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The Landscape
Center for Western Priorities
100 episodes
18 hours ago
News, interviews, and history with newsmakers and environmental advocates, focused on parks and public lands across the American West. Formerly known as Go West, Young Podcast.
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All content for The Landscape is the property of Center for Western Priorities and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
News, interviews, and history with newsmakers and environmental advocates, focused on parks and public lands across the American West. Formerly known as Go West, Young Podcast.
Show more...
News Commentary
Business,
News,
Non-Profit,
Government
Episodes (20/100)
The Landscape
What the shutdown means for public lands w/ Rep. Jared Huffman
Aaron talks to Rep. Jared Huffman, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, about the government shutdown, whether Adelita Grijalva will ever get sworn in, and what he tells people who ask what’s bringing him hope in this dark time.
 

* Produced & hosted by Aaron Weiss (Kate’s back next week)
* Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
* Music: Purple Planet
* Featured image: Wikimedia Commons

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2 weeks ago
28 minutes 50 seconds

The Landscape
How people across the West are fighting to protect public lands
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?
News

* After defeating plan to sell public land, coalition of Colorado advocates keeps up the fight – Colorado Sun
* “Keep Parks Public” tour stops in Tucson to push back against national park cuts – KGUN
* What Was Learned From the Latest Fight Over Public Lands? – Outside
* 109th anniversary of National Park Service comes amid big proposed cuts, uncertainty about the future of public lands – Rocky Mountain Community Radio
* ‘Keep Parks Public’ tour concludes in Grand Junction – KREX
* After national parks hearing, MAGA forces continue public land assault, greens say – WyoFile

Resources



* Tell us: Why do public lands matter to YOU?
* Keep Parks Public Instagram



Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: CWP photo at Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Las Cruces, NM
 
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1 month ago
50 minutes 5 seconds

The Landscape
Ryan Busse on how billionaires are locking up land in Montana
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.
News

* Trump Moves to Scrap Biden Rule That Protected Public Lands – New York Times
* Billionaires To Gate 1700 Acres and Bulldoze Historic Orchard On Flathead Lake – Montana Dispatch

Resources

* How to comment on the planned roadless rule rollback – High Country News
* The Outdoor Minimalist Podcast

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Custer Galllatin National Forest; Source: USFS
 
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1 month ago
40 minutes 43 seconds

The Landscape
LIVE in Grand Junction: Public land advocates take Trump attacks personally
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.
Resources

*

* Keep Parks Public: Tell us why you love public lands and want them protected
* Follow @keepparkspublic on Instagram
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
* Episode transcript (to come)



Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Keep Parks Public Grand Junction event on 8/22/2025; CWP photo
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2 months ago
56 minutes 49 seconds

The Landscape
LIVE: Utah conservation all-stars on how to Keep Parks Public
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.
Resources



* Keep Parks Public: Tell us why you love public lands and want them protected
* Follow @keepparkspublic on Instagram
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
* Episode transcript



Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Keep Parks Public Salt Lake City event on 8/21/2025; Photo by Ken Kraus
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2 months ago
57 minutes 38 seconds

The Landscape
LIVE: Colorado’s public lands are under attack. Keep Parks Public tour highlights threats and ways to fight back
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.
News

* We’re going on tour! Join us for live podcast tapings in Salt Lake City and Grand Junction.

Resources

* Tell us why you love public lands and want them protected
* Follow @keepparkspublic on Instagram
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
* Episode transcript

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Keep Parks Public Denver event on 8/13/25; CWP photo
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2 months ago
45 minutes 11 seconds

The Landscape
What’s next for Utah after SCOTUS snub and Mike Lee flame out?
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.
News

* We’re going on tour! Join us for live podcast tapings in Denver, Salt Lake City, and Grand Junction – Keep Parks Public
* Texas buys land for new state parks that will be developed using $1 billion voter-approved fund – Texas Tribune
* Judge dismisses case aimed at stopping Utah from reviving its public land lawsuit – Utah News Dispatch

Resources

* Public lands are not “enclaves” and other errors in the report to Utah’s Legislative Commission on Federalism – S.J. Quinney College of Law
* American Lands Council filing in support of Utah’s land grab lawsuit
* Tell us why you love public lands and want them protected! – Keep Parks Public
* Follow @keepparkspublic on Instagram
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Red rock formations on the Cedar Creek Canyon Road in Utah; Source: Murray Foubister/Wikimedia Commons 
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2 months ago
41 minutes 14 seconds

The Landscape
The strange and mysterious history of the Joshua tree
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.
News

* Trump admin to ink deals with states for forest management – E&E News
* The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs. – ProPublica
* As US wildfires rage, Trump staff cuts force firefighters to clean toilets, critics say – Reuters
* DOE picks 4 sites to build data centers on federal land – E&E News
* How Native Homes in New Mexico Are Tapping the Sun – New York Times

Resources

* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
* Keep Parks Public summer roadtrip 
* Episode transcript (coming soon)

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK; NPS/Wikimedia Commons
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3 months ago
22 minutes 36 seconds

