Betsy Gaines Quammen is a historian and conservationist, and she’s also the author of the excellent book " American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, & Public Lands in the West ." Betsy has enjoyed a long career in the conservation world, working on issues ranging from grizzly bears in the West to fish in Mongolia to wildlife in East Africa. She also holds a doctorate in Environmental History from Montana State University, where her dissertation focused on the Mormon settlement of the West and public...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 8 min
Brian Yablonski is the Chief Executive Officer of the Property and Environment Research Center (“PERC"), a Bozeman-based research institute dedicated to promoting conservation by exploring how voluntary trade can produce positive environmental outcomes. For more than 40 years, PERC has explored market-based solutions for major conservation challenges throughout the West, and its current initiatives focus on innovative approaches for wildlife conservation, public lands management, and more. For e...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Dylan Tomine is a conservationist, angler, and author of the excellent new book “Headwaters: The Adventures, Obsession and Evolution of a Fly Fisherman.” “Headwaters” is a collection of essays and stories from Dylan’s life as a self-proclaimed fly fishing bum, a life that has taken him from his home in the northwest to the far reaches of the globe and back again. You don’t have to be a hardcore angler to connect with this book– it’s an important read for anyone who loves wild places and feels dr...
Apr 12, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Liz Moore is the Executive Director of the Montana Nonprofit Association, an organization whose mission is to “provide leadership for Montana’s nonprofit sector and partner with charitable nonprofits to promote a sustainable, networked, and influential sector.” Founded in 2001, the MNA provides capacity, resources, and networking opportunities that allow Montana’s diverse and numerous nonprofit organizations to increase their effectiveness and better serve the communities and citizens of Montana...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr
Kate Mannix is a rancher who works alongside her family on the Mannix Ranch in Montana’s Blackfoot Valley. The Mannix family has been ranching and stewarding their family ranch since 1882, back when Timothy Benjamin Mannix purchased the land from the Northern Pacific Railroad. For generations, the Mannix family has served as loyal caretakers of this spectacular landscape, and, over the years, they have evolved their business and land management approaches so as to continuously improve the ranch’...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Alvin Dedeaux is a renowned Austin-based fly fishing guide who is one of the Lone Star State’s most sought-after experts in the pursuit of everything from Guadelupe Bass in Central Texas to Redfish on the Texas coast. Alvin is an ambassador for well-known brands such as Howler Brothers and Yeti, and he’s twice been a finalist for Orvis’s Guide of the Year award. And on top of all of that, Alvin produces informative and entertaining videos on his popular Youtube channel, where anglers of all expe...
Mar 24, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Riddy Arman is a singer-songwriter who lives in Montana's Mission Valley, a rural agricultural community in the state's northwestern corner. Riddy's self-titled debut album was released in 2021 and has received praise from renowned institutions such as Rolling Stone, as well as from many highly respected fellow musicians, including Colter Wall. Riddy and her music are highly influenced by the wide-open spaces of Montana, and she brings a deep level of authenticity and emotion to all aspects of h...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 8 min
Yemi Mobolade is an entrepreneur, public servant, and community leader who devotes his seemingly limitless energy toward the betterment of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Born and raised in Nigeria, Yemi immigrated to the United States for college and eventually landed in Colorado Springs, where he has fully devoted himself to serving the community. He’s a co-founder and partner in two wildly successful restaurants, he’s served in various capacities within the city’s government and economic developm...
Feb 17, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Chris Burkard is a prolific photographer, filmmaker, and author who is known for diving headfirst into epic adventures, documenting them with his camera, and producing one-of-kind stories that resonate deeply with millions of people around the world. He’s bikepacked across Iceland in winter, scouted cold-water surf breaks in British Columbia, and explored some of the lesser-known corners of the American West—just to name a few. In all his work, Chris combines his abundant positive energy with cu...
Feb 04, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Longtime Mountain & Prairie listeners will remember Adam Gall– he’s a Colorado-based hunting guide who, along with his wife Ana, owns Timber to Table Guide Service. Adam is a highly regarded expert in the pursuit of elk and mule deer, and he offers a variety of outfitting services ranging from public land hunts for experienced hunters to private land hunts for beginners. In my first episode with Adam, we discussed his career path to guiding, which included stints as a wolf biologist and scie...
