Podcast appearances and mentions of Forest service

Tonight, we bring you six firsthand encounters that challenge everything you think you know about Sasquatch stories. No howling in the night, no massive footprints, no blurry photographs. Instead, these accounts from timber workers, truck drivers, and Forest Service employees reveal something far more unsettling: evidence of intelligence, curiosity, and perhaps even attempts at communication from something that shouldn't exist.We begin in the timber lands of Coos County, Oregon, where a harvester operator discovered bent trees that defied physics and later found unexplainable hair wrapped in his equipment. From there, we travel Highway 97 through central Oregon with a truck driver who encountered something that walked like a man but stood eight feet tall and could keep pace with his moving vehicle.The third account takes us to a remote Forest Service monitoring station that was dragged thirty feet from its foundation by something strong enough to dent quarter-inch steel with what appeared to be handprints.The stories grow progressively stranger as we hear from a fisherman on the Klamath River who woke to find river rocks stacked in perfect spirals around his camp, followed by a ski patroller who tracked something walking upright through deep snow at angles that should have been impossible to climb.Our final and perhaps most disturbing account comes from a man who inherited his grandfather's remote cabin, along with forty years of journals documenting an ongoing attempt at communication with something that was learning to speak human words.These aren't the Bigfoot stories you've heard before. There's no dramatic monster reveal, no chase through the woods, no triumphant evidence collected. Instead, these are quiet accounts of boundaries crossed, of intelligence observed, and of evidence that conveniently disappears whenever proof might threaten the carefully maintained secret of something living alongside us in the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest. Each storyteller was forever changed by their experience, left with questions that have no comfortable answers and knowledge they can't quite reconcile with the ordinary world.A word of caution: these stories were selected specifically because they don't fit the usual narrative. They suggest something more complex than a hidden primate, something that watches us with the same intensity we search for it. Whether you're a believer, a skeptic, or somewhere in between, these accounts will leave you reconsidering what might be out there in the darkness between the trees.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsVisit Untold Radio AMBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

So far, President Donald Trump's steep cuts to the U.S. Forest Service haven't fueled the wildfire disaster Democrats and state officials feared. But experts warn the risks remain, with future cuts threatening prevention and response efforts. POLITICO's Jordan Wolman breaks down why Trump's cuts haven't fueled wildfire catastrophe and how America isn't out of the woods yet. Plus, the Trump administration announced a policy on Friday that will make it even harder for wind and solar projects to take advantage of federal tax credits. Josh Siegel is an energy reporter for POLITICO. Jordan Wolman is a sustainability reporter for POLITICO.  Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and producer of POLITICO Energy.  Alex Keeney is a senior audio producer at POLITICO.  Gloria Gonzalez is the deputy energy editor for POLITICO.  Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO. For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switch And for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy Our theme music is by Pran Bandi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back after a short break with an urgent update on threats to U.S. public lands, major environmental policy rollbacks, and ongoing oil and gas fights in New Mexico.Main Topics Covered:USDA's plan to reorganize and consolidate Forest Service operations.The SPEED Act and its potential to roll back NEPA protections.Oil and gas accountability battles in New Mexico: abandoned wells and fracking wastewater.Sneak peek of the Ecocide pilot episode on the Boundary Waters mining threat.Subscribe to our newsletter for in-depth coverage and extra stories we don't have time for on the podcast: theoutdoorminimalist.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel (@theoutdoorminimalist) so you don't miss the Ecocide pilot episode release this SeptemberHave tips, testimonials, or insights on public land changes? Submit them through our Google Form (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://forms.gle/JwC73G8wLvU6kedc9⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Resources & Links:USDA reorganization info & public comment: ⁠Email reorganization@usda.gov⁠Outdoor Alliance Action Alert: https://www.outdooralliance.org/blog/2025/8/7/the-forest-service-wants-to-hear-from-you-about-its-staffing-and-reorganization-plan ⁠NEPA Rollbacks & the SPEED Act: https://westernlaw.org/nepa-rollback-bill-speed-act-would-threaten-environment-communities-provide-legal-immunity-to-polluters/Abandoned wells in New Mexico: https://westernlaw.org/coalition-of-environmental-groups-tribal-leaders-experts-public-health-and-environmental-safety-public-funds-protection-central-to-preventing-abandoned-wells-in-nm/Fracking wastewater ban challenge: ⁠https://westernlaw.org/the-fix-is-in-clean-water-advocates-file-objection-in-big-oil-bid-to-reverse-state-ban-on-fracking-wastewater-discharge/Save the Boundary Waters update: https://www.savetheboundarywaters.org/did-twin-metals-just-get-leases-mine-watershed-boundary-waters-nope

President Trump had a virtual call Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European allies ahead of Mr. Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska. After the call, Zelenskyy said he told Mr. Trump that "Putin is bluffing" and that he "is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front." Tropical Storm Erin is expected to become a hurricane by Friday and a major hurricane by Sunday. CBS News meteorologist Rob Marciano reports on the storm's path. As climate change drives more destructive fires, there are fewer people than ever to fight them. This year, the Trump administration fired or gave early retirement to at least 5,000 U.S. Forest Service employees. A program in Burns, Oregon, shows how it's training the next generation. Brandon Doman, founder of The Strangers Project, joins "CBS Mornings" to talk about his exhibit featuring handwritten stories from people around the world. Taylor Swift opened up on the "New Heights" podcast, hosted by her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce, about her relationship with Travis and the moment she bought back ownership of her first six albums. She also revealed her new album "The Life of a Showgirl" will be released on Oct. 3. We've seen what AI can do on screens creating art, chatting and writing. Now, experts say it won't be long before we're interacting with AI-powered robots in the real world every day. MIT professor Daniela Rus talks about what's possible and what's safe. Galina Espinoza, editor-in-chief of the women's health site "Flow Space," joins "CBS Mornings" to talk about the emotional challenges and opportunities parents face when their children leave home. