Paige Lewis is the Deputy State Director and Director of Conservation Programs for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. In this role, she serves as the chapter’s chief conservation officer and is responsible for leading the development of innovative, large-scale, and entrepreneurial solutions to the challenges facing people and nature in Colorado and around the world. Paige brings a unique skill set that combines big-picture thinking with tangible, one-the-ground execution– her work involves crea...
Dec 26, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Jenna Pollard is a timber framer, a farmer, and an advocate for organic agriculture, but at her core, she is a teacher. The list of Jenna’s inspiring projects, causes, and interests is too extensive to summarize in a few sentences, but to give you an overview: She hosts workshops for women in which they learn the art of timber framing and build structures as a team from the ground up. She’s a team member with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (also known as WWOOF), where she helps to prov...
Dec 07, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Diana Lane is the Director of Sustainable Food and Water at the Colorado Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and Aaron Derwingson is the Water Projects Director for the Nature Conservancy’s Colorado River Program. Both Diana and Aaron work at the intersection of water sustainability, thriving rivers, resilient agriculture, and strong communities– harnessing TNC’s relationships and resources to advance some of the most cutting-edge and effective conservation initiatives in the American West. - Dia...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 4 min
John Vaillant is a renowned writer and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and more, and he’s also the author of classic books including "The Tiger" and "The Golden Spruce." His most recent book is " Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World ," which is a must-read for anyone interested in wildfires, humans’ relationship with fire, and the future of fire-related disasters. And you don’t have to take my word for it– the book won the 2023 B...
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Dr. Sara Dant is a Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of history at Weber State University, and she’s the author of one of my most-often recommended books, " Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West ." She is also one of the featured historians in Ken Burns’ newest documentary, The American Buffalo, which you can watch for free on the PBS website. Sara’s work focuses on environmental politics in the United States with a particular emphasis on the creation and developmen...
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr 15 min
Corissa Busse is the Buffalo Restoration Program Manager for The Nature Conservancy, where she oversees TNC’s work to advance Tribal-led efforts to restore buffalo, grasslands, and communities at scale. Based in Rapid City, South Dakota, Corissa and her team at TNC partner with organizations including the InterTribal Buffalo Council and the Tanka Fund to bring buffalo back to tribal lands, which not only contributes to healthier, more resilient landscapes, but helps to heal and restore a web of ...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Vincent Stanley is the Director of Philosophy at Patagonia, and he holds the honor of being the company’s longest-serving employee. He is also an author, poet, and a resident fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. His most recent book, which he co-authored with Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard, is titled "The Future of the Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 50 Years." - The book recounts Patagonia’s evolution from its humble beginnings as a smal...
Oct 24, 2023•58 min
Rebecca Clarren is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about the American West for more than twenty years. Her most recent book is titled "The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance." The book is a powerful, nuanced, and deeply personal exploration of her ancestors fleeing antisemitism in Russia and immigrating to the South Dakota prairie at the turn of the 20th century. I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of the book, and I absolutely loved it. Rebe...
Oct 10, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Nick Offerman is an actor, author, humorist, and woodworker who is best known for playing the legendary character Ron Swanson on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. But his success as an actor is just the tip of the iceberg– he’s written five New York Times bestselling books, is the narrator of three of Wendell Berry’s audiobooks, and owns and operates Offerman Woodshop, where he and a small collective of woodworkers handcraft everything from spoons to furniture to canoes. And as many of you know, Nick ...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 29 min
Matt Cahill is the Sagebrush Sea Program Director for the Nature Conservancy. Based out of Bend, Oregon, Matt leads all of TNC’s critical work restoring, managing, and protecting sagebrush habitat across six western states. This is a huge and complex effort– it combines protection and policy work with ground-breaking restoration advances, public and industry partnerships, and local community projects. But as you’ll hear in this conversation, Matt is optimistically leaning into the challenge and ...
Sep 26, 2023•1 hr 7 min
James Prosek is an artist, writer, and naturalist whose work deeply examines our relationship with the natural world. Over the course of his career, he’s focused his artist’s eye and philosopher’s mind on everything from trout to eels, from birds to ocean fishes. For the past two years, he’s been focused on understanding and documenting the grasslands of Texas, and he’s traveled the state examining the diverse plants and wildlife that call the prairie ecosystem home. Beginning on September 16, 2...
