Podcast appearances and mentions of ed abbey

Hey everyone, Welcome to Episode 433 of the Outdoor Biz Podcast with outdoor writer and podcaster Meg Carney. Meg is an outdoor and environmental writer with a passion for environmental advocacy. She primarily covers topics within the outdoor industry ranging from the best new products and greenwashing to the scientific coverups of hazardous chemicals. And if you're not listening to her series on Forever Chemicals released on March 4th . . . get on that . . . it's a MUST listen. Meg is dropping New episodes every Monday through April. Welcome to Episode 433 of the Outdoor Biz Podcast with outdoor writer and podcaster Meg Carney. Meg is an outdoor and environmental writer with a passion for environmental advocacy. She primarily covers topics within the outdoor industry ranging from the best new products and greenwashing to the scientific coverups of hazardous chemicals. And if you're not listening to her series on Forever Chemicals released on March 4th . . . get on that . . . it's a MUST listen. Meg is dropping New episodes every Monday through April. Facebook​ ​Twitter​ ​Instagram​ Love the show? Subscribe, ​rate, review, and share!​ Sign up for my Newsletter ​HERE​ I'd love to hear your feedback about the show! You can contact me here: ​rick@theoutdoorbizpodcast.com   Show Notes 00:00 Grandfather's conservationist influence sparked environmental passion. 05:01 First article published led to freelance writing career. 08:16 The text discusses speciesism, the unequal treatment of different animal species. It uses the example of how dogs are often treated as human children, while pigs are seen as livestock, despite having similar intelligence. The discussion is presented in a fictional narrative. 10:10 Book focuses on consumer sustainability, lacks industry perspective. 14:21 Passionate about surprising complexity of textile industry. 16:43 Teflon pants are made using forever chemicals, known for their extreme durability and widespread use in water repellency. They gained attention through documentaries and have become a major topic in the outdoor industry. 22:53 Explored eastern US outdoor spaces during 5-month trip. 24:26 Minnesota van adventure with cozy warm nights and free camping experiences. 27:41 Hiking, mud mishap in South Carolina. 29:24 Favorite Outdoor Activity: Gravel Biking and I love any of the jouring activities, ski jouring, bike jouring anything that can allow me to recreate with my dogs. 32:24 Buying less reduces environmental impact and waste. Textiles are particularly difficult to reuse and recycle efficiently, so making products last longer is crucial. Applying waterproofing to extend the life of clothing is a sustainable practice. 35:10 Lava Linens, a Woman-founded company offers efficient, compact travel towels. 37:19 Meg's Favorite Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang, Desert Solitaire, Ed Abbey's Essays, Megs Book Outdoor Minimalist 38:32 Doug Peacock and environmental conservation. OD Biz Episode 326   Thanks for listening and visiting our website. Don't forget to subscribe and spread the word!   Learn More To learn more about Meg, visit her website at: outdoorminimalist.com You can also visit Meg on these social sites: Facebook Linkedin Instagram YouTube Pinterest Anchorfm Next Steps If you enjoy interviews devoted to the outdoor industry, find us online at ricksaez.com/listen. We love likes and comments, and if you know someone who is also an outdoor enthusiast, go ahead and share our site with them, too. Keywords #Textile waste, #Ethical sourcing, #Forever chemicals #PFAS #Environmental impact #Environmental regulations #Publishing process #Speciesism #Outdoor Minimalist book #Podcast creation #Conservationists Podcast produced using Descript, CastMagic Podcast hosted by Libsyn use code 'outdoorbizpod' for 20% OFF Show Notes powered by Castmagic Website powered by Wordpress Note: As an Affiliate of Amazon and others, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Belden Lane is Professor Emeritus of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University, author of numerous books including The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality and Backpacking with the Saints: Wilderness Hiking as Spiritual Practice. Belden Lane is a true elder, and in our conversation he exhibits that when we  talk about wild places, the rough play and laughter of God, grief after losing a son, what we can learn from trees, and much more. Visit contemplify.com 

Doug Peacock is a legendary environmentalist, writer, filmmaker, and grizzly bear advocate. He's the co-founder of two conversation nonprofits– Round River Conservation Studies and Save the Yellowstone Grizzly. Doug was also the inspiration for the character George Washington Hayduke in his friend Edward Abbey's classic novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang." And to top it all off, he is the author of many classic books, including "Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness" and his most recent award-winning book "Was it Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior's Long Trail Home," published by Patagonia Books. - Doug was born and raised in Michigan, where he grew up obsessed with nature and the outdoors. As a young man, he was drafted into the Vietnam War, where he served as a Green Beret combat medic, an experience that placed him squarely in the middle of devastating violence toward his fellow soldiers, as well as civilian men, women, and children. In 1968, he returned home from Vietnam spiritually broken, mentally unwell, and physically debilitated with malaria. Not knowing where to turn, he headed deep into the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park by himself, where he formed an unlikely bond with the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear. Eventually, he recovered both physically and mentally and, to this day, he credits the grizzly with saving his life. He has spent the last half-century repaying his debt to the grizzly bear, aggressively fighting for their protection and recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and beyond. - I met up with Doug in Aspen, Colorado, where he was in town for a reading of "Was it Worth It?" at Aspen's only bookstore, Explore Booksellers. Even though I could've talked with Doug for many hours, we managed to jam a lot of stories into this conversation. Some of the topics we discussed include: Why Doug does not carry a gun in grizzly country; why it is important for humans to love and protect a creature as powerful, even dangerous, as a grizzly; his friendships with Edward Abbey, Yvon Chouinard, Jim Harrison, and others, and how each of those high-voltage personalities helped to elevate the others; the death and secret burial of Edward Abbey; why climate changes is such a threat to grizzlies, the challenges and financial realities of a life dedicated to environmental advocacy; his greatest source of pride and greatest disappointment; what is giving him hope now; and Doug reads several passages from "Was It Worth It?'" - Even as he's getting on up there in age, today, at age 81, you can still feel the fire in Doug's spirit, and his passion for grizzlies is palpable. I was honored to have the opportunity to chat with Doug, and I loved his book "Was it Worth It?" I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. --- Doug Peacock "Was it Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior's Long Trail Home" "Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness" Save the Yellowstone Grizzly Round River Conservation Studies --- TOPICS DISCUSSED: 4:10 - Discussing the picture on the front of Doug's book 6:25 - When Doug decided it wasn't fair to be in grizzly country with guns 8:40 - How Yellowstone became a part of Doug's life  10:55 - How grizzlies provided a much-needed community for Doug after his time at war 12:40 - How long it took for Doug to find peace in grizzly country after Vietnam 15:10 - Exploring Doug's balance between telling the good stories and being willing to fight for conservation 18:10 - Why specifically it is so important for humans to learn to love and protect a creature as powerful, even dangerous, as a grizzly 19:40 - How Doug's friends made him a better conservationist 21:40 - How Doug's friends balance their very strong personalities 22:40 - The importance of ceremony and how Doug handled the passing of his dear friend, Ed Abbey 28:40 - Whether or not parenthood changed Doug's outlook on risk and death 30:10 - Who or where Doug drew his motivation from 32:10 - How Doug managed his lifestyle 33:40 - What keeps Doug awake at night, as it pertains to grizzlies 36:40 - How Doug became interested in fighting climate change by way of grizzlies 39:30 - Where Doug would focus his energy if he were starting his career in conservation now 40:25 - Whether or not Doug is an optimist 43:40 - What work Doug is most proud of in his life, and where he thinks he may have fallen short 46:00 - Doug's friendship with Jim Harrison 47:10 - What gives Doug hope 48:40 - Doug's mandatory reading --- ABOUT MOUNTAIN & PRAIRIE: Mountain & Prairie - All Episodes Mountain & Prairie Shop Mountain & Prairie on Instagram Upcoming Events About Ed Roberson Support Mountain & Prairie Leave a Review on Apple Podcasts