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast and article are free, but a lot of The Storm lives behind a paywall. I wish I could make everything available to everyone, but an article like this one is the result of 30-plus hours of work. Please consider supporting independent ski journalism with an upgrade to a paid Storm subscription. You can also sign up for the free tier below.WhoRob Katz, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Vail ResortsRecorded onAugust 8, 2025About Vail ResortsVail Resorts owns and operates 42 ski areas in North America, Australia, and Europe. In order of acquisition:The company's Epic Pass delivers skiers unlimited access to all of these ski areas, plus access to a couple dozen partner resorts:Why I interviewed himHow long do you suppose Vail Resorts has been the largest ski area operator by number of resorts? From how the Brobots prattle on about the place, you'd think since around the same time the Mayflower bumped into Plymouth Rock. But the answer is 2018, when Vail surged to 18 ski areas – one more than number two Peak Resorts. Vail wasn't even a top-five operator until 2007, when the company's five resorts landed it in fifth place behind Powdr's eight and 11 each for Peak, Boyne, and Intrawest. Check out the year-by-year resort operator rankings since 2000:Kind of amazing, right? For decades, Vail, like Aspen, was the owner of some great Colorado ski areas and nothing more. There was no reason to assume it would ever be anything else. Any ski company that tried to get too big collapsed or surrendered. Intrawest inflated like a balloon then blew up like a pinata, ejecting trophies like Mammoth, Copper, and Whistler before straggling into the Alterra refugee camp with a half dozen survivors. American Skiing Company (ASC) united eight resorts in 1996 and was 11 by the next year and was dead by 2007. Even mighty Aspen, perhaps the brand most closely associated with skiing in American popular culture, had abandoned a nearly-two-decade experiment in owning ski areas outside of Pitkin County when it sold Blackcomb and Fortress Mountains in 1986 and Breckenridge the following year.But here we are, with Vail Resorts, improbably but indisputably the largest operator in skiing. How did Vail do this when so many other operators had a decades-long head start? And failed to achieve sustainability with so many of the same puzzle pieces? Intrawest had Whistler. ASC owned Heavenly. Booth Creek, a nine-resort upstart launched in 1996 by former Vail owner George Gillett, had Northstar. The obvious answer is the 2008 advent of the Epic Pass, which transformed the big-mountain season pass from an expensive single-mountain product that almost no one actually needed to a cheapo multi-mountain passport that almost anyone could afford. It wasn't a new idea, necessarily, but the bargain-skiing concept had never been attached to a mountain so regal as Vail, with its sprawling terrain and amazing high-speed lift fleet and Colorado mystique. A multimountain pass had never come with so little fine print – it really was unlimited, at all these great mountains, all the time - but so many asterisks: better buy now, because pretty soon skiing Christmas week is going to cost more than your car. And Vail was the first operator to understand, at scale, that almost everyone who skis at Vail or Beaver Creek or Breckenridge skied somewhere else first, and that the best way to recruit these travelers to your mountain rather than Deer Valley or Steamboat or Telluride was to make the competition inconvenient by bundling the speedbump down the street with the Alpine fantasy across the country.Vail Resorts, of course, didn't do anything. Rob Katz did these things. And yes, there was a great and capable team around him. But it's hard to ignore the fact that all of these amazing things started happening shortly after Katz's 2006 CEO appointment and stopped happening around the time of his 2021 exit. Vail's stock price: from $33.04 on Feb. 28, 2006 to $354.76 to Nov. 1, 2021. Epic Pass sales: from zero to 2.1 million. Owned resort portfolio: from five in three states to 37 in 15 states and three countries. Epic Pass portfolio: from zero ski areas to 61. The company's North American skier visits: from 6.3 million for the 2005-06 ski season to 14.9 million in 2020-21. Those same VR metrics after three-and-a-half years under his successor, Kirsten Lynch: a halving of the stock price to $151.50 on May 27, 2025, her last day in charge; a small jump to 2.3 million Epic Passes sold for 2024-25 (but that marked the product's first-ever unit decline, from 2.4 million the previous winter); a small increase to 42 owned resorts in 15 states and four countries; a small increase to 65 ski areas accessible on the Epic Pass; and a rise to 16.9 million North American skier visits (actually a three percent slump from the previous winter and the company's second consecutive year of declines, as overall U.S. skier visits increased 1.6 percent after a poor 2023-24).I don't want to dismiss the good things Lynch did ($20-an-hour minimum wage; massively impactful lift upgrades, especially in New England; a best-in-class day pass product; a better Pet Rectangle app), or ignore the fact that Vail's 2006-to-2019 trajectory would have been impossible to replicate in a world that now includes the Ikon Pass counterweight, or understate the tense community-resort relationships that boiled under Katz's do-things-and-apologize-later-maybe leadership style. But Vail Resorts became an impossible-to-ignore globe-spanning goliath not because it collected great ski areas, but because a visionary leader saw a way to transform a stale, weather-dependent business into a growing, weather-agnostic(-ish) one.You may think that “visionary” is overstating it, that merely “transformational” would do. But I don't think I appreciated, until the rise of social media, how deeply cynical America had become, or the seemingly outsized proportion of people so eager to explain why new ideas were impossible. Layer, on top of this, the general dysfunction inherent to corporate environments, which can, without constant schedule-pruning, devolve into pseudo-summits of endless meetings, in which over-educated and well-meaning A+ students stamped out of elite university assembly lines spend all day trotting between conference rooms taking notes they'll never look at and trying their best to sound brilliant but never really accomplishing anything other than juggling hundreds of daily Slack and email messages. Perhaps I am the cynical one here, but my experience in such environments is that actually getting anything of substance done with a team of corporate eggheads is nearly impossible. To be able to accomplish real, industry-wide, impactful change in modern America, and to do so with a corporate bureaucracy as your vehicle, takes a visionary.Why now was a good time for this interviewAnd the visionary is back. True, he never really left, remaining at the head of Vail's board of directors for the duration of Lynch's tenure. But the board of directors doesn't have to explain a crappy earnings report on the investor conference call, or get yelled at on CNBC, or sit in the bullseye of every Saturday morning liftline post on Facebook.So we'll see, now that VR is once again and indisputably Katz's company, whether Vail's 2006-to-2021 rise from fringe player to industry kingpin was an isolated case of right-place-at-the-right-time first-mover big-ideas luck or the masterwork of a business musician blending notes of passion, aspiration, consumer pocketbook logic, the mystique of irreplaceable assets, and defiance of conventional industry wisdom to compose a song that no one can stop singing. Will Katz be Steve Jobs returning to Apple and re-igniting a global brand? Or MJ in a Wizards jersey, his double threepeat with the Bulls untarnished but his legacy otherwise un-enhanced at best and slightly diminished at worst?I don't know. I lean toward Jobs, remaining aware that the ski industry will never achieve the scale of the Pet Rectangle industry. But Vail Resorts owns 42 ski areas out of like 6,000 on the planet, and only about one percent of them is associated with the Epic Pass. Even if Vail grew all of these metrics tenfold, it would still own just a fraction of the global ski business. Investors call this “addressable market,” meaning the size of your potential customer base if you can make them aware of your existence and convince them to use your services, and Vail's addressable market is far larger than the neighborhood it now occupies.Whether Vail can get there by deploying its current operating model is irrelevant. Remember when Amazon was an online bookstore and Netflix a DVD-by-mail outfit? I barely do either, because visionary leaders (Jeff Bezos, Reed Hastings) shaped these companies into completely different things, tapping a rapidly evolving technological infrastructure capable of delivering consumers things they don't know they need until they realize they can't live without them. Like never going into a store again or watching an entire season of TV in one night. Like the multimountain ski pass.Being visionary is not the same thing as being omniscient. Amazon's Fire smartphone landed like a bag of sand in a gastank. Netflix nearly imploded after prematurely splitting its DVD and digital businesses in 2011. Vail's decision to simultaneously chop 2021-22 Epic Pass prices by 20 percent and kill its 2020-21 digital reservation system