The Landscape
Former Forest Service leader on how Trump is hollowing out the agency
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.
News

* How Congress and Trump are working together to drill, log, and mine virtually all public lands – Westwise
* Mass layoffs can move forward, with devastating impacts for conservation and science – High Country News

Resources

* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org
* Episode transcript (coming soon)

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Oregon Mt. Hood National Forest Trillium Lake; USFS/Flickr
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3 months ago
40 minutes 10 seconds

The Landscape
How do we protect BLM lands? We tell their stories
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.
News

* 5 House Republicans declare red line on megabill land sales – Politico
* Mike Lee Flails As His Public Land Sale Triggers Firestorm – Public Domain
* Trump to rescind ‘Roadless Rule’ protecting 58 million acres of forest land – NPR

Resources

* Subscribe to the Forgotten Lands Project newsletter 
* Buy The Enduring Wild book
* Follow The Forgotten Lands Project on Instagram
* Follow Keep Parks Public on Instagram
* Sign up for email updates about our summer tour 
* Episode transcript (to come)


Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Carrizo Plain National Monument; Credit @forgottenlandsproject
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4 months ago
43 minutes 29 seconds

The Landscape
Mining companies are knocking at the doors of our national parks
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.
News

* 250+ million acres of public lands eligible for sale in SENR budget reconciliation package – The Wilderness Society
* From ski resorts to popular trails, see the public land Mike Lee proposes selling across the West – Salt Lake Tribune
* New report finds over 2,700 oil and gas-related spills occurred in West’s top oil-producing states in 2024 – Center for Western Priorities

Resources

* The New Land Rush: Mining Claims Encroaching on National Parks – National Parks Conservation Association
* Episode transcript (to come)


Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Mojave National Preserve; Jeff Hollett/Flickr
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4 months ago
40 minutes 50 seconds

The Landscape
The DOJ just told Trump he can eliminate monuments. Now what?
Trump’s Department of Justice just released an opinion stating that the Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to shrink or eliminate national monuments at will. But what does that mean, for example, if Trump tries to undo Chuckwalla National Monument or shrink Bears Ears? Will this DOJ opinion stand up in court? We put those questions and more to John Leshy, professor at UC Law and former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Clinton. 
News

* DOJ finds Trump can abolish areas protected as national monuments – Washington Post

Resources

* Episode transcript (to come)


Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Bears Ears National Monument – Indian Creek; Photo by Bob Wick, BLM
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4 months ago
17 minutes 35 seconds

The Landscape
Tracy Stone-Manning on the biggest threats to public lands right now
Kate and Aaron talk to Tracy Stone-Manning, former director of the Bureau of Land Management and current president of the Wilderness Society. Tracy tells us what it was like to inherit an agency that was decimated by the first Trump administration and what she’s worried about this time around—but also, what’s giving her hope for America’s public lands.
We also cover the news that a provision to sell-off hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in Utah and Nevada has been stripped from the budget reconciliation package.
News

* Maloy’s public land sell-off struck from Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ – Salt Lake Tribune
* House GOP Passes Budget Dismantling Public Land Protections, But Stops Short Of Sell-Off – Public Domain
* The Wilderness Society selects new president to lead conservation efforts

Resources

* Follow CWP on Bluesky
* Episode transcript


Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Courtesy TWS
 
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5 months ago

The Landscape
How are the national parks holding up against DOGE and Trump’s attacks?
Kate and Aaron talk to Kurt Repanshek, founder and editor of National Parks Traveler, about President Donald Trump’s proposed funding cuts to the National Park System as well as how staffing cuts imposed by Elon Musk’s DOGE are affecting the Park Service.
News

* In the dead of night, House committee votes to sell off public lands – Center for Western Priorities
* Zinke wants public land sales out of Republican megabill – E&E News
* Nevadans distance themselves from Nevada rep’s attempt to sell public lands – Center for Western Priorities

Resources

* National Parks Traveler Podcast
* Subscribe to Look West
* Episode transcript (to come)


Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: U.S. Dept of State/Flickr
 
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5 months ago
29 minutes 20 seconds

The Landscape
New nature doc frames the Colorado River as an opportunity, not a crisis
Kate and Aaron speak with Len Necefer, CEO & Founder of NativesOutdoors, a native owned outdoor media, apparel and consulting company. You may also know him as the man behind the Sonoran Avalanche Center Instagram account.
Len talks about his latest project, a documentary film about the Colorado River basin titled The American Southwest, and how he’s advocating for public lands under the second Trump administration.
Follow NativesOutdoors and Fin & Fur Films on Instagram for updates on the 2025 theatrical release of The American Southwest.
News

* STATEMENT: White House proposes disposing of national park sites, national forests, and giving DOGE control over fighting wildfires – Center for Western Priorities

Resources

* Subscribe to Look West
* Episode transcript (to come)
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: The Upper Colorado River; Source: BLM/Flickr
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6 months ago
41 minutes 42 seconds

The Landscape
How the White House is making federal permitting less efficient
Kate and Aaron nerd out with John Ruple, public lands professor at the University of Utah and a former member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) about recent changes to how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is being implemented across federal agencies, like the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service.
News

