Kate and Aaron interview author Barret Baumgart about his new book Yuck: The Birth and Death of the Weird and Wondrous Joshua Tree . Baumgart became obsessed with Joshua trees during the pandemic and ended up uncovering some interesting facts and stories about them. News Trump admin to ink deals with states for forest management – E&E News The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs. – ProPublica As US wildfires rage, Trump ...
Jul 24, 2025•23 min
Kate and Aaron talk to Steve Ellis, a 38-year veteran of both the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and current chair of the National Association of Forest Service Retirees , about what the Trump administration is doing, and trying to do, to the Forest Service, and what that means for everything from logging to wildfires. News How Congress and Trump are working together to drill, log, and mine virtually all public lands – Westwise Mass layoffs can move forward, with devastating i...
Jul 11, 2025•40 min
Kate and Aaron talk to writer, photographer, and adventurer Josh Jackson about his new book, The Enduring Wild , which beautifully captures the variety and vastness of California’s public lands—with a particular focus on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Josh is also the man behind the @forgottenlandsproject Instagram account, which he uses to share photos and stories of “forgotten” BLM lands in California, and soon, Nevada. Kate and Aaron also break down the public land sell-off a...
Jun 27, 2025•43 min
Kate and Aaron talk to experts at the National Parks Conservation Association about illegal mining inside of Mojave National Preserve and a recent uptick in mining claims on public lands, including those near national parks. News 250+ million acres of public lands eligible for sale in SENR budget reconciliation package – The Wilderness Society From ski resorts to popular trails, see the public land Mike Lee proposes selling across the West – Salt Lake Tribune New report finds over 2,700 oil and ...
Jun 18, 2025•41 min
Trump’s Department of Justice just released an opinion stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to shrink or eliminate national monuments at will. But what does that mean, for example, if Trump tries to undo Chuckwalla National Monument or shrink Bears Ears? Will this DOJ opinion stand up in court? We put those questions and more to John Leshy, professor at UC Law and former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Clinton. News DOJ finds Trump can abol...
Jun 13, 2025•18 min
Kate and Aaron talk to Tracy Stone-Manning, former director of the Bureau of Land Management and current president of the Wilderness Society. Tracy tells us what it was like to inherit an agency that was decimated by the first Trump administration and what she’s worried about this time around—but also, what’s giving her hope for America’s public lands. We also cover the news that a provision to sell-off hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Utah and Nevada has been stripped from the ...
May 22, 2025
Kate and Aaron talk to Kurt Repanshek, founder and editor of National Parks Traveler , about President Donald Trump’s proposed funding cuts to the National Park System as well as how staffing cuts imposed by Elon Musk’s DOGE are affecting the Park Service. News In the dead of night, House committee votes to sell off public lands – Center for Western Priorities Zinke wants public land sales out of Republican megabill – E&E News Nevadans distance themselves from Nevada rep’s attempt to sell pu...
May 13, 2025•29 min
Kate and Aaron speak with Len Necefer, CEO & Founder of NativesOutdoors, a native owned outdoor media, apparel and consulting company. You may also know him as the man behind the Sonoran Avalanche Center Instagram account . Len talks about his latest project, a documentary film about the Colorado River basin titled The American Southwest , and how he’s advocating for public lands under the second Trump administration. Follow NativesOutdoors and Fin & Fur Films on Instagram for updates on...
May 02, 2025•42 min
Kate and Aaron nerd out with John Ruple, public lands professor at the University of Utah and a former member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) about recent changes to how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is being implemented across federal agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service. News Trump’s new goal: Revive a major climate pollutant that power markets have turned against – Politico Trump administration rolls back forest protections i...
Apr 17, 2025•37 min
Kate and Aaron talk to two experts about recent executive orders that negatively affect public lands. Mitch Friedman, founder and executive director of Conservation Northwest, talks about how Trump’s executive order aimed at increasing logging in national forests squares with existing law and forest management plans, while Rachael Hamby, policy director at the Center for Western Priorities, covers Trump’s recent order seeking to ramp up mining on public lands. News Republicans weigh sales of pub...