landed alongside labor shortages, inflation, and global supply chain woes, resulting in a season of inconsistent operations that may have turned a generation off to the company. Vail bullied Powdr into selling Park City and Arapahoe Basin into leaving the Epic Pass and Colorado's state ski trade association into having to survive without four (then five) of its biggest brands. The company alienated locals everywhere, from Stowe (traffic) to Sunapee (same) to Ohio (truncated seasons) to Indiana (same) to Park City (everything) to Whistler (same) to Stevens Pass (just so many people man). The company owns 99 percent of the credit for the lift-tickets-brought-to-you-by-Tiffany pricing structure that drives the popular perception that skiing is a sport accessible only to people who rent out Yankee Stadium for their dog's birthday party.We could go on, but the point is this: Vail has messed up in the past and will mess up again in the future. You don't build companies like skyscrapers, straight up from ground to sky. You build them, appropriately for Vail, like mountains, with an earthquake here and an eruption there and erosion sometimes and long stable periods when the trees grow and the goats jump around on the rocks and nothing much happens except for once in a while a puma shows up and eats Uncle Toby. Vail built its Everest by clever and novel and often ruthless means, but in doing so made a Balkanized industry coherent, mainstreamed the ski season pass, reshaped the consumer ski experience around adventure and variety, united the sprawling Park City resorts, acknowledged the Midwest as a lynchpin ski region, and forced competitors out of their isolationist stupor and onto the magnificent-but-probably-nonexistent-if-not-for-the-existential-need-to-compete-with Vail Ikon, Indy, and Mountain Collective passes.So let's not confuse the means for the end, or assume that Katz, now 58 and self-assured, will act with the same brash stop-me-if-you-can bravado that defined his first tenure. I mean, he could. But consumers have made it clear that they have alternatives, communities have made it clear that they have ways to stop projects out of spite, Alterra has made it clear that empire building is achieved just as well through ink as through swords, and large independents such as Jackson Hole have made it clear that the passes that were supposed to be their doom instead guaranteed indefinite independence via dependable additional income streams. No one's afraid of Vail anymore.That doesn't mean the company can't grow, can't surprise us, can't reconfigure the global ski jigsaw puzzle in ways no one has thought of. Vail has brand damage to repair, but it's repairable. We're not talking about McDonald's here, where the task is trying to convince people that inedible food is delicious. We're talking about Vail Mountain and Whistler and Heavenly and Stowe – amazing places that no one needs convincing are amazing. What skiers do need to be convinced of is that Vail Resorts is these ski areas' best possible steward, and that each mountain can be part of something much larger without losing its essence.You may be surprised to hear Katz acknowledge as much in our conversation. You will probably be surprised by a lot of things he says, and the way he projects confidence and optimism without having to fully articulate a vision that he's probably still envisioning. It's this instinctual lean toward the unexpected-but-impactful that powered Vail's initial rise and will likely reboot the company. Perhaps sooner than we expect.What we talked aboutThe CEO job feels “both very familiar and very new at the same time”; Vail Resorts 2025 versus Vail Resorts 2006; Ikon competition means “we have to get better”; the Epic Friends program that replaces Buddy Tickets: 50 percent off plus skiers can apply that cost to next year's Epic Pass; simplifying the confusing; “we're going to have to get a little more creative and a little more aggressive” when it comes to lift ticket pricing; why Vail will “probably always have a window ticket”; could we see lower lift ticket prices?; a response to lower-than-expected lift ticket sales in 2024-25; “I think we need to elevate the resort brands themselves”; thoughts on skier-visit drops; why Katz returned as CEO; evolving as a leader; a morale check for a company “that was used to winning” but had suffered setbacks; getting back to growth; competing for partners and “how do we drive thoughtful growth”; is Vail an underdog now?; Vail's big advantage; reflecting on the 20 percent 2021 Epic Pass price cut and whether that was the right decision; is the Epic Pass too expensive or too cheap?; reacting to the first ever decline in Epic Pass unit sales numbers; why so many mountains are unlimited on Epic Local; “who are you going to kick out of skiing” if you tighten access?; protecting the skier experience; how do you make skiers say “wow?”; defending Vail's ongoing resort leadership shuffle; and why the volume of Vail's lift upgrades slowed after 2022's Epic Lift Upgrade.What I got wrong* I said that the Epic Pass now offered access to “64 or 65” ski areas, but I neglected to include the six new ski areas that Vail partnered with in Austria for the 2025-26 ski season. The correct number of current Epic Pass partners is 71 (see chart above). * I said that Vail Resorts' skier visits declined by 1.5 percent from the 2023-24 to 2024-25 winters, and that national skier visits grew by three percent over that same timeframe. The numbers are actually reversed: Vail's skier visits slumped by approximately three percent last season, while national visits increased by 1.7 percent, per the National Ski Areas Association.* I said that the $1,429 Ikon Pass cost “40% more” than the $799 Epic Local – but I was mathing on the fly and I mathed dumb. The actual increase from Epic Local to Ikon is roughly 79 percent.* I claimed that Park City Mountain Resort was charging $328 for a holiday week lift ticket when it was “30 percent-ish open” and “the surrounding resorts were 70-ish percent open.” Unfortunately, I was way off on the dollar amount and the timeframe, as I was thinking of this X post I made on Wednesday, Jan. 8, when day-of tickets were selling for $288:* I said I didn't know what “Alterra” means. Alterra Mountain Company defines it as “a fusion of the words altitude and terrain/terra, paying homage to the mountains and communities that form the backbone of the company.”* I said that Vail's Epic Lift Upgrade was “22 or 23 lifts.” I was wrong, but the number is slippery for a few reasons. First, while I was referring specifically to Vail's 2021 announcement that 19 new lifts were inbound in 2022, the company now uses “Epic Lift Upgrade” as an umbrella term for all years' new lift installs. Second, that 2022 lift total shot up to 21, then down to 19 when Park City locals threw a fit and blocked two of them (both ultimately went to Whistler), then 18 after Keystone bulldozed an illegal access road in the high Alpine (the new lift and expansion opened the following year).Questions I wish I'd askedThere is no way to do this interview in a way that makes everyone happy. Vail is too big, and I can't talk about everything. Angry Mountain Bro wants me to focus on community, Climate Bro on the environment, Finance Bro on acquisitions and numbers, Subaru Bro on liftlines and parking lots. Too many people who already have their minds made up about how things are will come here seeking validation of their viewpoint and leave disappointed. I will say this: just because I didn't ask about something doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked to. Acquisitions and Europe, especially. But some preliminary conversations with Vail folks indicated that Katz had nothing new to say on either of these topics, so I let it go for another day.Podcast NotesOn various metrics Here's a by-the-numbers history of the Epic Pass:Here's Epic's year-by-year partner history:On the percent of U.S. skier visits that Vail accounts forWe don't know the exact percentage of U.S. skier visits belong to Vail Resorts, since the company's North American numbers include Whistler, which historically accounts for approximately 2 million annual skier visits. But let's call Vail's share of America's skier visits 25 percent-ish:On ski season pass participation in AmericaThe rise of Epic and Ikon has correlated directly with a decrease in lift ticket visits and an increase in season pass visits. Per Kotke's End-of-Season