Today on episode 375 I'm talking with Conservation Alliance Executive Director Nicole Rom. Nicole came into the world with Conservation in her DNA. She is leading a tireless staff of conservationists working to harness the collective power of business and outdoor communities to fund and advocate for the protection of North America's wild places. Facebook Twitter Instagram The Outdoor Biz Podcast Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Sign up for my Newsletter HERE.  I'd love to hear your feedback about the show! You can contact me here: email: rick@theoutdoorbizpodcast.com or leave me a message on Speakpipe! Presented to by: Show Notes First I want to start with how'd you end up attending Bates College? That's a great question to start off with, I was attracted to a small liberal arts college in Maine. You might not know that Bates has the second oldest outing club. They maintained several miles of the Appalachian Trail and they're a division one Ski team. I was a competitive downhill racer in high school and, was excited with the opportunity to continue that. Then most of all, I was able to be the first class that could study environmental studies as a major. So those were the reasons that drew me to Maine and to Bates in particular. So what was it like to be a Coxswain when on the crew team? I did that my freshman year for something new. I had never had the experience when I was in high school. I primarily skied and I'll just start by saying it's a perfect position for somebody who is short, loud, and enthusiastic, and I fit all of those criteria. You're essentially the captain of the boat that you're on. I was often a coxswain for the women's eight or the men's four and you're responsible for steering, setting the pace for the row. Counting for power motions, when you need to step up the pace when you're in a competition. And obviously one of my highlights was participating in the head of the Charles in Boston, one of the renowned rowing races. So that was a fun experience I did for a year. You're essentially the bow captain. People don't realize you're facing forward. You're the one that can see everything. The rowers are facing you and you're the one that sets the pace, the tone, and make sure that the boat is going straight and, emphasizing when there's time to do power strokes to move you forward in a competition. How were you introduced to the Outdoors? I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and grew up in Park City. So I learned to downhill ski at the age of three. My parents eventually moved to the East coast when I was in elementary school, but I essentially grew up in a family that really valued skiing and camping, and the outdoors. I particularly remember every Sunday was spent during my childhood hiking and doing something as a family outside. But mostly I would say my real connection to the outdoors is because I moved from Utah to Maryland to New York, and of course lived in Maine during college. My family consistently went back to Minnesota where my dad grew up in Ely, Minnesota or the gateway to the boundary waters canoe area wilderness. We'd go there twice a year in the winter and in the summer and it was the boundary waters that really laid the foundation. I had studied abroad my junior year in Tanzania and was really, moved by the experience studying wildlife ecology and conservation and learning Swahili. And I thought I'm going to apply to the Peace Corps. Unbeknownst to me, I thought I'd go back to East Africa since I had spent six months there and they ended up looking at my application and said, you've got really great experience in environmental education, we could use a volunteer like you in Kazakhstan. And so of course, first I had to pull out a map and learn where Kazakhstan was, right? I had never heard of it. And then I, as I learned more, I thought, wow, what an amazing opportunity to live in a former Soviet Republic. I served from 2000, 2002, so it was the eighth group of Americans ever in that country. Wow. Literally eight years after the Soviet Union collapsed, they began sending volunteers every year. And while I was there, there was still a lot of the legacy of the Soviet Union in terms of weekly lines to get your flour and your basic food ingredients. So, while they were moving into a democratic nation, there was still a lot of that legacy. Russian was the dominant language, which I had the opportunity to learn. And I was there for two years teaching ecology to fifth through 11th grade. I, helped manage an after-school ecology club for the high school and executed a few fun summer camps. And what sticks out to this day was my connection with students and, Their passion and love for the mountains. Kazakhstan, just so our listeners understand, you've got the prairie step in the predominant part of the country, and then the Tien Shan Mountain range in the south that are the beginning of the Himalayas. The mountains rise up to 20,000 feet and I was lucky enough to be in the southeastern part of the country in those mountains. So I bought cross-country skis and I took from my kids hiking in the local mountain and we volunteered at the local nature preserve at their naturalist program and interpretive center, it was an incredible experience. Was there a trip or activity or person that inspired the conservation in you? Two things come to mind. The first, was when I did an Outward Bound course in Colorado when I was 15, turning 16. It was the first time I did an experience like that with peers and with my parents. And I quickly realized that the outdoors and adventure is a lot more fun when you're with folks your own age than being dragged along. That was sort of a period in time, I think anyone who's a teenager can remember what it's like. During my high school years, there was a period of time where I would take my, then Walkman, now iPod to listen to music, was dragged along hikes that I didn't want to do. And when I had that experience, I realized I really took it on as something that I loved for my own. And I got into climbing after that. So that was the moment that it became something that I loved and not just something spoon-fed to me by my parents. And the other, person that really sticks out beyond my grandparents was when I was at Bates. I had the amazing opportunity to meet Terry Tempest Williams. Somebody I deeply admire and love and obviously read her books and being born in Utah, understanding Red Rock country and the Great Salt Lake. Meeting her was really, life-changing. We had the opportunity to take a sunrise hike with her while she was visiting and doing a talk. And I remember specifically the talk that she gave at the school, which connected all of the courses that I was taking at the time, and helped me really realize that I could choose environmental studies as a major and as a career path. And it wasn't just something I could enjoy reading or doing on the side, that it actually could go from passion and interest to career. And your work and your experience seemed focused on climate, how did that develop over the years versus other, some other environmental subject? Yeah, so after the Peace Corps, I returned back to the US and pursued graduate school in environmental policy and landed my first job at the National Wildlife Federation, so a large conservation award. I was, really managing their conservation education programming in the Midwest and the Upper Great Lakes. And it was at that time, 2004, 2005 before Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth came out that NWF and a lot of the large conservation and green environmental orgs were starting to realize they needed to, prioritize climate change as an issue and some were wrapping their arms around it quicker than others. And at that point, I had this amazing opportunity. My Aunt Becky, who was heavily involved in the boundary waters, had worked closely with a man named Will Steger. The National Geographic Arctic Explorer, who they had worked collaboratively with on protecting the Arctic Refuge in the nineties. Will was often brought to Congress to testify on issues of the Arctic. He was starting a new nonprofit focused on Climate Change. She called me and said, Nicole, I think you'd be perfect. Will Steger is starting this org focused on climate change, education, and policy, and, you should explore it. So I came to Minnesota in May of 2006 for an interview. I had never met Will Steger before. I remember my interview was on his houseboat on the Mississippi River with ducks floating by, and I thought, this is the weirdest interview I've ever done. And he had small grants for $35,000 and this grand vision to really address climate change and no real plan for how to do it. I was 27, going on 28 and I thought, what an amazing opportunity to be the executive director of a new organization. So I moved to Minnesota from Michigan where I was living at the time, excited to be closer to my grandparents in the boundary waters and literally thought I would be working with Will for one or two years. I'd learn a lot and I'd move on, and I ended up staying in that role for 15 and a half years until I recently left last year and joined the Conservation Alliance. And so the Conservation Alliance recently announced an inaugural summit this May to advance business-led conservation in partnership with the Next 100 Coalition, Outdoor Alliance, and the Outdoor Industry Association. Can you share a little bit about that? Yeah. We're super excited to make this dream a reality in 2023. So all Conservation Alliance members can send one staff member for free. It's going to be held, as you said, in late, may in Colorado. And our goal with the summit is to really celebrate the conservation successes we've had to educate and empower and unite our member businesses and their employees, both old and new, around a shared equitable land and water conservation agenda. And so themes will include climate. , biodiversity, equity, access, recreation, and of course rural economic development. And for us, the summit's not just a conference and a chance to come together after several years living in the pandemic and, missing that opportunity. It's about engagement and [00:20:00] educating our members, but most importantly, providing a platform for our business leaders to be more effective advocates for conservation. So how can brands participate? Well, the first thing I'll say is that any business that cares about conservation can join the Conservation Alliance regardless of industry or size. Obviously, the outdoor industry is core to the organization, to our founding, and to who we are and who will continue to be. But the organization's continuing to see that we need to increase our impact for conservation. We have to diversify and grow our member business. and that there's power in our collective collaboration and that, collective multiplier. And really we want those who value, the protection of wild places and outdoors to join us. So if a company is doing even less than a million in annual revenue, it costs as little as $500 to join the Conservation Alliance. And it's a way for, member companies to align their brand with an organization that's both funding and advocating for wild places and outdoor places. It's just a super exciting time to see the impact the Conservation Alliance has had over the last 30 years, but more specifically the last 15 years where we've invested over, a million dollars into some of these key priority campaigns, and now we're seeing the success of that effort come to fruition in 23. let's talk about what else is new for the Conservation Alliance in 2023. What else have you guys got going on? One of the exciting things that have been shifting is how we, deploy our grant-making dollars. from investing in a few priority campaigns. As I mentioned, some of those we're just seeing successes on the Boundary Waters and Bristol Bay and the Tongass, and Bear's Ears. Seeing the National Monument reinstated under the Biden administration. All of these were long-standing commitments of the Conservation Alliance, but some of the new things that we are deeply passionate about are equity and access. Two years ago, we launched our Confluence grant-making program to invest. Historically racially excluded groups to really fund organizations with budgets under 500,000 led by black, indigenous, and communities of color, to bring, more diversity and representation into the conservation movement. so that's an exciting new addition for us. And of course, the summit is a new effort for us to really bring our member community together under one umbrella to unite around, a shared agenda. As listeners listening to all this, I think it's inspiring to me, what are some things, two or three things that we can do maybe personally or directly in our home hometowns to help mitigate the climate issues? I often think of actions in three ways. Your choices, your voice, and your vote. How you spend your dollars, the companies that are aligned with your values, and choosing to invest with every dollar you spend, how you spend that money matters and sends a signal. What's next on your adventure list? So right before the pandemic, I finished visiting all 50 states, which is a goal of mine. That was really fun. Now I'm always eyeing both domestic and international adventures. I'm keen to visit all the national parks and several monuments for sure, but what's next on my list this year is trekking in the Dolomites in Italy. I'm a big fan of the Hut To Hut system in Europe. And then, I'm also exploring backpacking in the Wind River range in Wyoming, for a more local adventure. Do you have any daily adventures or daily routines to keep your sanity? Oh, I do have a daily yoga practice. Sometimes it's as short as, 15 minutes but it's at least 30. That keeps me sane because my mind is always going a mile a minute, and that just grounds me. Because I live in Minnesota, I am doing a lot of shoveling. What are one or two books that you've read that inspire the conservationists in you and might help us? I'm going to pick some oldies, but goodies. Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey. It was definitely a game changer for me reading that in the nineties. Anything by Terry Tempest Williams, of course, I love, but I started with Refuge, uh, her book about, breast cancer and generations of women and the Great Salt Lake. She's just a beautiful writer about natural history and, conservation. And then, Bill McKibben, the End of Nature. He published in 1980 about climate change, and he's written several books since then. But, The End of Nature is a great book if you haven't read it already. Do you have a favorite piece of outdoor gear that's under a hundred dollars? I just got back from Costa Rica and the one thing that I took with me that I was so thankful for, and I always have with me, is my, it's super light collapsible REI  backpack that compresses down not much bigger than your fist. I just love that I can throw that in and use it whenever I'm traveling, especially if I'm not taking a larger backpack. Do you have any suggestions or advice for folks wanting to get into the outdoor adventure biz or conservation biz? I always say start with your own network. Whether it's through college or school or friends, or family. You'll never know where your network can take you. Base Camp Outdoors is a fabulous job board for those who are looking to get into the outdoor industry and conservation. And then the Futurist Project is a really remarkable outdoor leadership program for those looking for mentorship, post-college. But my biggest piece of advice that I would want to leave listeners with is "remember to follow your passions and interests. There's a way to have them lead you into a career that you love." As we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to say to our listeners or ask of our listeners? Yeah, I think if you work at a company, check out the Conservation Alliance and become a member. And if you're already an employee at a member company, just want to see you get more engaged with our lobby trips and nominating and voting on our grantees. You can definitely learn more at the Conservation Alliance, website, but, mostly for everyone else listening, I think while individual actions matter, and I always want to encourage people to do things like I mentioned before about your voice, your choice, your vote, remember that collective action is far more powerful. Where can people find you if they'd like to follow up? They can find me on Instagram at @nroutdoors, or nicole@conservationalliance.com and of course, LinkedIn when you think about networking, that's a great place and I'm happy to connect with folks on LinkedIn.

