This Saturday is National Public Lands Day, and in honor of that, we’re bringing you a special behind the scenes episode about our Keep Parks Public tour featuring the team here at CWP.  As many listeners or Look West subscribers may know, the CWP team embarked on a 10-day journey that took us from Denver to Las Cruces, Tucson, Flagstaff, Moab, Salt Lake City, Grand Junction, and Jackson Hole over the past month and a half.

The main goal of the Keep Parks Public tour was to highlight the impacts President Trump’s staffing and funding cuts are having on public lands across the West. But we ended up covering a lot more than that. We talked to local political and business leaders, conservation advocates, former park rangers and superintendents, and public land lovers at every stop on our trip— and the message from everyone was clear: public lands are not ok. Nor are the people who care for them. 

We’re going to share what we learned on the tour and play some of the best quotes from our live events. Then we’ll close out by reading you some of the 150+ comments folks have submitted through our Keep Parks Public website answering the question: Why do public lands matter to you?

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: CWP photo at Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Las Cruces, NM

The post How people across the West are fighting to protect public lands appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate and Aaron talk to former Montana gubernatorial candidate, public lands hunter, and Substack author Ryan Busse about how billionaires are cutting off access to the outdoors in Montana and a whole lot more. We also briefly touch on the news that the Trump administration is repealing the Public Lands Rule and give an update on the Roadless Rule repeal comment period.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Custer Galllatin National Forest; Source: USFS

The post Ryan Busse on how billionaires are locking up land in Montana appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate hosts a live episode in Grand Junction on CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour! Guests discuss the importance of keeping our parks and monuments staffed and funded.

Guests: Ken Mabery, former superintendent of Colorado National Monument, Cole Hanson, Grand Valley Outdoor Recreation Coalition board member and Gear Junction co-owner, Jessy Nuckolls, public lands advocate and Western Colorado Alliance member, and Tracy Coppola, with the National Parks Conservation Association.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Keep Parks Public Grand Junction event on 8/22/2025; CWP photo

The post LIVE in Grand Junction: Public land advocates take Trump attacks personally appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Kate hosts a live episode in Salt Lake City on CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour! Guests: Erika Pollard, National Parks Conservation Association; Davina Smith, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and Grand Staircase Escalante Partners; Scott Braden, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance; Doug Tolman, Save Our Canyons.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Keep Parks Public Salt Lake City event on 8/21/2025; Photo by Ken Kraus

The post LIVE: Utah conservation all-stars on how to Keep Parks Public appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Aaron hosts a live episode in Denver, kicking off CWP’s Keep Parks Public tour. Scott Fitzwilliams, former supervisor of the White River National Forest in Colorado, Kelly Nordini, CEO of Conservation Colorado, and Kara Matsumoto, public lands director at the Conservation Lands Foundation, join us to discuss threats to Colorado’s public lands posed by the Trump administration and Congress—as well as what YOU can do to fight back.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Keep Parks Public Denver event on 8/13/25; CWP photo

The post LIVE: Colorado’s public lands are under attack. Keep Parks Public tour highlights threats and ways to fight back appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

What the heck is Utah up to now that it’s land grab lawsuit has been snubbed by the Supreme Court and Senator Mike Lee has made public land sell-off untouchable in Congress? Kate and Aaron put that question to John Ruple, a Professor of Law and Stegner Center Fellow at the University of Utah, and Steve Bloch, legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Red rock formations on the Cedar Creek Canyon Road in Utah; Source: Murray Foubister/Wikimedia Commons 

The post What’s next for Utah after SCOTUS snub and Mike Lee flame out? appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

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.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK; NPS/Wikimedia Commons

The post The strange and mysterious history of the Joshua tree appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

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.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Oregon Mt. Hood National Forest Trillium Lake; USFS/Flickr

The post Former Forest Service leader on how Trump is hollowing out the agency appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

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 and Roadless Rule repeal news.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Carrizo Plain National Monument; Credit @forgottenlandsproject

The post How do we protect BLM lands? We tell their stories appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

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.

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 

Feedback: [email protected]

Music: Purple Planet

Featured image: Mojave National Preserve; Jeff Hollett/Flickr

The post Mining companies are knocking at the doors of our national parks appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.