Demographic Report for 2023-24:On capital investmentSimilarly, capital investment has mostly risen over the past decade, with a backpedal for Covid. Kotke:The NSAA's preliminary numbers suggest that the 2024-25 season numbers will be $624.4 million, a decline from the previous two seasons, but still well above historic norms.On the mystery of the missing skier visitsI jokingly ask Katz for resort-by-resort skier visits in passing. Here's what I meant by that - up until the 2010-11 ski season, Vail, like all operators on U.S. Forest Service land, reported annual skier visits per ski area:And then they stopped, winning a legal argument that annual skier visits are proprietary and therefore protected from public records disclosure. Or something like that. Anyway most other large ski area operators followed this example, which mostly just serves to make my job more difficult.On that ski trip where Timberline punched out Vail in a one-on-five fightI don't want to be the Anecdote King, but in 2023 I toured 10 Mid-Atlantic ski areas the first week of January, which corresponded with a horrendous warm-up. The trip included stops at five Vail Resorts: Liberty, Whitetail, Seven Springs, Laurel, and Hidden Valley, all of which were underwhelming. Fine, I thought, the weather sucks. But then I stopped at Timberline, West Virginia:After three days of melt-out tiptoe, I was not prepared for what I found at gut-renovated Timberline. And what I found was 1,000 vertical feet of the best version of warm-weather skiing I've ever seen. Other than the trail footprint, this is a brand-new ski area. When the Perfect Family – who run Perfect North, Indiana like some sort of military operation – bought the joint in 2020, they tore out the lifts, put in a brand-new six-pack and carpet-loaded quad, installed all-new snowmaking, and gut-renovated the lodge. It is remarkable. Stunning. Not a hole in the snowpack. Coming down the mountain from Davis, you can see Timberline across the valley beside state-run Canaan Valley ski area – the former striped in white, the latter mostly barren.I skied four fast laps off the summit before the sixer shut at 4:30. Then a dozen runs off the quad. The skier level is comically terrible, beginners sprawled all over the unload, all over the green trails. But the energy is level 100 amped, and everyone I talked to raved about the transformation under the new owners. I hope the Perfect family buys 50 more ski areas – their template works.I wrote up the full trip here.On the megapass timelineI'll work on a better pass timeline at some point, but the basics are this:* 2008: Epic Pass debuts - unlimited access to all Vail Resorts* 2012: Mountain Collective debuts - 2 days each at partner resorts* 2015: M.A.X. Pass debuts - 5 days each at partner resorts, unlimited option for home resort* 2018: Ikon Pass debuts, replaces M.A.X. - 5, 7, or unlimited days at partner resorts* 2019: Indy Pass debuts - 2 days each at partner resortsOn Epic Day vs. Ikon Session I've long harped on the inadequacy of the Ikon Session Pass versus the Epic Day Pass:On Epic versus Ikon pricingEpic Passes mostly sell at a big discount to Ikon:On Vail's most recent investor conference callThis podcast conversation delivers Katz's first public statements since he hosted Vail Resorts' investor conference call on June 5. I covered that call extensively at the time:On Epic versus Ikon access tweaksAlterra tweaks Ikon Pass access for at least one or two mountains nearly every year – more than two dozen since 2020, by my count. Vail rarely makes any changes. I broke down the difference between the two in the article linked directly above this one. I ask Katz about this in the pod, and he gives us a very emphatic answer.On the Park City strikeNo reason to rehash the whole mess in Park City earlier this year. Here's a recap from The New York Times. The Storm's best contribution to the whole story was this interview with United Mountain Workers President Max Magill:On Vail's leadership shuffleI'll write more about this at some point, but if you scroll to the right on Vail's roster, you'll see the yellow highlights whenever Vail has switched a president/general manager-level employee over the past several years. It's kind of a lot. A sample from the resorts the company has owned since 2016:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing all year long. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

For  Sam Webster, public lands have been interwoven with life from the earliest age. He followed a path into public service with the Park and Forest Service, choosing stability and the ability to contribute to the great good. Until Feb 14th changed that course forever. What happens when the foundation you've built a life on begins to crumble?  Support comes from ⁠Oboz⁠  Kuat Racks  Terns Use code DIRTBAG to save 25% off your first order Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today.

California state officials express concerns about staff and funding cuts at the U.S. Forest Service, a division of the USDA, and for the first time in more than two decades, Australia will accept shipments of fresh and frozen U.S. beef.

Send us a text and chime in!The Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew Learning and Tribute Center in Prescott will host a birthday celebration for Smokey Bear on Saturday, August 9 from 11 am to 1 pm. Smokey himself will be there to greet fans. There will also be birthday cake, and stickers activities for kids. Smokey Bear is one of the most enduring and recognizable symbols of wildfire prevention in the United States. He was created in 1944 by the U.S. Forest Service and the Ad Council as part of a campaign to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. His famous catchphrase, “Only... For the written story, read here >> https://www.signalsaz.com/articles/prescott-celebrates-smokey-bears-birthday/Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

I'm off this week, so you're going to hear the second half of one of my favorite interviews, with author and activist Rand Schenk, which I first released in July of 2024. I loved this conversation, but I feel like it needs a little context at this point, since 2024 seems like a millenia ago, and the fierce arguments forest defenders and policy makers were having about forest management now seem like friendly disagreements.  Obviously our politics have undergone a cascadia megathrust level shift since I recorded this interview, and the politics and management of public lands is very much caught up in that devastation.Some of the topics we covered, like to what extent the forest service is acting in good vs bad faith feel like moot points, and others, like Biden's Mature and Old Growth Rule and the Northwest Forest Plan amendment, have been scrapped entirely.With that said, Rand's book about the history of the Forest Service is just as relevant today, and gives some important perspective on the changing nature of how we value forests.And I'd like to think that our conversation still holds some relevance as well, but that's for you to judge.Speaking of judging, let me know your verdict on the the show! My email is coastrangeradio@gmail.com, and all of our episodes are available for free on any podcast app. I am also so grateful to be carried on community radio stations across Oregon and even into Washington.  I make this show for free, but local media needs your support now more than ever, so please donate to your community radio station, subscribe to your local paper if you have one, and if you have any goodwill left over, tell your friends about Coast Range Radio.Finally, stay tuned at the end of the show for a song I recorded a while back with my band, The Road Sodas.  If you like it, you can download our music for free at https://www.theroadsodas.com/https://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

This week's Open Mic guest is Laurie Wayburn, President and Co-founder of Pacific Forest Trust. Over 30 years ago PFT was created to find new economic incentives to reward private forest owners for conserving their lands and practice sustainable forestry. She discusses the important role forests play in protecting water sources, pollinators and wildlife habitat. Wayburn is concerned about staff reductions in the Forest Service and talks about pending legislation to protect more forests. The organization has conserved more than 270,000 acres and holds easements on more than 100,000 acres.