Doug Peacock's award winning book is: WAS IT WORTH IT? A WILDERNESS WARRIOR'S LONG TRAIL HOMEDoug Peacock is an American naturalist, author, and filmmaker who is best known for his work in conservation and activism on behalf of grizzly bears in the American West.Here is my VIDEO version of the interview with Doug:https://youtu.be/eYltXSGI0LMMORE about Doug Peacock here:https://dougpeacock.net/You need a copy of this book! Find it here:https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwib0r3V1_T9AhW55uMHHbI6BeoYABAAGgJ5bQ&ae=2&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESbeD2gisjHru--HzCA31EZbLWoOjL2LZNCxv7-JvbcbdvpqS-3BR21xD02Vv6iOCbNlPelaHdP_9dBSpiconV54SaT4JUr-pB1ppmpYRmIOPVsGSOgOOFWTp8rHa03NWVwSegv5bHzOr_XObSlck&sig=AOD64_3wNJ38YXKpxymm7aJok3Bgvg9OVA&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwi897TV1_T9AhUkjIkEHTejBXsQ0Qx6BAgGEAE&nis=8&dct=1For the audio only version of this episode please use this link:https://www.buzzsprout.com/268133/12507653Doug is the founder and chairman of the board of Save the Yellowstone Grizzly. During his service as a Green Beret medic in the Vietnam War. After the war, Doug suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and found solace in the wilderness, much like he did when he was a boy growing up in northern Michigan, exploring swamps and forests and remote places - After the war he devoted himself to observing and documenting grizzly bears in their natural habitat.Doug was a long time friend of the late Edward Abbey, who wrote THE MONKEY WRENCH GANG, where Peacock's essence and spirit and passion was immortalized in the character known as George Washington Hayduke. Sir Doug, is the author of several books, including "Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness”..... He has also worked as a consultant on several documentaries, including "Grizzly Country" and "In the Path of the Grizzly."  Doug says bringing a gun into grizzly country will get you more into trouble than out of it…just look at the cover of his book, need I say more on that. Suffice it to say, grizzly bears saved his life…he has devoted his life to protecting theirs. Doug is a dog lover, a cat lover, father of two children - his amazing wife and life partner Andrea founded Elk River Books with cousin and friend Marc Beaudin….in Livingston, Montana - where, bye the way, my brother had previously lived, making complete the connection of how Jeff and Doug were pals. …you know, if Jeff had never left Livingston I'd be willing to bet a nickel he'd still be alive….Doug continues to work desperately towards protecting grizzly bears and their habitat through his writing, speaking engagements, and activism….and…talking to guys like me who read his book….and just had to tell everyone about itHere's my inspiring conversation with Doug Peacock about his book WAS IT WORTH IT: A WILDERNESS WARRIOR'S LONG TRAIL HOME  published by Patagonia.yes that PatagoniaThank you for visiting. Please consider becoming a Channel Member for access to perks and to become part of a growing community:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEk3e_XGyNnqwK2ZlxH7fEA/joinSupport the show