Sep 13, 2023•1 hr 15 min
Anna Borgman is a Montana-based butcher, chef, and writer whose work focuses on helping people better understand and appreciate the origins of their food. Whether writing an article for Steven Rinella’s MeatEater or helping to field harvest and process a bison, Anna has a gift for helping curious, conscientious people become more educated about the impacts of their food choices. And as you’ll hear in this conversation, her enthusiasm and authenticity are infectious– even after more than an hour ...
Sep 01, 2023•1 hr 19 min
Carrie Segil is the People and Culture Manager at The Nature Conservancy in Colorado, and Duncan Gilchrist is a Climate and Natural Resources Policy Associate at The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. Both Carrie and Duncan are deeply involved with TNC Colorado’s Catalyst Fund, a cutting-edge conservation funding initiative that supports forward-looking projects that enable innovation and rapid learning, both to test new ideas and to build greater capacity for innovation over the long term. - One o...
Aug 22, 2023•57 min
David James Duncan is one of those Western literary legends who needs no introduction to Mountain & Prairie listeners. But for those of you who may be new to the podcast or to Western literature, David is a renowned Montana novelist, activist, and flyfisherman. He’s the author of "The River Why" and "The Brothers K," and his newest novel "Sun House" hits shelves today. David is also the author of countless nonfiction essays, many of which have been compiled in books such as "My Story as Told...
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 15 min
This is the 200th episode of Mountain & Prairie, so I decided to celebrate the milestone by bringing back the first-ever M&P guest, my good friend Erik Glenn . Erik is the Executive Director of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust , a statewide conservation organization that protects Colorado's agricultural land, heritage, and families for future generations by conserving working rural landscapes. Erik is also the President of the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts , a collectio...
Aug 04, 2023•1 hr 20 min
For years now, listeners have been emailing me with many different versions of the same basic question: “How do I get a job in the conservation world?” Some of the inquiries come from college students or young professionals, while others come from folks who are deep into a specific career path but want to make a change. I’m always happy to receive these messages, and I’m flattered that anyone would think I have valuable advice to offer. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to provide what I belie...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 29 min
Lorelei Cloud is a member of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council. Lorelei’s commitment to conservation, leadership development, and Ute language, traditions, and culture is evident by the staggering number of leadership roles she holds– she is Co-Chairman of the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Network, a Board Trustee for the Nature Conservancy, and serves on the Colorado River Basin’s Water & Tribes Initiative. Earlier ...
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr
Christy Sing Robertson is a hatmaker and the founder and owner of Sing Hat Company . Based in Jackson, Wyoming, Christy has evolved rather quickly from making a few hats for herself and several friends into becoming one of the most popular and sought-after hat makers in the West. Whether she’s hand-shaping palm leaf hats for hundreds of people at events such as last month’s Old Salt Festival or creating a custom felt hat for a 5th generation rancher or celebrity musician, Christy’s humility, cur...
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 10 min
This is a special live episode that was recorded in late June 2023 at the first-ever Old Salt Festival , which was held on the Mannix Family Ranch in Helmville, Montana. The Old Salt Festival is a three-day celebration of ranching, land stewardship, and wild places that features live Western music, wood-fired cooking, products from some of the West’s most renowned artisans, readings and interviews with Western authors and poets, and in-depth discussions about conservation and land stewardship. T...
Jul 06, 2023•48 min
Rob Addington is the Director of the Forest and Fire Program with The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. He and his team are focused on increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration in Colorado to reduce hazardous fuels and promote landscape resilience to natural disturbances such as wildfire as well as climate change. - You don’t have to live in the West to know that the region has been battling ongoing drought, historically large and intense wildfires, and various forms of insect-induced fo...
