Across the United States, 640 million acres of public land belong to all of us — rivers that still run wild, deep canyons, mountain ranges, plains, and deserts. Places where the wild things live. Places we can still visit, explore, and trust that it will be there for generations or an eon. But this year, the push to sell or transfer those lands has surfaced — sometimes openly, sometimes in quieter, less obvious ways. Why is this happening? Who’s behind it? And how do we, as citizens, stand up in simple, effective ways to keep public lands public? Our guest is Land Tawney, from American Hunters & Anglers — a man who comes from a long line of land conservationists. He brings both a historical lens and a practical action plan for keeping these 640 million acres wild, free, and truly ours.

GUEST

American Hunters and Anglers
@americanhuntersanglers

Land Tawney

Minority Outdoor Alliance
@minorityoutdooralliance
 

RESOURCES

202-224-3121
Switchboard US Capital (call, tell them your zip code, and that you want to speak with your Rep and/or Sen…you might have to call 3 times to get your Rep and both of your Senators)
 

Ambler Road
Roadless Rule, USFS
Attempts to sell public lands

PREVIOUS RIVER RADIUS EPISODES

Are Public Lands 4 $ale?

The Gila: River, Place, Family
(Sen Martin Heinrich)


ELECTED OFFICIALS & PUBLIC LANDS

US Senator Martin Heinrich, New Mexico
@senatormartinheinrich

US Representative Gabe Vasquez, New Mexico
@repgabevasquez

US Representative Betty McCollum, Minnesota
@repbettymccollum

US Representative Ryan Zinke, Montana
@repryanzinke

US Senator Steve Daines, Montana

US Senator Ron Wyden, Oregon
@ronwyden

US Senator Jeff Merkley, Oregon
@senjeffmerkley

US Senator John Hickenlooper, Colorado
@senatorhick

US Senator Susan Collins, Maine
@sensusancollins

US Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania
@repbrianfitz

US Senator John Thune, South Dakota

SPONSORS

Denver Area Nissan Dealers
@nissanusa

Buddy Boy Adventure Waste Kit
@buddyboyusa

THE RIVER RADIUS

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Dr. Adriana Martinez grew up in Eagle Pass, Texas, swimming and playing in the Rio Grande as a part of daily life. 10 years after getting her Ph.D and teaching university classes in fluvial geomorphology, her Texas hometown and home river became the iconic center of the modern immigration debate and the setting for the controversial river buoy border fence.  In this episode she tells us about the research she is conducting to learn how the buoy fence in the Rio Grande is impacting this river, and about growing up riverside to an international border. 

GUEST

Dr Adriana "Didi" Martinez
Professional Website
@thinkingriverthoughts

RESOURCES

Media on buoy fence w/Dr Martinez

SPONSORS

Denver Area Nissan Dealers
@nissanusa

Over It Raft Covers
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Tim Palmer has spent much of his life floating down, writing about, and photographing America’s rivers. With 34 books and scores of awards to his name (including the first-ever lifetime achievement award presented by American Rivers), he’s one of river conservation's most seasoned voices. In this episode, guest host Clark Tate joins Tim to talk about a recent run down the newly dam-free Klamath, his lifelong bond with Pennsylvania’s Youghiogheny River, the origins of America's flood management system, the benefits of giving rivers the room they need to run when the waters inevitably rise, and how increasingly severe floods both reveal our vulnerabilities and offer opportunities.

GUEST
Tim Palmer

Seek Higher Ground: The Natural Solution to Our Urgent Flooding Crisis
Youghiogheny: Appalachian River (updated edition)
Watching the River Run (photo book)

HOST
Clark Tate
@lclarktate

THE RIVER RADIUS

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This September brings the one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene and the powerful flooding that pounded Southern Appalachia. Incredible work has been to remove the bridges and cars and houses and trees that filled up the rivers. And more work continues today and for the next 18 months to clean up the remaining smaller trash. In this episode we learn about these details and how some communities did not flood because dams were removed prior to Helene, and how more dams are being removed post Helene.  Our guests are Hartwell Carson and Andy Hill from Mountain True in North Carolina. 

GUESTS

Hartwell Carson
Andy Hill
Mountain True
@mtntrue
facebook

PREVIOUS EPISODES ON HURRICANE HELENE

Part 1, Hurricane Helene in Appalachia, The Science
Part 2, Hurricane Helene in Appalachia, River Rescue

EPISODE ON RIVERS OF SOUTHERN APPALACHIA 

10 Rivers For 2025

SPONSORS

American Rivers
American Rivers: Hurricane Helene
American Rivers: Rivers of the United States

Denver Area Nissan Dealers
@nissanusa

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After incredible collaboration and momentum at the Snake River amongst several tribes and two states to create a legitimate pathway for the 4 Lower Snake River Dams to be breached and therefore allow the anadromous Salmon, Steelhead and Lamprey of the basin to avoid extinction, the collaboration has been cancelled by the current presidential administration.  Why?  What comes next?  Our guests are full of passion and wisdom for this story: Kayeloni Scott from the Columbia Snake River Campaign and Libby Tobey from the Grand Salmon Project. 