On this episode of the Outdoor Biz Podcast, I sit down with Actual Outdoors Founder, Pro Photographer, and Podcaster John Holdmeier. John is a lifelong outdoor enthusiast and a fantastic photographer. He loves getting outside, more often than not on a river and you can hear him on the Nature Untold Podcast. Facebook Twitter Instagram The Outdoor Biz Podcast Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Sign up for my Newsletter HERE.  I'd love to hear your feedback about the show! You can contact me here: email: rick@theoutdoorbizpodcast.com or leave me a message on Speakpipe! Brought to you by: Wolfgang Man and Beast Show Notes So let's start off with how you fell in love with the outdoors. How'd that come about? Yeah. So, it was really early on for me. I, consider myself super lucky in that my family was into the outdoors. And so my dad and my mom, to enough of an extent that she would come do stuff with us but it wasn't her first choice always. Older sister, and then I have a younger brother as well, but all of us were getting outside since my first memory. That looked like the normal travel vacation, hiking kind of stuff, early on, but also a lot of float trips going down to Southern Missouri. What inspired you to commit to an outdoor lifestyle, or did you learn that through becoming a river guide? It was definitely those experiences as a kid. My dad was into fly fishing pretty early on, and so I was fly fishing when I was really little as well. And that was the thing. I was so lucky to have all that, all the gear, and all the access to be able to do that. But yeah, it was those early experiences and really what made me feel like there was nothing else in life where I like couldn't wait to go do it. You weren't burning to be an engineer or an architect? Not even in the slightest at all. And it was different back then because this is probably nine late nineties that we're talking about here. I was lucky because my older sister worked at a gear shop and, she got to go to OR. I think it was in Salt Lake when she was going and she would always come back with these stories of what Outdoor Retailer was like and all the free gear that she would bring back and stuff. And that kind of gave me a little bit of a sense of oh, there, okay, so there's a bigger industry here. So did you work in the same shop? I did a little bit. So I was still closer to St. Louis and our local shop there is The Alpine Shop. That's where I started out. The crazy thing about my hometown in our area here in the greater St. Louis area in Missouri is that we have a pretty rich history of Outdoor industry companies being located here, and even manufacturing. Back in the day, Kelty and American Rec were based here. So did you just walk in and apply for a job? Were you must have known somebody. Yeah. it's a small town, right? I knew several people that had worked out there. And I actually just saw that they posted a position for a product development role. I think Facebook was around at the time and I think they posted it on Facebook. And so I reached out and said, Hey, I'd love to talk about this. Cuz at that point, I had 10-plus years of retail knowledge. And that's really the best kind of knowledge you can get from a product standpoint is figuring out how to learn about all that gear. It sounds like you enjoyed your time with HKD Global. Tell our listeners about your role there and about that. I'd say, I've had several of these experiences, in my development through my career journey where they've just been massively transformative. Starting that job at Alps was a really transformative thing to see how all the production and all that happened. And then HKD, my role there, they do OEM manufacturing. So we made, I think at one point, if not still, I'm not sure, it was something like 70 of the camping tents that you can buy in stores came out of our factories. My role there was a product manager and also a brand manager as we started trying to launch some of our own kinds of internal brands. It's a Korean-owned company and the headquarters are in Hong Kong. and the manufacturing was in Bangladesh, and then our office was in the U.S. We were a really small team in the US of, I wanna say probably six of us at the time. and so yeah, they needed somebody who understood the product and could design the product and, so it was, I say product manager, but it was really like product manager slash tent designers slash market marketing slash Yeah, six hats. So then in 2022, you launched Actual Outdoors, a complete shift from product into photography. What was the catalyst for that? Yeah. So you know, I have, like you just mentioned, I had been making products and on the product side of things for a really long time. so there was a little bit of a burnout feeling starting with that. you get to a point where you're looking at everything that you're doing and going, there are so many brands making so many products. Yeah. It's too much similar. Yeah. Yeah, I just, I really wanted to shift gears again because I keep having these moments where I see something new and interesting that I wanna learn more about and photography and I would say marketing in general and video and, the visual side of things like brand identity design and logos and colorways and all that. That was always like, just the most interesting thing to me, even though I had not. Done as much of a deep dive in my career into those things. And so, I started taking photos back in my H K D days because we needed photos for packaging. Oh, So, it was like we'd make these tents for Walmart or Cole or whoever it was, and they're like, Hey, we need a good photo of this And then we started looking around trying to figure out how much it cost to get a really nice photo. And then it's oh wow, okay. John, can you take a picture? And I was like, I wanna learn how to do this, so. Oh, cool. yeah, so I started there and then I would say like the creative process of that photography and video stuff, nothing has captured me like that, has since. And you also host the Nature Untold Podcast originally founded by Emily Holland. How did that come about? Shout out to Emily. She's one of the original outdoor podcasters I believe as well. I wanna say it's probably about a year ago now that I took over hosting. We're a show about sobriety and recovery, of all types of recovery in how those things interact with the outdoor industry and the outdoor space. And so my personal journey, I have over eight years of sobriety, so I went. to a rehab facility back in my Alps days. And, quit drinking. And so it was much needed. And by far the best thing that I've ever done for myself in my life. Yeah. it's made such a huge difference. And, I'm always trying to look for ways to be a part of and stay a part of that sobriety and, Sober curious, recovery community. And, Emily had also recently quit drinking. And she is a podcast person and she wanted to start this podcast about sobriety in the outdoors. And so she started it and I came on as a guest. And then, she did like connect one and connect two, and then she had, just a lot of things get busy in within her life. And, she's also doing her own new career thing after leaving a corporate gig. And so things started getting pretty busy on her end. And, she asked if I would be interested in hosting and I was like, absolutely I would love to do that. And so I've been hosting for about a year now and, So without giving away any state secrets, any projects, or future projects you're working on, you can talk about? Yeah, we've got a few things. We've been going for about a year now with Actual Outdoors and, we've done a few really cool projects this year so far. One that I would love to give a shout-out to is our project with Illumine. They partner with nonprofits and they sell apparel that has custom artwork for the nonprofit and then a pretty sizable percentage of the proceeds goes to whoever their partner is for that month. And so we did some branding, with them, brand identity and my partner Lindsay is the other half of actual outdoors, and she's a graphic designer by trade. And so, that's another big part of what we do. The coolest thing I'm looking forward to this next year, we're just getting into getting some of this stuff out to the public, is, we're working with a good friend of mine, Chev Dixon, who's based up in Yonkers, New York. He's just the past, eight years or so, he's been doing this amazing work in Yonkers where he's getting people from the community out on the water, on the Hudson River right there in New York. You can see the bridges in the city in the background. It's pretty wild. Yeah. And, they're getting tons of people out on the water. And so we've, we've helped with his website. That will go live soon. Sounds like you get outdoors a bunch, which outdoor activities do you participate in? Probably all of them. Yeah, it's a little bit of all of 'em. As I said, was super lucky growing up. We got to do everything, with my dad taking us outside, so I've dabbled in almost, every outdoor activity, but really the two biggest that stuck for me, anything around, like free-flowing water, clear water, rivers, so, whitewater kayaking and then fly fishing are the two biggest ones. Do you have any suggestions or advice for folks wanting to get into the outdoor biz? Yeah, absolutely. I would say, however, you can fit in or get into a spot, do it. Go for it. If it's retail if it's as an assistant if it's as some sort of like social media management, whatever, the role that you can prepare yourself to get into it, go for it. And don't be thinking like, I have to wait and wait and then get this amazing engineer dream job that I want, or whatever it is, as soon as you can get your foot in the door, do it. What's your favorite piece of outdoor gear under a hundred dollars? So I had to think long and hard about this. There are a lot of 'em out there and I use everything so much. I use it all the time and then it goes back with me through my history. The Sawyer Squeeze. Do you read a lot, or have any favorite books? I do read quite a bit and it's hard to narrow down what books have really made a big deal to me, but, going back, I loved reading everything from Ed Abbey. but also, I would say Ego is the Enemy is one of the biggest books, it changed my trajectory. And then, another one that I really loved, I read this past year was Subtract, and its subtitle is, the Untapped Science of Less. And to go along with that one, Essentialism by Greg McKeown. Stolen Focus is another one that I read this year by Johan Harry. And then the last one, I promise. But if you're in marketing at all, Mark Schaffer has several good books. Marketing Rebellion is a really good starting point for him. As we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to say to our listeners? I'd say the biggest thing for me is I'd really love it if people could go check out what we're doing with Actual Outdoors. That's the biggest thing I'm trying to get to grow this year. And, we've been really learning a ton and growing in small steps and trying to do everything the right way for trying to get more people outside and make the outdoors more approachable and more accepting and more inviting. So, I would say that people can check that out and check out our website and reach out if they have any questions. That would be the big ask I  have. And the website is actualoutdoors.com. Actual Outdoors Instagram John Holdmeier Instagram for any, nature untold questions or sobriety questions or anything, I'm always down to talk to people and have conversations around that, there as well.    