Jun 27, 2023•1 hr 7 min
David Gessner is no stranger to Mountain & Prairie listeners– he’s joined me for many episodes and is the author of many of my favorite books, including "All the Wild That Remains," "Leave It As It Is," "My Green Manifesto," and more. His newest book is "A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World: Tales of Fire, Wind, and Water," which once again showcases David’s unique ability to combine humor, travel, and memoir in service of connecting the reader with the natural world. - "A Traveler's G...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Doug Peacock is a legendary environmentalist, writer, filmmaker, and grizzly bear advocate. He’s the co-founder of two conversation nonprofits– Round River Conservation Studies and Save the Yellowstone Grizzly. Doug was also the inspiration for the character George Washington Hayduke in his friend Edward Abbey’s classic novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang." And to top it all off, he is the author of many classic books, including "Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness" and his most recent...
Jun 09, 2023•53 min
Chris Hawkins is the Colorado Urban Conservation Manager for The Nature Conservancy, where he leads the organization’s efforts in Denver to “solve global challenges like the biodiversity and climate emergencies by supporting and creating more sustainable, efficient ways of living.” - When many people think of The Nature Conservancy, they may envision large-scale conservation efforts across vast grasslands and wild landscapes– but TNC also conducts some of its most innovative conservation work in...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Back in September of 2022, I held the first annual Strenuous Life Retreat at the renowned Zapata Ranch in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. The retreat consisted of five days of adventure and education inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s well-known commitment to living “the Strenuous Life.” We hiked high into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, rode horses in Great Sand Dunes National Park, and enjoyed world-class meals. And each afternoon, we enjoyed facilitated conversations about land stewardship, conserv...
May 18, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Jesse Griffiths is an Austin-based chef, author, hunter, and fisherman, and he’s also the co-owner of Dai Due Butcher Shop & Supper Club and the New School of Traditional Cookery. Jesse’s work has been featured everywhere from The New York Times to the Joe Rogan Experience, and he’s a regular contributor to Steven Rinella’s MeatEater. As an author, Jesse has received great praise for his two books, the James Beard Award-finalist cookbook, "Afield: A Chef’s Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild...
May 12, 2023•1 hr 9 min
For today’s conversation, I was thrilled to chat once again with Christian Beckwith , a Jackson, Wyoming-based writer, historian, conservationist, and entrepreneur. Christian’s latest project is “ Ninety-Pound Rucksack : A podcast about the US Army's 10th Mountain Division and the dawn of outdoor recreation in America.” - If you enjoy spending time up high in the mountains here in the American West, then you’ve surely heard at least a passing mention of the 10th Mountain Division. It’s nearly im...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Matt Moorhead and Galen Guerrero-Murphy are conservationists who work for The Nature Conservancy on its Southern Highs Plains Initiative (SHPI), a collaboration between five states with the shared goal of protecting the nation’s grasslands. The Southern High Plains encompasses approximately 71 million acres across Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The region is home to some of the country’s most important grasslands, as well as the people and wildlife who depend on the invaluable...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Walt Morgan is a retired Navy Commander and Navy helicopter pilot, and he’s also the founder of Translational Lift Coaching , where he works with individuals and teams to help them reach their full potential. Walt’s wide-ranging background as a leader, teacher, student, and parent gives him a unique approach to helping people identify what they are doing well, what they could be doing better, and how to make subtle-yet-powerful adjustments that can lead to lasting change. - Walt grew up in rural...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 21 min
Kathie Sever is an artist, designer, and the founder of Fort Lonesome , an Austin-based company that creates one-of-a-kind, hand-cranked, chain-stitched western wear. What started with Kathie hand-embroidering garments for friends out of her home has transformed over the years into a globally known fashion brand that is worn by well-known personalities such as Matthew McConaughey and singer-songwriter Nikki Lane. Using decades-old chain stitching machines, Kathie and her team create some of the ...
Apr 14, 2023•1 hr 31 min
This is the second of two live episodes that were recorded at the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s 2023 annual meeting in Houston, Texas. The topic of this panel discussion was Achieving Landscape-Scale Management in a Private Land State. As you learned in the previous episode, Texas has very little public land compared to other western states, so large-landscape conservation in Texas brings with it a number of extremely unique challenges and opportunities. In this conversation, we heard ...
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 7 min