The Storm does not cover athletes or gear or hot tubs or whisky bars or helicopters or bros jumping off things. I'm focused on the lift-served skiing world that 99 percent of skiers actually inhabit, and I'm covering it year-round. To support this mission of independent ski journalism, please subscribe to the free or paid versions of the email newsletter.WhoGreg Pack, President and General Manager of Mt. Hood Meadows, OregonRecorded onApril 28, 2025About Mt. Hood MeadowsClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Drake Family (and other minority shareholders)Located in: Mt. Hood, OregonYear founded: 1968Pass affiliations:* Indy Pass – 2 days, select blackouts* Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring U.S. ski areas: Summit (:17), Mt. Hood Skibowl (:19), Cooper Spur (:23), Timberline (:26)Base elevation: 4,528 feetSummit elevation: 7,305 feet at top of Cascade Express; 9,000 feet at top of hike-to permit area; 11,249 feet at summit of Mount HoodVertical drop: 2,777 feet lift-served; 4,472 hike-to inbounds; 6,721 feet from Mount Hood summitSkiable acres: 2,150Average annual snowfall: 430 inchesTrail count: 87 (15% beginner, 40% intermediate, 15% advanced, 30% expert)Lift count: 11 (1 six-pack, 5 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 3 doubles, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Mount Hood Meadows' lift fleet)About Cooper SpurClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Drake FamilyLocated in: Mt. Hood, OregonYear founded: 1927Pass affiliations: Indy Pass, Indy+ Pass – 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring U.S. ski areas: Mt. Hood Meadows (:22), Summit (:29), Mt. Hood Skibowl (:30), Timberline (:37)Base elevation: 3,969 feetSummit elevation: 4,400 feetVertical drop: 431 feetSkiable acres: 50Average annual snowfall: 250 inchesTrail count: 9 (1 most difficult, 7 more difficult, 1 easier)Lift count: 2 (1 double, 1 ropetow – view Lift Blog's inventory of Cooper Spur's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himVolcanoes are weird. Oh look, an exploding mountain. Because that seems reasonable. Volcanoes sound like something imagined, like dragons or teleportation or dinosaurs*. “So let me get this straight,” I imagine some puzzled Appalachian miner, circa 1852, responding to the fellow across the fire as he tells of his adventures in the Oregon Territory, “you expect me to believe that out thataways they got themselves mountains that just blow their roofs off whenever they feel like it, and shoot off fire and rocks and gas for 50 mile or more, and no one never knows when it's a'comin'? You must think I'm dumber'n that there tree stump.”Turns out volcanoes are real. How humanity survived past day one I have no idea. But here we are, skiing on volcanoes instead of tossing our virgins from the rim as a way of asking the nice mountain to please not explode (seriously how did anyone make it out of the past alive?).And one of the volcanoes we can ski on is Mount Hood. This actually seems more unbelievable to me than the concept of a vengeful nuclear mountain. PNW Nature Bros shield every blade of grass like they're guarding Fort Knox. When, in 2014, federal scientists proposed installing four monitoring stations on Hood, which the U.S. Geological Survey ranks as the sixth-highest threat to erupt out of America's 161 active volcanoes, these morons stalled the process for six years. “I think it is so important to have places like that where we can just step back, out of respect and humility, and appreciate nature for what it is,” a Wilderness Watch official told The New York Times. Personally I think it's so important to install basic monitoring infrastructure so that thousands of people are not incinerated in a predictable volcanic eruption. While “Japan, Iceland and Chile smother their high-threat volcanoes in scientific instruments,” The Times wrote, American Granola Bros say things like, “This is more proof that the Forest Service has abandoned any pretense of administering wilderness as per the letter or spirit of the Wilderness Act.” And Hood and the nation's other volcanoes cackle madly. “These idiots are dumber than the human-sacrifice people,” they say just before belching up an ash cloud that could take down a 747. When officials finally installed these instrument clusters on Hood in 2020, they occupied three boxes that look to be approximately the size of a convenience-store ice freezer, which feels like an acceptable trade-off to mass death and airplanes falling out of the sky.I know that as an outdoor writer I'm supposed to be all pissed off if anyone anywhere suggests any use of even a centimeter of undeveloped land other than giving it back to the deer in a treaty printed on recycled Styrofoam and signed with human blood to symbolize the life we've looted from nature by commandeering 108 square feet to potentially protect millions of lives from volcanic eruption, but this sort of trivial protectionism and willful denial that humans ought to have rights too is the kind of brainless uncompromising overreach that I fear will one day lead to a massive over-correction at the other extreme, in which a federal government exhausted with never being able to do anything strips away or massively dilutes land protections that allow anyone to do anything they can afford. And that's when we get Monster Pete's Arctic Dune Buggies setting up a casino/coal mine/rhinoceros-hunting ranch on the Eliot Glacier and it's like thanks Bros I hope that was worth it to stall the placement of gardenshed-sized public safety infrastructure for six years.Anyway, given the trouble U.S. officials have with installing necessary things on Mount Hood, it's incredible how many unnecessary ones our ancestors were able to build. But in 1927 the good old boys hacked their way into the wilderness and said, “by gum what a spot for snoskiing” and built a bunch of ski areas. And today 31 lifts serve four Mt. Hood ski areas covering a combined 4,845 acres:Which I'm just like, do these Wilderness Watch people not know about this? Perhaps if this and similar groups truly cared about the environmental integrity of Mount Hood they would invest their time, energy, and attention into a long-term regional infrastructure plan that identified parcels for concentrated mixed-use development and non-personal-car-based transit options to mitigate the impact of thousands of skiers traveling up the mountain daily from Portland, rather than in delaying the installation of basic monitoring equipment that notifies humanity of a civilization-shattering volcanic eruption before it happens. But then again I am probably not considering how this would impact the integrity of squirrel poop decomposition below 6,000 feet and the concomitant impacts on pinestand soil erosion which of course would basically end life as we know it on planet Earth.OK this went sideways let me try to salvage it.