Public Lands Podcast

Public lands news of the week and interpretive resources in the time of COVID-19, and a rerun of last year's interview with NPS ranger, Paula Swingley, to remember what interpretation was like before the virus and will be again in the future.

Hadley Nellis interviews David Paolella, a research and policy analyst at the Clean Energy Transition Institute. David is a graduate of Yale, whose research into environmental racism at the University of Washington sheds light on the scope and costs of environmental injustice.

Relaunching 2020 and starting off a new season of podcasting with a recap, reset, and brief review of recent events, podcasted from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

Caroline Arkesteyn brings us a report on the privatization of public lands, featuring an interview with Land Tawney, CEO of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. Tawney has been leading an innovative and effective movement to stop the transfer of public lands into private hands.

Sophia Lahmers interviews Nancy Cook Lauer, an environmental journalist working in Hawaii who has extensively covered the many threats to island wildlife, from invasive species to over-development. The rapidly accelerating extinction that marks this era as the "Anthropocene" is particularly apparent in the islands, where a number of native species hang at the brink of extinction.

Bruce Stevens interviews veteran environmental attorney, Jim Coda, who discusses the impact of industrialized dairy farming on the Point Reyes National Seashore. Coda explains alternative management policies that would foster greater biodiversity and restore the ecosystem.

Lauren Anderson interviews Clyde Cooper, Council Member of St. James Parish. They discuss the history of the area, a region that is often referred to as "Cancer Alley" thanks to corporate and governmental treatment of the community as an industrial "sacrifice zone." Cooper discusses opposition to permits for new, pollution-producing plants in the Parish.

Cassie Hagen brings us a story about efforts in the Union Hill neighborhood of Richmond, VA, to promote equitable and sustainable energy in the region. The community has been combatting plans by Duke and Dominion Energy to build a Compressor Station in Union Hill, part of the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Cassie interviews Harrison Wallace, Virginia Director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Brian Grabowski interviews Janet VanDine of the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association about the organization's efforts to help steward Seneca Lake and deal with broader environmental threats and policy matters involving the Finger Lakes ecosystem.

Max Chao talks to Lisa Interlandi of the Everglades Law Center and Curtis Morgan of the Miami Herald about current initiatives to protect, preserve, and restore the Florida Everglades.