Apr 03, 2025•40 min
Kate and Aaron are joined by Jimmy Tobias, a public lands reporter and contributor to the Public Domain substack, and Jacob Malcom, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Environmental Management at the Interior Department, to talk about Elon Musk’s attacks on the Interior Department and its employees. Jimmy has been covering changes inside Interior […] The post How Elon Musk is trying to dismantle the Interior department appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Mar 26, 2025•45 min
This week, we take a break from bad news to talk about what nature does to your brain. Kate and Aaron speak to author Florence Williams about her book, The Nature Fix, which came out in 2017 but is just as relevant today. Her book looks at the science behind why nature makes us feel happier, […] The post How nature makes us feel happier, healthier, and more connected to humanity appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Mar 13, 2025•32 min
Aaron and Kate break down the results of Colorado College’s annual State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll with pollsters Lori Weigell and Dave Metz. The poll found that voters in the West support preserving and protecting public lands more than ever before in the poll’s 15-year history. That’s right—just as President Trump […] The post Western voters reject Trump agenda on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Feb 27, 2025•39 min
Kate and Aaron are joined by Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Mitch Flanigan, a former ranger at Denali National Park, to talk about recent firings across Interior department agencies, including the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Managment, as well as at the U.S. Forest Service. Prior […] The post Layoffs at Interior are causing chaos and heartbreak appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Feb 20, 2025•30 min
Aaron and Kate are joined by Mark Squillace, natural resources law professor at the University of Colorado Law School. Professor Squillace provided legal counsel to the Interior Department under President Bill Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and he’s a two-time veteran of this podcast. Today, we discuss the legality of President Trump’s executive orders […] The post Can President Trump even do that? Public lands edition appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Jan 31, 2025•45 min
Kate and Aaron talk through the effects of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders on public lands with Drew McConville, a senior fellow on the Conservation Policy team at the Center for American Progress. His research is focused on energy, public lands, and Alaska. News Trump Signs Orders to Promote Fossil Fuels and End Climate […] The post Trump’s Day One attack on public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Jan 21, 2025•23 min
Kate and Aaron talk to CWP colleagues Lauren Bogard and Sterling Homard about our recent report on President Joe Biden’s final year on public lands, which looks at the president’s conservation achievements over the past year in the context of his full presidential term. They also recap Trump Interior Secretary Nominee Doug Burgum’s Senate confirmation […] The post Looking back on Biden’s conservation record appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Jan 17, 2025•37 min
Kate and Aaron are joined by Alan Zibel, a research director at Public Citizen who focuses on energy and environmental issues. He breaks down what Donald Trump and the incoming Congress’s so-called “energy dominance” agenda could mean for public lands—given that the U.S. is already the world’s top exporter of natural gas (otherwise known as […] The post What Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda means for public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Jan 14, 2025•35 min
Kate and Aaron talk to Chris Clarke, host of the 90 Miles from Needles podcast, about the Cadiz pipeline project, a water mining project that poses a huge threat to the Mojave Desert. This project has been around in some form or another for over four decades and the latest iteration is especially insidious. News […] The post This company is trying to drain an aquifer in the Mojave Desert appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Dec 23, 2024•33 min
In this special episode of The Landscape, Kate visits the Dolores River Canyon Country in southwest Colorado, along with CWP’s Lauren Bogard and Sterling Homard, to meet with folks who support protecting this special region. The Dolores River’s riparian zone contains the largest and most biodiverse stretch of unprotected public lands in Colorado. Advocates are […] The post Special episode: Inside the Dolores River Canyons appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Dec 13, 2024•24 min
Kate and Aaron are joined by CWP Executive Director, Jennifer Rokala, and Curtis Hubbard, a political consultant based in Colorado, to break down the what the results of the 2024 election mean for public lands. News With Ready Orders and an Energy Czar, Trump Plots Pivot to Fossil Fuels – New York Times Trump gave […] The post What the results of the election mean for public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Nov 25, 2024•34 min
Kate and Aaron talk to Sanjay Narayan, managing attorney of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program, about a lawsuit over the proposed Uinta Basin oil train that could have some major implications for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The case is set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in December. News With […] The post Choo! Choo! NEPA heads to the Supreme Court disguised as an oil train appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Nov 15, 2024•36 min
Kate and Aaron are joined by Dr. Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage, a project of the Earth Island Institute. Dr. DellaSala came on The Landscape twice last year to talk about the Biden administration’s plans to protect mature and old growth forests. He recently wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times in which […] The post What Biden can do for America’s forests before he leaves office appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Oct 31, 2024•35 min
Kate and Aaron are joined by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers CEO Patrick Berry to talk about why Utah’s lawsuit seeking control of over 18 million acres of national public land in the state would be terrible for sportsmen across the West. News Other states urge Supreme Court to hear Utah federal land case – E&E […] The post How Utah’s land grab lawsuit could harm hunting in the West appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Oct 24, 2024•35 min
Kate and guest host Sterling are joined by journalist and producer Marissa Ortega-Welch to talk about her new podcast series, How Wild, which was recently released by KALW and distributed by NPR. The podcast explores how the concept of capital W wilderness is changing due to climate change, technology, crowding, and shifting views on colonialism. […] The post How climate, crowds, and colonialism are complicating the concept of Wilderness appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Oct 10, 2024•30 min
Aaron and Kate are joined by members of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe to talk about the proposed Kw’tsán National Monument in southern California. This is part of our Road to 30 postcards series, in which we highlight local efforts to protect iconic landscapes around the country. A Tribal elder, a Tribal youth, and […] The post Meet the proposed Kw’tsán National Monument—a 390,000 acre landscape in the California desert appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Sep 26, 2024•35 min
Kate and Aaron talk to Inside Climate News reporter Wyatt Myskow about an incredible story he wrote about what’s unfolding in Nevada’s Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, where the endangered Devil’s Hole pupfish is undergoing a rebrand from villain to hero. Click here for a transcript of this episode. News The National Monuments Disinformation Brigade […] The post From villain to hero: the Devil’s Hole pupfish could save this desert community appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Sep 13, 2024•35 min
In this episode of the Landscape, Kate and Aaron discuss Utah’s attempt to sue the federal government for control of over 18 million acres of federal public land with John Leshy, Professor Emeritus, University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. Leshy served as Solicitor (General Counsel) of the U.S. Department of the Interior […] The post How nuts is Utah’s land grab lawsuit? We ask law professor John Leshy appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Aug 29, 2024•37 min
The whole Center for Western Priorities team sits down to talk about what brought us each into conservation work, and recount some of the most memorable moments we've had as public lands advocates. The post Episode 200! (Behind the scenes at CWP) appeared first on Center for Western Priorities .
Aug 23, 2024•54 min
Kate talks to author Zak Podmore about his upcoming book, Life After Deadpool: Lake Powell’s Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River, which explores various aspects of Lake Powell’s emptying due to drought, from how to replace the loss of hydropower to how wildlife and plant life is returning to Glen Canyon as […] The post The future of Lake Powell with Zak Podmore appeared first on Center for Western Priorities ....
Jul 31, 2024•50 min