*Whoops I know dinosaurs were real; I meant to write “the moon landing.” How embarrassing.What we talked aboutA strong 2024-25; recruiting employees in mountains with little nearby housing; why Meadows doesn't compete with Timberline for summer skiing; bye-bye Blue double, Meadows' last standing opening-year chairlift; what it takes to keep an old Riblet operating; the reliability of old versus new chairlifts; Blue's slow-motion demolition and which relics might remain long term; the logic of getting a free anytime buddy lift ticket with your season pass; thoughts on ski area software providers that take a percentage of all sales; why Meadows and Cooper Spur have no pass reciprocity; the ongoing Cooper Spur land exchange; the value of Cooper Spur and Summit on a volcano with three large ski areas; why Meadows hasn't backed away from reciprocal agreements; why Meadows chose Indy over Epic, Ikon, or Mountain Collective; becoming a ski kid when you're not from a ski family; landing at Mountain Creek, New Jersey after a Colorado ski career; how Moonlight Basin started as an independent ski area and eventually became part of Big Sky; the tension underlying Telluride; how the Drake Family, who has managed the ski area since inception, makes decisions; a board that reinvests 100 percent of earnings back into the mountain; why we need large independents in a consolidating world; being independent is “our badge of honor”; whether ownership wants to remain independent long term; potential next lift upgrades; a potential all-new lift line and small expansion; thoughts on a better Heather lift; wild Hood weather and the upper limits of lift service; considering surface lifts on the upper mountain; the challenges of running Cascade Express; the future of the Daisy and Easy Rider doubles; more potential future expansion; and whether we could ever see a ski connection with Timberline Lodge.Why now was a good time for this interviewIt's kind of dumb that 210 episodes into this podcast I've only recorded one Oregon ep: Timberline Lodge President Jeff Kohnstamm, more than three years ago. While Oregon only has 11 active ski areas, and the state ranks 11th-ish in skier visits, it's an important ski state. PNW skiers treat skiing like the Northeast treats baseball or the Midwest treats football or D.C. treats politics: rabid beyond reason. That explains the eight Idaho pods and half dozen each in Washington and B.C. These episodes hit like a hash stand at a Dead show. So why so few Oregon eps?Eh, no reason in particular. There isn't a ski area in North America that I don't want to feature on the podcast, but I can't just order them online like a pizza. Relationships, more than anything, drive the podcast, and The Storm's schedule is primarily opportunity driven. I invite folks on as I meet them or when they do something cool. And sometimes we can connect right away and sometimes it takes months or even years, even if they want to do it. Sometimes we're waiting on contracts or approvals so we can discuss some big project in depth. It can take time to build trust, or to convince a non-podcast person that they have a great story to tell.So we finally get to Meadows. Not to be It-Must-Be-Nice Bro about benefits that arise from clear deliberate life choices, but It must be nice to live in the PNW, where every city sits within 90 minutes of a ripping, open-until-Memorial-Day skyscraper that gets carpet bombed with 400 annual inches but receives between one and four out-of-state visitors per winter. Yeah the ski areas are busy anyway because they don't have enough of them, but busy with Subaru-driving Granola Bros is different than busy with Subaru-driving Granola Bros + Texas Bro whose cowboy boots aren't clicking in right + Florida Bro who bought a Trans Am for his boa constrictor + Midwest Bro rocking Olin 210s he found in Gramp's garage + Hella Rad Cali Bro + New Yorker Bro asking what time they groom Corbet's + Aussie Bro touring the Rockies on a seven-week long weekend + Euro Bro rocking 65 cm underfoot on a two-foot powder day. I have no issue with tourists mind you because I am one but there is something amazing about a ski area that is gigantic and snowy and covered in modern infrastructure while simultaneously being unknown outside of its area code.Yes this is hyperbole. But while everyone in Portland knows that Meadows has the best parking lot views in America and a statistical profile that matches up with Beaver Creek and as many detachable chairlifts as Snowbasin or Snowbird and more snow than Steamboat or Jackson or Palisades or Pow Mow, most of the rest of the world doesn't, and I think they should.Why you should ski Mt. Hood Meadows and Cooper SpurIt's interesting that the 4,845 combined skiable acres of Hood's four ski areas are just a touch larger than the 4,323 acres at Mt. Bachelor, which as far as I know has operated as a single interconnected facility since its 1958 founding. Both are volcanoes whose ski areas operate on U.S. Forest Service land a commutable distance from demographically similar markets, providing a case study in distributed versus centralized management.Bachelor in many ways delivers a better experience. Bachelor's snow is almost always drier and better, an outlier in the kingdom of Cascade Concrete. Skiers can move contiguously across its full acreage, an impossible mission on Balkanized Hood. The mountain runs an efficient, mostly modern 15 lifts to Hood's wild 31, which includes a dozen detachables but also a half dozen vintage Riblet doubles with no safety bars. Bachelor's lifts scale the summit, rather than stopping thousands of feet short as they do on Hood. While neither are Colorado-grade destination ski areas, metro Portland is stuffed with 25 times more people than Bend, and Hood ski areas have an everbusy feel that skiers can often outrun at Bachelor. Bachelor is closer to its mothership – just 26 minutes from Bend to Portland's hour-to-two-hour commutes up to the ski areas. And Bachelor, accessible on all versions of the Ikon Pass and not hamstrung by the confusing counter-branding of multiple ski areas with similar names occupying the same mountain, presents a more clearcut target for the mainstream skier.But Mount Hood's quirky scatterplot ski centers reward skiers in other ways. Four distinct ski areas means four distinct ski cultures, each with its own pace, purpose, customs, traditions, and orientation to the outside world. Timberline Lodge is a funky mix of summertime Bro parks, Government Camp greens, St. Bernards, and its upscale landmark namesake hotel. Cooper Spur is tucked-away, low-key, low-vert family resort skiing. Meadows sprawls, big and steep, with Hood's most interesting terrain. And low-altitude, closest-to-the-city Skibowl is night-lit slowpoke with a vintage all-Riblet lift fleet. Your Epic and Ikon passes are no good here, though Indy gets you Meadows and Cooper Spur. Walk-up lift tickets (still the only way to buy them at Skibowl), are more tier-varied and affordable than those at Bachelor, which can exceed $200 on peak days (though Bachelor heavily discounts access to its beginner lifts, with free access to select novice areas). Bachelor's $1,299 season pass is 30 percent more expensive than Meadows'.This dynamic, of course, showcases single-entity efficiency and market capture versus the messy choice of competition. Yes Free Market Bro you are right sometimes. Hood's ski areas have more inherent motivators to fight on price, forge allegiances like the Timberline-Skibowl joint season pass, invest in risks like night and summer skiing, and run wonky low-tide lift ticket deals. Empowering this flexibility: all four Hood ski areas remain locally owned – Meadows and T-Line by their founding families. Bachelor, of course, is a fiefdom of Park City, Utah-based Powdr, which owns a half-dozen other ski areas across the West.I don't think that Hood is better than Bachelor or that Bachelor is better than Hood. They're different, and you should ski both. But however you dissect the niceties of these not-really-competing-but-close-enough-that-a-comarison-makes-sense ski centers, the