The writer Edward Abbey is revered by many desert activists, and roundly criticized by others, all based on the provocative and occasionally offensive things he wrote. Chris and Alicia talk about the prescient and helpful things Abbey wrote, and about the things they wish that neither Abbey nor anyone else had ever said, some of which have gained currency among the most violent practitioners of rightwing politics. Support us!: https://90milesfromneedles.com/patreon See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WARNING! EXPLICIT LANGUAGE! Cameron sits down with Jake Kepler of Black Canyon Anglers and Patrick Blackdale. Numerous topics are discussed including money shot in fishing films, working in the gorge and being a family, conservation and protecting the river, Ed Abbey, riverbooty, private river access and keeping public lands in public hands.

In this episode, Alicia points out that despite Chris's delusions of popularity, there are people who don't know who he is. Hilarity ensues. Transcript Season 0, Episode 4: Who is Chris? Chris Clarke: This podcast is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, who give us the resources we need to produce each episode, you can join their ranks at 90milesfromneedles.com/patreon.  Alicia Pike: So Chris, when you invited me to be a part of this podcast, I naturally assumed I would need an introduction, but I figured everybody knew who you were. You have a storied background in being a desert defender. I figured everybody'd just naturally, like, “oh, it's Chris Clarke.” I don't necessarily think that's true. I think out of the 7 billion people on this planet, there are a few who don't know who you are.  CC: Good point. What should we do about that?  AP: Maybe we should do a little special introduction to Chris Clarke. [Intro music] Bouse Parker: The sun is a giant blow torch aimed at your face. There ain't no shade nowhere. Let's hope you brought enough water. It's time for 90 Miles from Needles, the desert protection podcast, with your hosts, Chris Clarke and Alicia Pike. AP: So who are you, Chris? CC: I am just this guy. I live near Joshua tree with my wife, Lara and my dog, Heart and 14,000 fathead minnows in a former swimming pool. Are there specific things you think we ought to talk about?  AP: I think your background in ways that you've been building momentum to get to where you are today. CC: Well, my first visit to the desert, I was six years old. It was the summer, 1966. I have a few really vivid memories of it. I remember camping at Park Moabi, south of Needles on the Colorado River and being sick. Because it had just been so hot and I'd been drinking gallons of really bad theoretically fruit flavored stuff, an inauspicious introduction to the desert. But there were things like going to Petrified Forest National Monument — at the time it was before it was a national park — and seeing petrified logs and the Painted Desert, which was absolutely breathtaking. Even as a little kid, I was like, “wow, this exists?” It was so different from the small towns of upstate New York, where I grew up.  16 years later, I was 22 years old and heading to California, sitting in a Greyhound bus that was heading west on interstate 80, going across the Great Salt Desert at night, and just got a sense of something immense and awesome out there. And the next day Northern Nevada looked incredibly desolate to me, cause my eyes had not yet adapted to the west, and It was terrifying at the same time, it was really intriguing. And now of course, Northern Nevada looks like a tropical rainforest to me, cause it's just all really lush sagebrush and junipers and Pines and things like that. A couple of years after that, uh, my girlfriend at the time was heading to law school and we were doing the tour of campuses and left the bay area, got to Mojave pretty late at night, stopped in a restaurant that's no longer there for dinner. It was. Amazingly picturesque even in the dead of night, woke up with a start because my girlfriend had fallen asleep at the wheel and then woken up after about a second and hit the brakes reflexively. And we piled out of the car. There were Joshua trees and saguaros growing together, and there was a coyote standing in the middle of the road, laughing at us, and it was just intoxicating. And I got propelled into it by some cursing and brake noise. And all of a sudden I was in this magical land. It was amazing to me. I just couldn't believe what was there. I mean, I knew that desert existed, but my introduction to the desert was just life altering.  AP: I'm struck thinking about this listening. I've heard some of these stories before, but yeah, I grew up in the desert. San Diego doesn't look like it desert, but I knew from a very young age that we had planted a bunch of Palm trees and paved over what was Chaparral and it, you know, basically desert. And all the road trips I took with my mom as a kid were to Arizona and Nevada seeing other parts of California that it's all desert. Like I've never known anything else. And it's striking to me to think you came here from lush green water-rich woods back east. And I grew up in this dry desert environment. And I feel like I can fall in love with nature wherever I go, but I'm just realizing that I'm taking it for granted, that I grew up in the desert and have always cherished the Chaparral as that's home to me, that that smell to this day, whenever petrichor hits the air, I'm transported to my childhood and just being wandering around in the canyons and just being free. And in my church. CC: Nice. Yeah. I mean, it was, it really took some time to get acquainted with how the desert is supposed to look. And I think one of the reasons that's a hot button issue for me when people bring their assumptions from elsewhere to the desert is because I know I did it. And not that I want to detail every single trip I took to the desert, you know, cause I'm already well on the way down that road, I'm going to just stop. But I was living in the Bay Area and I had this old beaten up Volkswagen pickup truck that Really should not have been driven to the store, much less to Organ pipe national monument, but I tried, but I was young and foolish and it was an adventure, but because it was a truck that was likely to break down, I realized as I was on interstate 40 passing the East Mojave National Scenic Area, which later became Mojave National Preserve, that I was absolutely terrified by the landscape and wondering how fast I would die if I got a flat tire. And this is interstate 40! I mean, it's basically a linear extension of Los Angeles. There's no danger on interstate 40, except from driving. Somebody will see you and stop and give you water and take you where you need to go. And that's just the way it is, even in the late eighties. But it was a daunting landscape. Even after a decade of living in California, I was not yet used to the Mojave. I'd only ever seen it at night, really. And it was just… it was sublime in the original sense of beautiful and terrifying both. The landscape got its hooks into me.  I was at that point working for environmental organizations, writing and editing and publishing magazines, newspapers, that kind of thing, All of which had to do with preserving the environment. And in those days, a lot of the work that I was doing. Involved much moister places.  AP: Julia Butterfly CC: Exactly right. It was Redwood summer and people were protesting Pacific lumber cutting down the last of the old growth redwoods. And I was getting up into the Redwood trees and sword, ferns and salad and Western azaleas and just all this beautiful stuff that I still love. And thinking about the Sierra Nevada, I had a job for a while, updating wilderness press trail guides. And so I was like hiking through Yosemite and Tahoe and south of Yosemite I'm around mammoth and Ansel Adams, wilderness, places like that. And so I just really loved California, but the desert, the desert was where I went when I needed a psychological break. I would get really fed up with my job or just with life in general. And I would throw a bunch of stuff in the pickup truck, head out into the central valley in California and drive south. Sometimes I would drive north and end up in lava beds or something like that, but mostly I would drive south and get to the Mojave and maybe I wouldn't go any farther than red rock canyon, state park, just inside the west edge of the Mojave, but it was where I could decompress.  And at one point, and I remember the precise month. It was October, 2003. I was on route 66 between Essex and Cadiz. I just had this incredibly strong feeling that I belonged there and it wasn't like “I belong in nature.” It wasn't like “I belong in wild places.” It was, “I belong here.” And it took me five years to move.  I was really obsessed with deserts reading well reading Ed Abbey, of course, and developing a rather nuanced critique of his work reading people like Gary Nabhan. His writing is marvelous. Terry Tempest Williams, Ellen Meloy. If I had to recommend one desert writer to inspire you, it would be Ellen Meloy  AP: Big fan. Big fan. CC: And my own writing, took a decidedly desert turn by had this blog while I was living in the east bay. And it was all about nature in the east bay, except that it also had a bunch of nature in the desert stuff. And pretty much nobody was surprised when my divorce happened, and my then-wife suggested that I moved to the desert and she was really being nice.  