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National Parks Traveler Podcast

National Parks Travelerwww.nationalparkstraveler.com
The podcast companion to the website, the National Parks Traveler covers commentary, news, and life in America's Parks.
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Episodes

NPTP 28 : Restoring Hetch Hetchy?

National Parks Traveler Editor Kurt Repanshek interviews Mike Marshall and Robert Hanna of Restore Hetch Hetchy.

Jun 27, 201115 min

NPT 16 : Winter in Yellowstone National Park

Nearly every conversation that includes the words "Yellowstone" and "winter" also includes the words "snowmobiles." Well, for a change, I'd like to present this short 3 minute journey into the snowy winter season in Yellowstone National Park, that includes no snowmobiles! (You would have heard them had I left the audio unedited, but at least you want see any in this short movie.) Buffalo still roam, rivers still flow, but the entire place in winter is surrounded in mist and snow, which totally c...

Dec 20, 20073 min

NPT 15 : Fran Mainella Speaks About Snowmobiles and Science

SOUND: Snowmobiles in [url=http://www.nps.gov/yell]Yellowstone National Park[/url]. KURT: At a time when politics in Washington truly are a “contact sport,” we shouldn’t be too surprised when we learn that science has been trumped when it comes to decisions affecting the national park system. Should we be disappointed? Of course. But surprised? Unfortunately not. These past seven years there long have been suspicions that politics shaped the National Park Service’s position on snowmobiling in Ye...

Nov 30, 20075 min

NPT 14 : Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

A 3 minute video postcard from a recent visit to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas. I had the privilege of visiting this unit of the parks recently. Park interpreters led a tour of the historic house and barn, followed later by a bus tour of the prairie. I happened to be on the very last bus tour of the season, the next one won't be until April. The park itself is pretty remote. I was traveling through Wichita and decided to take the side trip. The park is approximately 90 miles ...

Nov 19, 20073 min

NPT 13 : Olympic National Park; Lake Quinault

Take a few minutes out of your day and enjoy a 5 minute video tour of the Lake Quinault region of Olympic National Park. We start with a look at the historic Lake Quinault Lodge. Manager Dave Huber gives us a look around and describes some of the more interesting aspects of the lodge's past. Next, we catch up with Roger Blain, a former ranger with the Park Service, he now provides interpretive tours of the area with the lodge. Roger leads us through the Maple Glade trail, a short nature loop nea...

Oct 24, 20075 min

NPT 12 : Port Chicago Naval Magazine as Park

Eugene Sayles survived the terrible explosion at Port Chicago on the night of July 17, 1944, but many of his colleagues did not. Located near San Francisco California, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine was a place where ordinance was transferred from rail cars to ships during World War II for operations in the Pacific. A small fire led first to a small explosion then 6 seconds later, a massive explosion that was felt up to 500 miles away. The explosion was the largest U.S. home front disaster duri...

Oct 02, 20076 min

NPT 11 : Soundscape : Bandelier's Frijoles Creek

Take a minute to relax next to the cascading waters of Frijoles Creek in Bandelier National Monument. This short recording was made under the shade of the trees along the picnic road next to the creek. You'll be able to hear some birds chirping along, as well as a child's call about half-way through. And while it is anything but quiet, I think this is the type of natural soundscape that draws people out of the cities in search of the "peace and quiet" found in our national parks. This podcast wa...

Sep 07, 20072 min

NPT 10 : Voices from the Hill : Secretary Kempthorne on Centennial

Secretary Kempthorne: "this is a giant leap for the National Park Service" You can hear it in his voice, can't you? Dirk Kempthorne is excited. The Secretary of the Interior announced today a list of 201 projects that are eligible for funding in the first year of the Centennial Initiative. The program could add as much as $2 Billion in new programs and projects for the parks, and $1 Billion for park operations over 10 years. In his remarks that follow, you can hear Mr. Kempthorne crow a little b...

