Our Living Lands

Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, was the first Indigenous US Secretary of the Interior. Now, she is running for governor of New Mexico. Our Living Lands Producer Daniel Spaulding spoke with her about the challenges and opportunities facing tribes, including climate change and political headwinds.

In 2021, Chuck Sams became the first Indigenous director of the National Park Service. Now, he has started a new role as the director of Indigenous Programs at the Yale Center for Environmental Justice. Our Living Lands producer Daniel Spaulding spoke to Sams about his work.

Last week, Mountain West News Bureau reporter Murphy Woodhouse brought us a story about major developments in cultural burning efforts by the Karuk Tribe in Northern California. Today he joins Our Living Lands Producer Daniel Spaulding to further discuss Karuk burning and its implications across the West.

For millennia, Indigenous peoples have intentionally set fires to care for the land. Colonization and policy largely put an end to those practices, though the tradition endured. As the Mountain West News Bureau's Murphy Woodhouse reports, a new law in California has opened the door to restore cultural burning - a potential model for the rest of the West.

Walrus is a key subsistence food for Indigenous communities in Alaska's North Slope. But climate change has shifted walrus habits. Hunters and researchers are working to understand these changes and document traditional knowledge. The Alaska Desk's Alena Naiden reports on the collaboration.

A group of young Indigenous men spent a week on the Wind River Reservation for a photo camp with National Geographic. Wyoming Public Hannah Habermann attended a showcase for the student photographers who camped, fished and helped with a bison harvest while honing their photography skills. Our Living Lands Producer Daniel Spaulding spoke to her about the experience.

This story originally aired on March 3, 2025

In Florida, tribes are fighting to stop a new immigration detention center in the Everglades. In this encore episode from March, Our Living Lands producer Daniel Spaulding spoke with Cheyenne Kippenberger, a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, about what the area means to Indigenous people.

In June, President Trump withdrew the US government from an agreement designed to protect salmon and renewable energy in the Columbia River Basin. In the aftermath of that move, Our Living Lands Producer Daniel Spaulding spoke with Erik Holt, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe's Fish and Wildlife Commission, about the future of salmon in the region.

As wildfires continue to increase in frequency and severity across the country, firefighters are in high demand. Lauren Paterson from Northwest Public Broadcasting reports on a new generation of Nez Perce firefighters in Idaho.

As rising seas threaten many Indigenous communities, two villages in Alaska's Kenai Peninsula are considering a project that would harness the power of ocean waves - for much needed energy. Alena Naiden with the Alaska Desk has more.