AP: “Get out of here and go move to the desert!” CC: Yup.  AP: If we could back up real quick, I think it's important. At what point during your college years or wherever it was in that transformative point in your life, did you see that you were going to move in the direction of advocacy? CC: That was pretty early on! and it was college years. This is in Buffalo, New York. I got involved in the support for the defendants in the trials that were going on over the Attica prison riot. So I, I came into activism from a social justice point of view.  And before I left Buffalo, I had gotten involved in anti-war stuff and resistance to draft registration. I was the local person who refused to register publicly. There were hundreds of thousands of people that refused to register quietly, but I put out a press release. And from age 14 or 15, I saw myself as an activist. To the point where there was a Period of about three years in my mid-twenties where I wasn't doing any kind of activism and it was a crisis of identity. Because I just didn't recognize myself without taking part in something.  In 1989, went into activism essentially full-time, and that's been since to one degree or another. And as I think I've said on this podcast before in the desert, even though we are fighting against things It's pretty obvious that we are fighting for something, you know, we are fighting for this beautiful landscape that has a right to exist, regardless of what services it offers us or not. It's just, it's a place that has integrity and its own identity. And it's not simply here to serve us though It does. And it's just a beautiful entity, this large piece of essentially undisturbed habitat.  There was this day I was in the desert for a minute and I was heading back into the city and I didn't want to go. And there was a Mojave Yucca that was growing out of the lava flow and I was jealous of that Yucca cause it could sit in that spot and just survive and hang on and endure and witness all these things for hundreds of years without worrying about sunscreen. Or fleece clothing in the winter. It didn't need to have a canteen, didn't need a tent, none of that stuff. And I was just sitting there suffused with rank envy of this plant because it could do what I wanted to do, which was stay there. And I couldn't. And I felt that way for a few minutes. And then I realized that there was one thing that the plant couldn't do for itself, which was defend itself from people and their crazy ideas about what should be there in. We're doing this little teaser episode to introduce people to who I am, if they don't know my work and more people don't than do. And we could talk about the resume, sure. I worked at the Ecology Center in Berkeley for nine years, and then I worked, uh, Earth Island Institute publishing the Earth Island Journal for a decade, and then ended up being the environment editor at KCET public television in Los Angeles for a good five years. AP: You are currently the… CC: The Ruth Hammett Associate Director of the California desert program for the National Parks Conservation Association. And it's a lovely job that really like the people I work with and the things that we're working for and opinions expressed on this podcast are not those of the National Parks Conservation Association, though they are more than welcome to adopt them for their own. This is a side gig. But if I was asked what my career is, it would be hard to choose between activist and writer, because I have a foot in each world, the KCET job burned out my writing circuits for awhile, and I still haven't picked up too much just because I wrote essentially 1500 pieces [note: actually closer to 1750] for them in the space of five years. It's been hard for me to get that motivation back to do that.  AP: It was exhaustive. I think that those 1500 pieces [see above] could be compiled into a book and be a sort of desert manual, because I know that I personally shared so many of those articles to people who had questions for me, that I knew the answers because I had read your article, but I wanted them to read the article to get the in depth background on cholla, on ancient creosote on whatever it was that we were talking about on trail that day, you wrote so much that contributed to my education in those KCET days that, like I said, I think it could be a book desert manual. on occasion I'd find myself feeling like, oh, there's this article he wrote about Joshua trees from I'd go type in “Chris Clarke. Jaegeriana” And go find that article so that I can reread because they're so dense people talk about food as nutrient dense. I feel like your writing is like that. It's food for the desert Curious mind.  CC: Yeah. And it had to be information dense because for awhile, I was expected to write three stories in a typical day And so I didn't have time to pad them out and put in prepositions and things like that. Yeah. They're rather… rather jam packed with info. It's nice to feel like I'm starting to want to write again, whether it's material for this podcast or finishing up the book I've been intending to do on Joshua trees for some time, or the email newsletter that has been languishing a little bit called Letters from the Desert. But yeah, that's what I do for creativity, aside from putting cacti in the ground and that kind of thing.  AP: We all need a break sometimes, especially when you're creating out of passion and love, and I could understand very easily why you would experience bouts of not being able to write because it hurts. And even while you may be writing something about something you love, that's something is generally being threatened…  CC: or no longer exists.  AP: or no longer exists. CC: A more important way of saying who I am is something that I get at sometimes when I'm speaking to people, if I'm doing something formal and if I think people are going to go for it. And we're in the desert. I ask people to close their eyes and just relax for a minute and then breathe in and then exhale, and then breathe in again and think about the desert plants that provided you with the oxygen that you're taking in. And then exhale, and think about the carbon dioxide that you're providing to those plants. And that means you're part of the ecosystem. You are part of the desert. And you are part of the desert that has grown aware of itself and of the desert. You can act to defend the desert against things that might harm it. We are the desert's immune system.  AP: If we so choose to be.  CC: if we choose to be. And we're not the entirety of it, the desert has a lot of ways it can heal itself and protect itself. It's got cactus thorns and poison water and, you know, rattlesnakes and all that kind of stuff. We are a part of the desert's immune system and that's who I am. When I am at my best. AP: And I sure do think it's a great thing that you have that visceral awareness of how important it is that we make other people aware: You're not some outside source. You are part of the source and I I've always admired your work. And I look forward to the work we're going to do on this podcast, Disseminating that important information. CC: Me too. [Outro] Bouse Parker: This season zero preview episode of 90 Miles from Needles was produced by Alicia Pike and Chris Clarke. Podcast artwork by the wonderful Martin Mancha. intro and outro music is by Brightside Studio. Follow us on Twitter at @90mifromNeedles and on Facebook at facebook.com/ninetymilesfromneedles. Find us wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our Patreon supporters: Jeff Hunter Cat Lazaroff Sergey Konozenko Karl Young Monica L. Mahoney Lorraine Suzuki Madhusudan Katti cara b Derek Loranger Jim Stanger Eve Brown Meera Sethi Luana Lynch Sarah Jane Kennington Sean Sharp Sam Easley Patrick O'Driscoll Juvenio Guerra Lynn Sweet Heather Hurley Florian Boyd Kathy Holmes Michele Simmons Anne Graham Terry McGlynn Cody Hanford Bonnie Brady Darryl Evans Mary Ann Ruiz Anne Kelly Caroline Conway Michael Mack Adan Lopez Deborah Bollinger Brian Fies John Griesemer Juniper Harrower Matthew Woodman Judith Lynn Laffoon S.P. Justin Tappan Riah Buchanan Brendan R Cummings Kenneth C Erickson Brett Barry Tenkai Kariya Jasmeet Singh Gloria Putnam Laraine Turk Charles Peterson Sarah Cardin All characters on this podcast are angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night. Support this podcast by visiting us at 90milesfromneedles.com/patreon and making a monthly pledge of as little as five bucks. This has been Bouse Parker. You're all invited back next time to this locality. Support our show!: https://90milesfromneedles.com/patreon See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://90milesfromneedles/patreon See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mitch Reed, Ed Abbey, Connie Johnson and Troy Green joins the show to discuss Purple Heart Honorees.

