National Parks Traveler Podcast

This week we pick up with the musings of Doug Leen. As a young park ranger in the 1970s, Leen stumbled upon a poster promoting a meet-the-ranger event at the Grand Teton National Park. It turned out to be one of 14 long-forgotten silk-screened posters made under the Works Progress Administration to promote tourism to the national parks. In the 50 years since that discovery, Leen has been searching high and low for the rest of the missing posters. His efforts have yielded noteworthy success, stirring up widespread interest in the posters and evolving into a thriving printing business of his own. As Lynn Riddick continues her talk with Doug, he discusses his business, Ranger Doug's Enterprises, and how the popularity of the posters has generated millions of dollars in revenue for the national parks. We also check in with Earl Brechlin, the communications director for Friends of Acadia, to get the latest on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting that friends group and how it is responding.

Lynn Riddick sits down with Doug Leen, the force behind Ranger Doug Enterprises, to discuss his decades long search for original Works Progress Administration posters that depicted national parks across the West. And we leave you with some thoughts on what we all should be thinking about for National Park Week.

What will the 21st century national park campground look like? What amenities are you interested in finding when you pull into a campground? Derrick Crandall, counseler for the National Park Hospitality Association, joins us to discuss two studies that examine the campgrounds, the issues they face, and the demands today's campers want.

Join us for a trip, at least an audio trip of sorts, to the heart of Yellowstone National Park and its wild kingdom. A place where wolves, grizzlies, and elk roam free and sandhill cranes catch your attention with their curious chortling. And Dan Puskar, the president and CEO of the Public Lands Alliance, discusses how its membership works to provide educational and interpretive materials for the parks, and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted those groups.

National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno discusses the impact coronavirus is having on the National Park System, and we have a conversation with author Richard Louv on his latest book, Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform our Lives, and Save Theirs. And Lynn Riddick concludes her four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with a visit to Mission San Juan.

The impact of coronavirus on the National Park System truly is unprecedented. Unlike the impacts partial or full government shutdowns have on the parks, government funding won't solve those created by the growing spread of coronavirus overnight. To take a look at how coronavirus is affecting the parks and the National Park Service, for this week's show we've gathered three park experts, including former National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, who combined have more than a century of experience with the national parks and public lands. And Lynn Riddick continues her tour of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with a visit to Mission Espada.

National Parks Traveler continues its tour through San Antonio Missions National Historical Park as Lynn Riddick visits Mission Concepción, and David and Kay Scott discuss the high-end national park lodges you would stay in if money were not an object.

This week we feature Lynn Riddick's segment on Mission San Jose, the first of a four-part series on San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in Texas. We also talk with Mitch Tobin, Director of The Water Desk at the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado, to understand why his organization is underwriting journalism revolving around the Colorado River.

This week we have a wide-ranging discussion about visiting the parks with Jason Epperson from the America's National Parks podcast and David and Kay Scott, authors of The Complete Guide To the National Park Lodges. We preview upcoming podcasts on the missions of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and recap our series on the Colorado River and its impacts on Canyonlands National Park and Glen National Recreation Area.

In recent years there has been a movement of sorts to rebrand units of the National Park System as "national parks," a movement motivated in large part by the economic boost such a redesignation is hoped to have. In New Mexico there's a group that's opposed to turning Bandelier National Monument into Bandelier National Park. We discuss that issue with Tom Ribe, executive director of Caldera Action, a nonprofit advocacy group in New Mexico. And we continue our series on how the health of the Colorado River impacts Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. To get a better understanding of the river economics in play, we talk with Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics.