lamar valleys, the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds on the boardwalks ... and opted, instead, for the wild side, where you and nature can become one...if you are willing? For a few minutes Kurt Repanshek takes you to Yellowstone's other side with a kayak trip on Yellowstone Lake.

National Parks Traveler's Postcard From The Parks: Yellowstone's Other Side

The National Park System contains more than parks that preserve incredible landscapes or moments in history. There are many units that honor an individual. Today National Parks Traveler takes a look at a national monument in southwest Missouri dedicated to George Washington Carver.  Born to an enslaved young woman, Carver dedicated his life to agricultural research and science.  His work helped struggling farmers in the south better their lives through better farming practices. The Traveler’s Lynn Riddick talks to Ranger Curtis Gregory about this unique site in the park system, and the inspirational legacy of the 20th century’s most renowned Black scientist.

National Parks Traveler: George Washington Carver National Monument

Acadia National Park in Maine is a tourist magnet, a problem for those seeking a little solitude with the scenery at the park. Traveler Contributing Editor Kim O'Connell found that out first-hand during her family's visit there this summer, but did manage to find some quiet areas.

National Parks Traveler's Postcard From The Parks: Acadia

Climate change is readily apparent this year, generating surprising heat waves in the Pacific Northwest, scores of wildfires across the West, and an ongoing series of tropical storms and hurricanes spinning out of the Atlantic and barreling into the East and Gulf coasts of the United States. The effects of climate change aren’t absent from Yosemite National Park. To discuss some of those impacts, we reached out to Frank Dean, president and CEO of the Yosemite Conservancy, and Cory Goehring, the conservancy’s lead naturalist. We also discuss a range of Conservancy projects in Yosemite.

National Parks Traveler: A Conversation With The Yosemite Conservancy

Across the National Park System some 2 million acres have been invaded by non-native vegetation. At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah, crews physically cut down Russian olive trees and use Roundup to prevent regrowth of this invader.

Audio Postcard From The Parks | Vegetative Invaders

2020 saw the largest fires on record burn in Rocky Mountain National Park, and this year Lassen Volcanic National Park has endured the flames of the Dixie Fire. To gain a better understanding of the wildfire situation in the West, and how climate change is affecting wildfires, we’re joined by Robin Wills, the National Park Service’s chief of fire and aviation for the Pacific West Region.

National Parks Traveler: Wildfire In The National Park System

A lot is happening around the National Park System, from the nomination of a permanent director for the National Park Service and higher user fees in the parks to wildfires and ongoing crowds in some corners of the park system. National Parks Traveler's Kurt Repanshek, Kim O'Connell, and Lynn Riddick discuss those and other issues from around the park system.

National Parks Traveler: News From Across The National Park System

The ongoing drought in the West has underscored how precious water is in that arid landscape. Photographer Colleen Miniuk explores the dilemma along the rivers that feed the Colorado watershed in a new book that is both a celebration and warning about water in the West.

National Parks Traveler: The Water-Starved West

How is the restoration of “the river of grass,” the Everglades, coming along? Eric Eikenberg, president of The Everglades Foundation, discusses that topic on National Parks Traveler’s podcast.

National Parks Traveler: Restoring The River Of Grass

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.

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National Parks Traveler Podcast

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