you can find us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/amarillorockspodcast https://www.patreon.com/amarillorocks Still Austin (stillaustin.com) Leftwoods (Leftwoods.com) Thick the Kings of Texas Schwag Rock Where's Ed Abbey when you Knead him (not available online) 2002 Cowboys and Engines (a concept Piece) Matt Martindale Aint Afraid https://open.spotify.com/track/2XZf5IuWq76wXzJZbH48r4?si=0056ae00d02a4a0a Lyric Lee S.o.S. Different ft Sonnett https://soundcloud.com/lyric-lee-imalyricist Amarillo Music Scene ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday 9-10 Spicy Mikes - 6pm James Owens Hoots 10 pm - Summer Dean - -Special Announcement - January 16 -Son Volt - $50 @$15 , advance $20 sept 17 ,Day of $23 - Marshalls Tavern - 930 pm Loaded Six Chesneys - 8pm Jaime Richards Chalice Abbey - Rigby Summer and Kyle Reid 7pm ($15) Rounders - 9pm Texas transplants Craft Cocktail - GonFiv5 Crush - 730ish - Tanner Lane Band 730 Landshark Burgers - 7pm - the Smokey Janes Teddy Jacks 7pm - a town Rockers Metropolital Speakeasy - Alma Duo 8pm GLC- 8pm - Dale Watson and his Lonestars PSE- 7pm - Touching VooDoo Smokey Joes 8pm - Texas Blues Rangers Handlebar - Romano Carbajal Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse- 830 pm Dale Smith Skooterz - 10pm Black Heart Saints - (Free Show) special guest Profit Drama Whisky River - Red Dirt Rockers 9pm - Saturday - 9-11 Get Fit Jak Thurmond 2pm Broken Echo (?) Hoots 9pm Mason Lively 9pm 18+ (with Rhett Uhland) Crush - 8pm - Love Session Marshalls - 8pm - RFP Presents BIG HEAD BENJI - S.O.S. SilenT; Yung Kam Nyke Nguyen more TBA Starlight Ranch Event Center - Starlight Canyon - 7pm - Nelson Mckinney Band PSE - 7pm Bomb City Sound GLC- 8pm - Matt Martindale Chesneys 8pm - Ty Blackburn Smokey Jane on the Patio Smokey Joes - 8pm Luke Kuopke & the Bad Habits Metropolitan Speak Easy - Landshark Burgers - 7pm rien nash 6pm Handlebar - 7pm Caliche Dust Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse- 830 pm Dale Smith Bar Z Winery - Rak -45 5 pm Sunday - 9-12 Leftwoods- 9pm - JERK! La Frontera 5pm - La Hacienda - 7pm Smokey Joes- Ace Rodriguez 3pm Monday - 9-13 Smokey Joes- 6pm - Rounders - 7 pm Leftwoods 9pm Tuesday - 9-14 Leftwoods - Labellas - 6-8 Dale Smith Marshalls- Open Mic Nights with Sabin 8pm Colton Wilcher Smokey Joes 6pm (every Tuesday) Starlight Theatre - (Sam Houston Park) Crush - 7pm 575 Pizza Civic Circle - Andy Chase 630pm (every Tuesday) Wednesday - 9-15 Smokey Joes - Solano Project 6 pm (every Wednesday) Broken Spoke Ty Blackburn (every Wednesday) Rounders Buster Bledsoe Open Mic - 7pm (every Wedesday) Hoots - Wednesday Night is for Songwriters with Cameron Heard (every Wednesday) Leftwoods - 9pm PSE- Tennessee Tuck and Gary Wayne 6pm Crush Loudmouth Tooley 730 pm Whiskey River -8pm Thursday - 9-16 Leftwoods - 9pm The Barlow Amarillo Botanical Fardens - 6pm the Tweeks (Last show of the Summer) Labellas - Trent Britton 6-8pm Smokey Joes - 6pm PSE - 7pm - Mitchell Ford - (Last show - Moving to Lubbock) Marshalls - 9pm Crush - 730pm Landshark Burgers - Andy Chase - 630pm Hoots - Broken Spoke - Buster Bledsoe Open Jam 7pm

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://davidaolson.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/6519/

Science and conservation in the United States is made up of primarily white scientists and Western ways of thinking. This is something that Sergio Avila saw clearly when he first came to the US from Mexico to study mountain lions and jaguars along the border. Here, we speak with Sergio about his experiences in conservation and the need to incorporate diverse ways of thinking into science that includes, respects, and learns from Indigenous communities and people of color. Sergio challenges conservationists to expand their role models away from authors like Ed Abbey and John Muir and look towards the written, spoken, and on the ground knowledge that is held within Indigenous communities and within communities of color.

Follow Jay on FacebookGo on a multiday trip with Jay & AZRAGo on a daily Moab Jett trip with JayBook a "boat operator class" at SSI with Jay Lil more about Jay:Jay's Record: 14 Grand Canyon Trips in one year Jay's goal to get 200 trips before he turned 50. Currently at 157.Famous words/quotes by Jay"Never ruin a good story with too much of the truth""Skill appreciates Skill""Stay Frosty""Go with the Flow", "Roll with the Punches"Be ADAPTABLE!IMPROVISE!Good time going! "When in doubt.....pull it out!" (when speaking about outboard motors)Don't forget that everyone's struggling somewhere/somehow. Have a little more empathy...In this episode we chat about:Jay's best bud and childhood friend Scott Solle aka  (SolGear)YASNY (YOU AIN'T SEE NOTH'N YET") ADVENTURES where he met the Blank Brothers over at Moab JettLegendary Bob Quist of Moki Mac Rumor has it that Bob Quist  (aka Hayduke) roamed around the Southwest with Ed Abbey and Ken Sleight (aka Seldom Seen)  Monkey Wrenching and playing poker together. -Shoutout to Ray's Burger Shack. Order Jay's favorite...Double chops with custom fries1988 Crown Victoria Station Wagon #vanlifeDenali Raft Adventures and Denali Outdoor CenterJay does a Shoutout to the Gauley River. where he ventured twice. First time in 2008 and second in 2018. Mountain River Tours aka Class 6 Shoutout to Glen Goodrich on the Youghiogheny River6 mile slot canyon in AlaskaAzra bought Moki Mac in 2012. Clair (one of the Quist brothers) still does trips for AzraOARS bought Moki Mac Green River in 2012. Bob & Barbara Quist decided to buy a motorhome and travel the world.Jay's advice for guides that want to become a Grand Canyon River Guide:Take care of yourselfWork as a team (save your back!)Don't bite off the biggest piece of the pie (stick to your duties and don't overdo it)Durability and LongevityJay does a shoutout to boatwoman that have influenced him. Girls that "get it done" :Margeux Besterd, Connie Tibbits, Pam Quist (Clair's wife), & Alex TheveninShoutout to EddyLine WeldingSome photos of what it's like to be on a trip with Jay. Photo by David Zickl

On episode #27 of the Green Root Podcast, host & desert rat Josh Schlossberg talks with Sean Prentiss, author of Finding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave, about Ed Abbey’s influence on environmental activism & literature, the man’s most controversial views, and the beauty and mystery of the American Southwest.

This episode digs into a key concept of waste and the philosophy of Georges Bataille that Zak Podmore uses to define waste.  The authors that have influenced his writing and given him insight into challenging topics are explored to include Charles Bowden and Ed Abbey.  Zak talks about the process of writing this book and the mentors that supported him: Amy Irvine, Craig Childs, Mark Sundeen.  Zak also explains the power of his Mom's life on his life, and then simply enough, uses his own adventures to weave all of this knowledge and wisdom into some fresh perspectives on the pressing layers of life that recirculate through generations.  Zak is writing and publishing this book in the beginning of his 3rd decade and he approaches it with frank humbleness and clarity.   