on-the-ground reality adds up to this: Hood locals, in general, are a far more contented gang than Bachelor Bros. I don't have any way to quantify this, and Bachelor has its partisans. But I talk to skiers all over the country, all the time. Skiers will complain about anything, and online guttings of even the most beloved mountains exist. But talk to enough people and strong enough patterns emerge to understand that, in general, locals are happy with Mammoth and Alpine Meadows and Sierra-at-Tahoe and A-Basin and Copper and Bridger Bowl and Nub's Nob and Perfect North and Elk and Plattekill and Berkshire East and Smuggs and Loon and Saddleback and, mostly, the Hood ski areas. And locals are generally less happy with Camelback and Seven Springs and Park City and Sunrise and Shasta and Stratton and, lately, former locals' faves Sugarbush and Wildcat. And, as far as I can tell, Bachelor.Potential explanations for Hood happiness versus Bachelor blues abound, all of them partial, none completely satisfactory, all asterisked with the vagaries of skiing and skiers and weather and luck. But my sense is this: Meadows, Timberline, and Skibowl locals are generally content not because they have better skiing than everyplace else or because their ski areas are some grand bargain or because they're not crowded or because they have the best lift systems or terrain parks or grooming or snow conditions, but because Hood, in its haphazard and confounding-to-outsiders borders and layout, has forced its varied operators to hyper-adapt to niche needs in the local market while liberating them from the all-things-to-everyone imperative thrust on isolated operations like Bachelor. They have to decide what they're good at and be good at that all the time, because they have no other option. Hood operators can't be Vail-owned Paoli Peaks, turning in 25-day ski seasons and saying well it's Indiana what do you expect? They have to be independent Perfect North, striving always for triple-digit operating days and saying it's Indiana and we're doing this anyway because if we don't you'll stop coming and we'll all be broke.In this way Hood is a snapshot of old skiing, pre-consolidation, pre-national pass, pre-social media platforms that flung open global windows onto local mountains. Other than Timberline summer parks no one is asking these places to be anything other than very good local ski areas serving rabid local skiers. And they're doing a damn good job.Podcast NotesOn Meadows and Timberline Lodge opening and closing datesOne of the most baffling set of basic facts to get straight in American skiing is the number of ski areas on Mount Hood and the distinction between them. Part of the reason for this is the volcano's famous summer skiing, which takes place not at either of the eponymous ski areas – Mt. Hood Meadows or Mt. Hood Skibowl – but at the awkwardly named Timberline Lodge, which sounds more like a hipster cocktail lounge with a 19th-century fur-trapper aesthetic than the name of a ski resort (which is why no one actually calls it “Timberline Lodge”; I do so only to avoid confusion with the ski area in West Virginia, because people are constantly getting Appalachian ski areas mixed up with those in the Cascades). I couldn't find a comprehensive list of historic closing dates for Meadows and Timberline, but the basic distinction is this: Meadows tends to wrap winter sometime between late April and late May. Timberline goes into August and beyond when it can. Why doesn't Meadows push its season when it is right next door and probably could? We discuss in the pod.On Riblet clipsFun fact about defunct-as-a-company-even-though-a-couple-hundred-of-their-machines-are-still-spinning Riblet chairlifts: rather than clamping on like a vice grip, the end of each chair is woven into the rope via something called an “insert clip.” I wrote about this in my Wildcat pod last year:On Alpental Chair 2A small but vocal segment of Broseph McBros with nothing better to do always reflexively oppose the demolition of legacy fixed-grip lifts to make way for modern machines. Pack does a great job laying out why it's harder to maintain older chairlifts than many skiers may think. I wrote about this here:On Blue's breakover towers and unload rampWe also dropped photos of this into the video version of the pod:On the Cooper Spur land exchangeHere's a somewhat-dated and very biased-against-the-ski-area infographic summarizing the proposed land swap between Meadows and the U.S. Forest Service, from the Cooper Spur Wild & Free Coalition, an organization that “first came together in 2002 to fight Mt. Hood Meadows' plans to develop a sprawling destination resort on the slopes of Mt. Hood near Cooper Spur”:While I find the sanctimonious language in this timeline off-putting, I'm more sympathetic to Enviro Bro here than I was with the eruption-detection controversy discussed up top. Opposing small-footprint, high-impact catastrophe-monitoring equipment on an active volcano to save five bushes but potentially endanger millions of human lives is foolish. But checking sprawling wilderness development by identifying smaller parcels adjacent to already-disturbed lands as alternative sites for denser, hopefully walkable, hopefully mixed-use projects is exactly the sort of thing that every mountain community ought to prioritize.On the combination of Summit and Timberline LodgeThe small Summit Pass ski area in Government Camp operated as an independent entity from its 1927 founding until Timberline Lodge purchased the ski area in 2018. In 2021, the owners connected the two – at least in one direction. Skiers can move 4,540 vertical feet from the top of Timberline's Palmer chair to the base of Summit. While Palmer tends to open late in the season and Summit tends to close early, and while skiers will have to ride shuttles back up to the Timberline lifts until the resort builds a much anticipated gondola connecting the full height, this is technically America's largest lift-served vertical drop.On Meadows' reciprocalsMeadows only has three season pass reciprocal partners, but they're all aspirational spots that passholders would actually travel for: Baker, Schweitzer, and Whitefish. I ask Pack why he continues to offer these exchanges even as larger ski areas such as Brundage and Tamarack move away from them. One bit of context I neglected to include, however, is that neighboring Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood Skibowl not only offer a joint pass, but are longtime members of Powder Alliance, which is an incredible regional reciprocal pass that's free for passholders at any of these mountains:On Ski Broadmoor, ColoradoColorado Springs is less convenient to skiing than the name implies – skiers are driving a couple of hours, minimum, to access Monarch or the Summit County ski areas. So I was surprised, when I looked up Pack's original home mountain of Ski Broadmoor, to see that it sat on the city's outskirts:This was never a big ski area, with 600 vertical feet served by an “America The Beautiful Lift” that sounds as though it was named by Donald Trump:The “famous” Broadmoor Hotel built and operated the ski area, according to Colorado Ski History. They sold the hotel in 1986 to the city, which promptly sold it to Vail Associates (now Vail Resorts), in 1988. Vail closed the ski area in 1991 – the only mountain they ever surrendered on. I'll update all my charts and such to reflect this soon.On pre-high-speed KeystoneIt's kind of amazing that Keystone, which now spins