* Trump’s new goal: Revive a major climate pollutant that power markets have turned against – Politico
* Trump administration rolls back forest protections in bid to ramp up logging – Associated Press
* Trump nominee for public lands post withdraws after her criticism of Jan. 6 attack surfaces – Associated Press
* Federal judge orders immediate thaw of climate, infrastructure funds – Politico

Resources

* Subscribe to Look West
* Episode transcript (to come)
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Logging in national forest; USFS
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6 months ago
37 minutes 20 seconds

The Landscape
Unpacking Trump’s mining and timber EOs
Kate and Aaron talk to two experts about recent executive orders that negatively affect public lands. Mitch Friedman, founder and executive director of Conservation Northwest, talks about how Trump’s executive order aimed at increasing logging in national forests squares with existing law and forest management plans, while Rachael Hamby, policy director at the Center for Western Priorities, covers Trump’s recent order seeking to ramp up mining on public lands.
News

* Republicans weigh sales of public land in reconciliation – E&E News
* Anti-public lands bills take hits in Legislature – Missoula Current

Resources

* Subscribe to Look West
* Episode transcript (to come)
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: The White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, USA; weesam2010/Flickr
Show more...
7 months ago
40 minutes 16 seconds

The Landscape
How Elon Musk is trying to dismantle the Interior department
Kate and Aaron are joined by Jimmy Tobias, a public lands reporter and contributor to the Public Domain substack, and Jacob Malcom, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Environmental Management at the Interior Department, to talk about Elon Musk’s attacks on the Interior Department and its employees. Jimmy has been covering changes inside Interior since President Donald Trump took office, and Jacob chose to leave his job at the Interior Department last month in response to the mass firings and changes implemented by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
News

* Trump Executive Order Streamlines Mining Permits. Environmentalists Fear What Comes Next – Inside Climate News
* Interior, HUD to offer federal lands to build affordable housing – E&E News
* Plan to Sell Off ‘Underutilized’ Federal Land for Affordable Housing Is Ineffective and Inefficient, Experts Say – Outdoor Life
* Federal appeals court sides with corner-crossing hunters in Wyoming dispute – Montana Free Press

Resources

* Subscribe to Public Domain 
* Episode transcript
* Email us at podcast@westernpriorities.org

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Tyler Hassen (right), who has been working as a DOGE operative at the Interior Department, was delegated the authority of an assistant secretary. Photo credit: DOGE/X
 
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7 months ago
45 minutes 19 seconds

The Landscape
How nature makes us feel happier, healthier, and more connected to humanity
This week, we take a break from bad news to talk about what nature does to your brain. Kate and Aaron speak to author Florence Williams about her book, The Nature Fix, which came out in 2017 but is just as relevant today. Her book looks at the science behind why nature makes us feel happier, healthier, and more connected to humanity. Qualities we could all probably use a bit more of these days.
News

* Trump orders swathes of US forests to be cut down for timber – The Guardian
* Labor board temporarily reinstates laid-off Forest Service workers’ employment – Montana Free Press
* Trump seeks minerals refining on Pentagon bases to boost US output – Reuters
* Trump, Musk Plan to Shutter Interior Offices Nationwide, Devastating Local Economies and Abandoning Tribes – Natural Resources Committee Democrats
* Elon Musk’s $1 Spending Limit Is Paralyzing Federal Agencies – Wired
* Trump just weakened one of the nation’s oldest environmental laws – Washington Post
* Supreme Court rejects red states’ bid to quash climate cases – E&E News

Resources

* Subscribe to Look West
* Episode transcript (to come)

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Young tots and caregivers take a walk through a green forest looking for treasures. Photo by D. Coble, BLM Alaska 
 
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7 months ago
32 minutes 10 seconds

The Landscape
Western voters reject Trump agenda on public lands
Aaron and Kate break down the results of Colorado College’s annual State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll with pollsters Lori Weigell and Dave Metz. The poll found that voters in the West support preserving and protecting public lands more than ever before in the poll’s 15-year history. That’s right—just as President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are working to open up public lands for unfettered drilling and mining—majorities of Western voters, including Republicans, are saying “We want those lands protected.” (The poll was conducted in eight Western states January 3-17, 2025.) 
News

* ‘MAGA’ voters in the West still support federal management of public lands, poll finds – CPR
* Poll finds majority of Westerners support climate action and conservation – High Country News
* Mountain West voters overwhelmingly oppose federal public lands funding cuts, poll finds – Colorado Politics

Resources

* 2025 State of the Rockies Conservation in the West poll results – Colorado College
* Western voters reject anti-public land policies – Westwise
* Trump’s pick to run the BLM can’t be trusted. Here’s why – Westwise

Credits
Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss 
Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org
Music: Purple Planet
Featured image: Family hike at Zapata Falls; Photo by Allison Miller, BLM
Show more...
8 months ago
38 minutes 51 seconds

The Landscape
News, interviews, and history with newsmakers and environmental advocates, focused on parks and public lands across the American West. Formerly known as Go West, Young Podcast.