GUESTS
Kayeloni Scott
Columbia Snake River Campaign

Libby Tobey
Grand Salmon Project
 

FILMS ABOUT SNAKE RIVER
"Covenant of the Salmon People"

"The Grand Salmon"
Watch for live events, request a screening in your town

RESOURCES
Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative 

"Trump Administration Abandons Deal With Northwest Tribes to Restore Salmon"  Pro Publica

"Remove the dams. Replace their services. Restore the Salmon."  Idaho Outfitters & Guides Association

"Snake River Fact Sheet"  Idaho Rivers United

PREVIOUS RIVER RADIUS EPISODES ON SNAKE RIVER
Salmon 1: Mountain Origins

Salmon 2: Big Dam Problems & Solutions

Salmon 3: Fighting Extinction Real Time

Dam Removal: Updates & Trends

SPONSORS
Denver Area Nissan Dealers
@nissanusa

Buddy Boy Adventure Waste Kit
@buddyboyusa

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For 40 years, American Rivers has published its annual Most Endangered Rivers list — a powerful statement sparking awareness and action to restore waterways across the country. In this 40th anniversary episode, we talk with Chantel Dominguez from American Rivers to explore this year’s list, river by river, moving through the challenges they face and the tangible solutions for each. We also revisit three rivers from last year’s list to learn about their increasing health and vitality.

Thumbnail pic credit:  Sinjin Eberle, American Rivers

EPISODE SPONSORS

Denver Area Nissan Dealers
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EPISODE GUEST

Chantel Dominguez
American Rivers
American Rivers Most Endangered Rivers List
American Rivers Membership

Link to Supportive Action for Each River:

Mississippi River 

Tijuana River

Rivers of Southern Appalachia

Passaic River

Lower Rio Grande River

Rappahannock River  

Clearwater River Basin

Susitna River

Calcasieu River

Gauley River

RELATED EPISODES

Part 1, Tijuana River, Binational Flow
Part 2, Tijuana River, Source of the Pollution
Part 3, Tijuana River, Solutions

Previous American Rivers Most Endangered Rivers List Episodes
10 Rivers for 2024
10 Rivers for 2023
10 Rivers for 2022

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Every year, we ask one big question: What is a River? This year, the currents brought us to Dr. Robert Macfarlane—writer & professor—and his newly released book, Is A River Alive?, Dr Macfarlane joined us to explore that very question. From the chalk streams from his home in England to rivers across three continents, Macfarlane pursues his answers. In this episode, we move through his global journey, his new water literacy, and why he calls himself a teacher first.

GUESTS

Dr Robert Macfarlane, University of Cambridge

Dr Robert Macfarlane, Wikipedia

@robgmacfarlane

Book:  IS A RIVER ALIVE?

Audio Book:  IS A RIVER ALIVE?

Film:  MOUNTAIN narrated by Willem Dafoe

The poem Inversaid by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Rights of Nature

Universal Declaration of River Rights

River Seine in Paris and a Declaration of River Rights

Britain's Premier Nature Writer Cries Us a River
 

SPONSORS

Natural Systems Design
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in @natural_systems_design

American Whitewater
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Journal
River Info

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In this episode, we dive into About Damn Time, Dana Romanoff’s powerful film that follows Cindell “Dellie” Dale and a crew of boatwomen as they navigate handcrafted wooden dories down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. They spent 17 days and 277 miles running the river and filming the story. Their journey becomes a vivid exploration of women reshaping a river culture long dominated by men. We ask: How did they work together to tell this story? What wisdom flows from these women to the next generation of dory guides? And why is the dory the most poetic boat ever built to run through the Grand Canyon?

GUESTS
Dana Romanoff

Cindell "Dellie" Dale

OARS Grand Canyon Dories

SPONSORS
Down River Equipment

American Rivers
American Rivers: Take Action
American Rivers: Colorado River in the Grand Canyon
American Rivers: Rivers of the United States

RESOURCES
Grand Canyon National Park
Colorado River
Dory

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Every July, more than 500 paddlers push off from Kansas City down 340 miles of massive Missouri River current, paddling day and night across the state in one of the world’s longest nonstop river races. This is the MR 340, an event of endurance, suffering and transformation. From solo racers chasing records to 10-person canoes grinding it out over four brutal days, every paddler faces the same river. In this episode, we sit down with Kate Mansker, a racer from the very first MR 340 in 2006 who still holds course records, and Steve Schnarr, the race director who steers the chaos behind the scenes. Together, they chart the evolution of the race, the legends it’s created, and what it takes to avoid the Reaper. 

GUESTS

Kate Mansker

Steve Schnarr

SPONSORS

Denver Area NIssan Dealers
@nissanusa
 

River City Outdoors
@outdoorsstl
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Big Muddy Adventures
@paddlestl
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Terrain Magazine
@terrain_magazine
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MR 340 RACE INFO
www.mr340.org

Race tracking

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Article 1:  They Were Magnificent Humans: An Oral History of the First MR340

Article 2:  Missouri River Relief to host 20th annual MR340 race on Missouri River

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Live from the River Management Society’s Annual Symposium in Ashland, Oregon, we bring you a live conversation with Paddle Tribal Waters. This powerful project is paddling the entire length of the Klamath River from its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean during the summer of 2025. We dive into the vision and logistics behind this month-long river journey. Hear how Paddle Tribal Waters is weaving together stories of ecology, culture and river life. 

SPONSORS

Northwest River Supplies
@nrsweb
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American Whitewater
@americanwhitewater
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HOST
River Management Society
RMS Symposium
@rivermgtsociety

GUESTS
Rios to Rivers
Paddle Tribal Waters
@riostorivers
 

Danielle Rey Frank

Amada Lang
@moddss

Ruby Rain Williams 
@rubyrainwilliams

Keeya Wik 
@keeya.wiki

Julian Tohnikyaw Rogers 
@tohnikyaw

THE RIVER RADIUS

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