Aug 24, 200711 min

NPT 9 : A Park Remark : Nancy Bandley and Park Passport Stamps

At the new National Parks Traveler, Kurt Repanshek and I have as a goal to provide original multimedia content about our parks. It's an advantage of the web that we can bring you audio and video programs from time to time. As part of an ongoing series, we'll provide interviews with folks who have special insight on the parks. Today I have a conversation with Nancy Bandley. Nancy has accomplished something very few others have done, she has visited every single unit of the National Park Service, ...

Aug 14, 200718 min

Audio From the Hill : Mary Bomar

Nearly one year ago, on the 90th anniversary of the National Park Service that Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, while visiting Yellowstone National Park, introduced a program which would bring upwards of $3 Billion dollars in new funds for our parks. The ambitious program, called the Centennial Challenge, is geared to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Park Service in 2016. Over the last year, the National Park Service has conducted listening sessions around the country, and ta...

Aug 03, 20079 min

Olympic National Park, Sol Duc Valley

Sol Duc Valley is part 1 of a three part series about the West Side lowlands of Olympic National Park. Take a drive up the valley and stop at the Salmon Cascades, Sol Duc Hot Springs, and Sol Duc Falls along the way.

Jul 17, 20074 min

Haunted Hikes in the National Parks

In this third edition of the Park Remark audiocast, I have a phone conversation with Andrea Lankford who is the author of the book Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America's National Parks. Andrea and I have some fun covering some of the scary stories in her book. We also take a few minutes to cover the larger scope of these stories as they relate to cultural resource protection within the National Park Service. Our program starts with a reading from one of the stories i...

Apr 26, 200712 min

NPCA Discusses Storm Damage and Listening Sessions

Last week I had a chance to sit down and have an interview with Sean Smith, the Northwest Regional Director of the National Parks and Conservation Association. Sean was a lot of fun to talk to, I found him to be very knowledgeable about many park issues. I've edited our conversation down to 11 minutes 30 seconds, but there was a lot of the interview I had to leave on the virtual cutting room floor. Perhaps down the road, I'll reassemble the extras and create another audiocast. Today's conversati...

Mar 22, 200712 min

Washington State Plan to Abolish the FLREA

I hope you find the topic for the first show interesting -- if you recreate on federal lands, including the National Parks, it's at least topic that your wallet is already familiar with: entrance fees. I had the opportunity to speak with Washington State Representative Maralyn Chase who has co-sponsored a House Memorial which asks that federal fees collected under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) be abolished in the State of Washington.

Mar 08, 200711 min

Devils Tower Time Lapse

This weekend Devils Tower celebrated its 100th anniversary as National Monument. It is significant, because it was the first federal land to be set aside as a monument by Teddy Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act. Based on the write-up in the Rapid City Journal, it sounds as if there was quite a bit of pomp and circumstance going on. The keynote speaker was Theodore Roosevelt IV. Special guests including the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks Craig Thomas (R., WY) and even a s...

Sep 26, 200638 sec

Interpreter Hasan Davis as York

I met a lot of folks along the trail who's dedication to the Lewis and Clark story inspired me. In August I introduced you to one of these guys, Craig Rockwell of the Army Corps of Engineers who portrays Captain Clark. Today, I would like to introduce you to a living history interpreter who I think is as talented as anyone I've ever met at his craft. This fellow is named Hasan Davis, he is an educator and makes his home in the St. Louis area but has traveled coast to coast telling the story of Y...

Sep 24, 200611 min

Interview with Lewis & Clark Interpreter

When I was at the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial event in Billings, MT recently, I brought along a portable audio recorder. I had the opportunity to chat with a fellow who has portrayed William Clark across the country at nearly all of the national Lewis & Clark events the last few years. The person's name is Craig "Rocky" Rockwell and he is an interpreter who works for the Army Corps of Engineers. Rocky's got a lot of good stories to share about his experience traveling the trail, and he ag...

Aug 10, 200624 min
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