Jan 13, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Elliott Woods is a Montana-based veteran and multimedia journalist who has reported for publications including Outside, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many more. His most recent project is a podcast called THIRD SQUAD, which tells the powerful story of "one journalist, 12 Marines and two decades of war." Back in 2011, Elliott was an embedded journalist with a group of Marines who were positioned deep in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous regions. Nearly a decade later, Elliott...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Heather Hansman is a Seattle-based writer and editor, as well as the author of the excellent new book "Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Chasing Snow." Longtime listeners will remember Heather's first appearance on the podcast, when we discussed her book "Downriver," one of my favorite books about the complicated subject of water in the West. Heather has an uncanny ability to distill complex, sometimes-messy topics into fun-to-read narratives that are equally educational and en...
Nov 12, 2021•1 hr
Matt Pierson is a fifth-generation Montana rancher who owns and operates Highland Livestock Company alongside his wife and two sons. He’s also the founder and President of the Producer Partnership, a newly formed non-profit organization that brings together farmers and ranchers with the goal of ending hunger in Montana. Since its start in spring of 2020, the Producer Partnership has given away tens of thousands of pounds of beef to Montana food banks and is creating replicable, scalable solution...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Ryan Busse is a Montana-based conservationist, public lands advocate, and former top-performing firearms executive. He's also the author of the new book "Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America," which has received advanced praise from everyone from Publishers Weekly to Senator Jon Tester. Ryan is a life-long hunter and angler, as well as a proud gun owner, and he brings a unique, nuanced perspective to our country's ongoing debate about guns and the Second Amendment. "...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Lesli Allison and Tuda Libby Crews join me to discuss the critical role of private and working lands in achieving durable conservation outcomes in the United States. Lesli is a founding member and the Executive Director of the Western Landowners Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advances policies and practices that sustain working lands, connected landscapes, and native species. Tuda is a rancher and owner of Ute Creek Cattle Company, a conservation-focused ranching operation in northeaste...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 4 min
Hampton Sides is a historian and New York Times bestselling author who is best known for his engaging works of narrative nonfiction, including the books “Blood and Thunder,” “Ghost Soldiers,” “On Desperate Ground,” and more. His latest project is an ebook and audiobook titled “THE EXOTIC: Intrigue and Cultural Ruin in the Age of Imperialism,” which details the life and unbelievable adventures of a man named Mai, who was the first Polynesian to set foot on British soil. “The Exotic” is much short...
Sep 17, 2021•55 min
Luke Smithwick is a professional alpinist, ski mountaineer, and mountain guide best known for his cutting-edge climbs and descents in the world’s wildest mountain ranges. Luke is based in Victor, Idaho, in the shadow of the legendary Teton Range, but he spends large portions of each year deep in the Himalayas, guiding clients on remote peaks or pursuing personal climbing and skiing objectives on 7-8,000-meter peaks. He is currently hard at work on a multi-year skiing project called The Himalaya ...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr
Shane Doyle is a Montana-based scholar, teacher, and community advocate whose work focuses on the history and heritage of Native American tribes of the Northern Great Plains. Shane is an enrolled member of the Apsáalooke Nation (also known as the Crow Tribe), and he holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Montana State University. His unique personal and professional experiences, combined with his deep curiosity and seemingly endless energy, have made Shane a well-known leader in ma...
Sep 01, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Antonia Malchik is a Montana-based writer and essayist, and she’s also the author of the book “A Walking Life: Reclaiming Our Health and Freedom One Step at a Time.” She has written for publications including The Atlantic and High Country News, she also writes a regular Substack newsletter titled “On the Commons,” which I highly recommend. Antonia thinks deeply about a wide range of topics, including community, conservation, the environment, private property, the West, books, and more. She has a...
Aug 19, 2021•1 hr 26 min
Nickolas Butler is an award-winning writer and novelist who has published five books, one of which is the wildly popular, award-winning "Shotgun Love Songs." His most recent novel is titled "Godspeed"-- a fast-paced, thriller of a book that is set in and around Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While the novel has all of the components that make for a great story-- action, suspense, wild landscapes, complex characters-- it also touches on many of the challenges facing the modern-day West, including income ...