My goodness, there are times that I so miss the Sonoran Desert, especially when I leave the desert grassland and…

Doug Peacock took an unlikely path to becoming an icon of conservation. Following two tours in the Vietnam War as a Green Beret medic, he sought solace and comfort in the American Wilderness, where he began observing and then filming grizzly bears. He believed the bears saved his life, and he felt compelled to return the favor. Many people know Peacock as the inspiration for George Hayduke, the infamous character inThe Monkey Wrench Gang, the 1975 novel by Ed Abbey. Over the years, Peacock authored a number of books about his journey. At the 2019 Mountainfilm festival, in Telluride, Colorado, he sat down with veteran radio producer Scott Carrier to offer an enlightened perspective on the history of bears in this country, share some hysterical stories about his own encounters with the animals, and give his take on the big challenges that grizzlies face today.

The Capitol Reef Reader is not your typical national park guidebook. No trail, dining, or lodging information. Rather, The Capitol Reef Reader offers an incredible wealth of information in the essays Stephen Trimble has pulled together for this collection. Essays by the likes of Clarence Dutton who traveled the Southwest with Major John Wesley Powell, Ed Abbey, and that literary conservation giant, Wallace Stegner. We talk with Trimble this week about how he pulled together the wonderful essays in this anthology on Capitol Reef National Park. Erika Zambello makes a short stop at the Old Post Office Building in Washington, D.C., and we end the show with a look at two wonderful monuments in Arizona, Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano.

Grace Clark is a photographer from Road Town, USA — aka Teardrop Camper Land, America — aka Photography WheelHaus of the World — aka uhhhhhh So Grace is from Moorhead basically, but she was born in Idaho, and now she's living on the road for a while in a teardrop camper that she built, slangin' pizzas at music festivals and photographing the old haunts of Ed Abbey & many many other places too. If you were wondering, by the way, whether or not it's nice to have such a geographically complicated history (and present), I met Grace, and yeah, it sure seems like it. Anyway, I feel lucky to have been able to talk to Grace for a minute & to catch this strange and transitory moment in her life. You can find more info over on the blog on prairiegoth.com (along with links to her photos and a tour of her camper) or just look up Grace on Instagram: @graceannclark @campercraft Follow Grace's travels at: campercraftusa.com Or check out her portfolio: graceclarkphotography.com Today's show isn't sponsored by a cool yoga mat company but it could be and it should be, so... hmu prairiegoth.com/contact 

The Subprimes (Harper)  A wickedly funny dystopian parody set in a financially apocalyptic future America, from the critically acclaimed author ofTriburbia.  In a future America that feels increasingly familiar, you are your credit score. Extreme wealth inequality has created a class of have-nothings: Subprimes. Their bad credit ratings make them unemployable. Jobless and without assets, they've walked out on mortgages, been foreclosed upon, or can no longer afford a fixed address. Fugitives who must keep moving to avoid arrest, they wander the globally warmed American wasteland searching for day labor and a place to park their battered SUVs for the night. Karl Taro Greenfeld's trenchant satire follows the fortunes of two families whose lives reflect this new dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-financially-fittest America. Desperate for work and food, a Subprime family has been forced to migrate east, hoping for a better life. They are soon joined in their odyssey by a writer and his family--slightly better off, yet falling fast. Eventually, they discover a small settlement of Subprimes who have begun an agrarian utopia built on a foreclosed exurb. Soon, though, the little stability they have is threatened when their land is targeted by job creators for shale oil extraction. But all is not lost. A hero emerges, a woman on a motorcycle--suspiciously lacking a credit score--who just may save the world. In The Subprimes, Karl Taro Greenfeld turns his keen and unflinching eye to our country today--and where we may be headed. The result is a novel for the 99 percent: a darkly funny comedy about paradise lost and found, the value of credit, economic policy, and the meaning of family. Praise for The Subprimes "The Subprimes holds up a funhouse-mirror version of ourselves and our era. Karl Taro Greenfeld has written a masterful, viciously funny satire of our times, one that we ignore at our peril."--Ben Fountain "Set in a meticulously, terrifyingly imagined all-too-near future, The Subprimes is a potent cocktail of North American myth, equal parts John Steinbeck and Margaret Atwood, with a dash of benzene."--William Gibson "Greenfeld has a tendency to lean toward parody in his satiric style, but here he employs enough authenticity to terrify, enough black humor to disarm the story's inherent pessimism, and a surprising admiration for faith in its myriad forms."--Kirkus "The Subprimes admirably -- amazingly -- superimposes all the populist instincts of The Grapes of Wrath onto a dystopian future that is all too visible from our current moment. Greenfeld's compassion and understanding -- this novel's beating heart -- are what grabbed me most."--Charles Bock "A little Occupy, a little Ed Abbey, and a good deal of hope for solidarity in a screwed-up world -- The Subprimes is a superhero story for the rest of us."--Bill McKibben "Greenfeld has produced a fascinating novel about life in the age of economic uncertainty. It's a colorful tale of characters living on the edge combined with sharp social insights."--Walter Isaacson "Sharply observed and engrossing, The Subprimes depicts a future that is simultaneously absurd...and plausible. It would be too scary to read if it weren't so entertaining."--Edan Lepucki Karl Taro Greenfeld is the author of six previous books: the much-acclaimed novel Triburbia. The memoir Boy Alone; NowTrends; China Syndrome; Standard Deviations; and Speed Tribes. His award-winning writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Harper's, The Paris Review, The Nation, , The New York Times Magazine, Best American Short Stories 2009 and 2013, and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2012. Born in Kobe, Japan, he has lived in Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. He currently lives in California with his wife, Silka, and their daughters, Esmee and Lola.

The story of three pioneering river activists and the damming of wild rivers in the west. Ken Sleight, now in his late 80s, is a long time river and pack guide in southern Utah who fought the damming of Glen Canyon and filling of Lake Powell. The inspiration for Ed Abbey’s character Seldom Seen Smith in his book The Monkey Wrench Gang, Sleight is currently working on the campaign to remove Glen Canyon dam. Katie Lee, born 1919, a former Hollywood starlet, ran the Colorado through Glen Canyon long before it was dammed and in 1955 was the 175th person to run the Grand Canyon. An outspoken conservationist, singer and writer, she has spent her life fighting for rivers. Mark Dubois, co-founder of Friends of the River, Earth Day and International Rivers Network, began as a river guide who opened up rafting trips to disabled people in the 1970s. Dubois protested the damming and flooding of the Stanislaus River by chaining himself to a rock in the river as the water rose.

Wednesday on AU we remember Ed Abbey, author of “The Monkey Wrench Gang” and “Desert Solitaire,” and consider his legacy. What is Abbey's relevance today? What is the status of the environmental movement today?

Dave O reads a Utah writer variety pack from Pe Ell, Washington featuring Françios Camoin, Levi Peterson, and Ed Abbey (more Ed – interview and article in Canyon Country Zephyr) plus an original essay about Glen Canyon Dam. Then, Lewis and Clark check in from their homestretch after scoring some whiskey, and Dave enlists the … Continue reading Aerogrammes to Utah, St. Louis and the Gulf Coast – Postcard #9 →

In Volume 8, while in Pe Ell, WA, DaveO reads from Lewis and Clarks’ journals as they lose horses on Sept. 3rd, then Ed Abbey foretells the future in his modern classic, “Desert Solitaire”, then the Uncle Weed story continues with jovial demonstrations of eco-sabotage and desert enjoyment while camping with kids . Saddle up for: … Continue reading Lewis and Clark move west, Ed Abbey’s wisdom and Uncle Weed’s story – Postcard #8 →

In Volume five, DaveO hangs out in the dark at Olympia’s Seven Oars park and reads Part 2 of Uncle Weed’s Red Rock Adventure, chats about Edward Abbey, and reads from Ed’s “Desert Solitaire” (scored fresh from Olympia’s Last Word Books). https://archive.org/download/UncleWeedAndEdAbbeyHeadToCanyonlandsPostcard5/Uncle%20Weed%20and%20Ed%20Abbey%20head%20to%20Canyonlands%20-%20Postcard%20%235.mp3 Go into the canyons for Uncle Weed and Ed Abbey head to Canyonlands – … Continue reading Uncle Weed and Ed Abbey head to Canyonlands – Postcard #5 →