Aug 06, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Nicole Morgenthau is a Utah-based professional photographer whose work depicts the people and places of the American West in a completely unique, one-of-a-kind style. While she has been involved in many aspects of the photography business throughout her career, Nicole may be best known for her portraits of a wide range of western characters-- from cowgirls to mountain men, from professional athletes to mountain-town ski bums. And her creative pursuits don’t stop with photography-- Nicole is also...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Adam Gall is a hunting guide and owner of Timber to Table Guide Service, a guiding company focused on helping hunters of all skill levels put wild, healthy, and delicious meat on their tables. Based out of the small town of Hotchkiss on Colorado’s Western Slope, Timber to Table offers multi-day hunts on both public and private lands, offering top-notch instruction on everything from the intricacies of elk hunting to the technical skills needed to properly and efficiently process the meat. Adam i...
Jun 30, 2021•1 hr 6 min
John Branch is a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist with the New York Times and the author of the brand new book "Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports." He is also the author of "The Last Cowboys: A Pioneer Family in the New West," which is one of my favorite books about the modern-day challenges facing ranching families in the American West. Whether he’s reporting on the historic ascent of the Dawn Wall on Yosemite’s El Capitan, reconstructing a deadly avalanche in ...
Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Matt Barber and Joel Doub are the owners of Tom Morgan Rodsmiths, one of the West’s most renowned custom fly rod companies. I was introduced to Matt and Joel nearly three and half years ago and was quickly fascinated by their entrepreneurial journey and Tom Morgan Rodsmiths’ storied history in the fly fishing world. As longtime listeners may remember, I recorded a podcast with Matt and Joel in January of 2018, about a year after they had purchased the company from Tom and Gerri Morgan. In that c...
May 28, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Max Wenerstrom is a blacksmith and craftsman best known for creating hand-forged knives that balance a beautiful aesthetic with practical durability. Max started blacksmithing at the age of 15, became obsessed with the craft, and quickly demonstrated an elite talent for creating one-of-a-kind knives. His passion led him to study under a 17th-generation Japanese bladesmith, who began teaching Max the art of forging knives in the Japanese tradition-- a labor-intensive, time-honored method of creat...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Dr. David Hewitt is the Executive Director of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, an organization widely recognized as the leading wildlife research organization in Texas. The Institute is located on the campus of Texas A&M - Kingsville, and its mission is to provide science-based information for enhancing the conservation and management of Texas wildlife. Dave and his team at the Institute are focused on applied science-- research that is useful, actionable, and tightly focused ...
May 04, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Marci McLean and Cora Neumann are joining me for another episode of my ongoing series called New West Dispatches. In each New West Dispatch, I break from the normal Mountain & Prairie format of discussing a guest’s personal experiences, influences, and life story, and instead we spend the hour diving deep into a specific, timely issue that is creating challenges in the American West. The goal of these episodes is to offer a clear-eyed examination of a pressing issue, then to highlight the pe...
Apr 13, 2021•55 min
Brendan Leonard is a prolific writer and artist who is best known as the creator of Semi-Rad.com. He’s also the author of a brand new book titled “I Hate Running and You Can Too: How to Get Started, Keep Going, and Make Sense of an Irrational Passion.” The book offers motivation and witty insights into the sometimes-crazy pastime of running. And Brendan knows a thing or two about running irrational distances-- he’s completed multiple 100-mile ultramarathons, ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks, directe...
Mar 26, 2021•1 hr 11 min
Mitsu Iwasaki is the CEO of the American Alpine Club (AAC), a historic and storied organization whose mission is to "share and support our passion for climbing and respect for the places we climb." Founded in 1902, the AAC began as a social club for east coast elites who shared a passion for climbing, adventure, and conservation. But over the past 119 years, the AAC has evolved into an open and equitable organization, which provides "knowledge and inspiration, conservation and advocacy, and logi...
Mar 17, 2021•57 min
Jason Gardner is a father, homesteader, leadership instructor, and regenerative agriculture devotee who lives with his family on a remote property in the mountains of northeastern Washington State. Jason is also a retired Navy SEAL Master Chief who spent nearly thirty years in the SEAL teams and is a recipient of the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, and numerous other awards. As you’ll hear in our conversation, Jason applies the lessons learned from his years of service toward buil...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 9 min