seven high-speed chairlifts, didn't install its first detachable until 1990, nearly a decade after neighboring Breckenridge installed the world's first, in 1981. As with many resorts that have aggressively modernized, this means that Keystone once ran more chairlifts than it does today. When Pack started his ski career at the mountain in 1989, Keystone ran 10 frontside aerial lifts (8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 gondola) compared to just six today (2 doubles, 2 sixers, a high-speed quad, and a higher-capacity gondy).On Mountain CreekI've talked about the bananas-ness of Mountain Creek many times. I love this unhinged New Jersey bump in the same way I loved my crazy late uncle who would get wasted at the Bay City fireworks and yell at people driving Toyotas to “Buy American!” (This was the ‘80s in Michigan, dudes. I don't know what to tell you. The auto industry was falling apart and everybody was tripping, especially dudes who worked in – or, in my uncle's case, adjacent to (steel) – the auto industry.)On IntrawestOne of the reasons I did this insane timeline project was so that I would no longer have to sink 30 minutes into Google every time someone said the word “Intrawest.” The timeline was a pain in the ass, but worth it, because now whenever I think “wait exactly what did Intrawest own and when?” I can just say “oh yeah I already did that here you go”:On Moonlight Basin and merging with Big SkyIt's kind of weird how many now-united ski areas started out as separate operations: Beaver Creek and Arrowhead (merged 1997), Canyons and Park City (2014), Whistler and Blackcomb (1997), Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley (connected via gondola in 2022), Carinthia and Mount Snow (1986), Sugarbush and Mount Ellen (connected via chairlift in 1995). Sometimes – Beaver Creek, Mount Snow – the terrain and culture mergers are seamless. Other times – Alpine and the Palisades side of what is now Palisades Tahoe – the connection feels like opening a store that sells four-wheelers and 74-piece high-end dinnerware sets. Like, these things don't go together, Man. But when Big Sky absorbed Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks in 2013, everyone immediately forgot that it was ever any different. This suggests that Big Sky's 2032 Yellowstone Club acquisition will be seamless.**Kidding, Brah. Maybe.On Lehman BrothersNearly two decades later, it's still astonishing how quickly Lehman Brothers, in business for 158 years, collapsed in 2008.On the “mutiny” at TellurideEvery now and then, a reader will ask the very reasonable question about why I never pay any attention to Telluride, one of America's great ski resorts, and one that Pack once led. Mostly it's because management is unstable, making long-term skier experience stories of the sort I mostly focus on hard to tell. And management is mostly unstable because the resort's owner is, by all accounts, willful and boorish and sort of unhinged. Blevins, in The Colorado Sun's “Outsider” newsletter earlier this week:A few months ago, locals in Telluride and Mountain Village began publicly blasting the resort's owner, a rare revolt by a community that has grown weary of the erratic Chuck Horning.For years, residents around the resort had quietly lamented the antics and decisions of the temperamental Horning, the 81-year-old California real estate investor who acquired Telluride Ski & Golf Resort in 2004. It's the only resort Horning has ever owned and over the last 21 years, he has fired several veteran ski area executives — including, earlier this year, his son, Chad.Now, unnamed locals have launched a website, publicly detailing the resort owner's messy management of the Telluride ski area and other businesses across the country.“For years, Chuck Horning has caused harm to us all, both individually and collectively,” reads the opening paragraph of ChuckChuck.ski — which originated when a Telluride councilman in March said that it was “time to chuck Chuck.” “The community deserves something better. For years, we've whispered about the stories, the incidents, the poor decisions we've witnessed. Those stories should no longer be kept secret from everyone that relies on our ski resort for our wellbeing.”The chuckchuck.ski site drags skeletons out of Horning's closet. There are a lot of skeletons in there. The website details a long history of lawsuits across the country accusing Horning and the Newport Federal Financial investment firm he founded in 1970 of fraud.It's a pretty amazing site.On Bogus BasinI was surprised that ostensibly for-profit Meadows regularly re-invests 100 percent of profits into the ski area. Such a model is more typical for explicitly nonprofit outfits such as Bogus Basin, Idaho. Longtime GM Brad Wilson outlined how that ski area functions a few years back:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Discount link for upcoming webinar Matrix Planting Made Easy on Monday August 4 at 6 pm CDT.KELLY HOLDBROOKS BIOWith decades of experience in Western North Carolina's vast horticulture, Kelly Holdbrooks demonstrates her passion for fostering human connection with nature in everything she does. For more than a decade as executive director of Southern Highlands Reserve, a nonprofit native plant garden and research center on Toxaway Mountain, Kelly has built a network of conservationists and advocates for preserving the unique ecosystem of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Kelly's research in experiential methods and the humanism of nature earned her a master's degree in landscape architecture, with honors, from the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia. She also earned bachelor's degrees in international studies and political science from Rhodes College and was a three-sport NCAA athlete. She is a founding member of the Southern Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (SASRI), a public-private partnership working to restore the second most endangered ecosystem in the United States, the high elevation spruce-fir forests of the Southern Blue Ridge. She is a member of the Red Spruce Technical Advisory Board (RSTAB), headed by The Nature Conservancy, to make recommendations to the U.S. Forest Service for their regional planning efforts. She also participates in the quarterly All Lands Meeting held by the U.S. Forest Service to develop a long-term collaborative plan for natural resource conservation across Region 8. Kelly enjoys hiking, gardening, yoga, and playing in nature with her family. She is proud to call Western North Carolina her home.You can learn more about Kelly and Southern Highlands Reserve by visiting their website and Instagram @southern_highlands_reserve.THE PLANTASTIC PODCASTThe Plantastic Podcast is a monthly podcast created by Dr. Jared Barnes.  He's been gardening since he was five years old and now is an award-winning professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX.  To say hi and find the show notes, visit theplantasticpodcast.com.You can learn more about how Dr. Jared cultivates plants, minds, and life at meristemhorticulture.com.  He also shares thoughts and cutting-edge plant research each week in his newsletter plant•ed, and you can sign up at meristemhorticulture.com/subscribe.  Until next time, #keepgrowing!ecologyflowerhome and gardengardeninggardennative plantgarden designersciencenaturenative plantswildflowersgarden designwildflowerhorticulturelandscape installflowersplantplants

A U.S. Forest Service office in Missoula will close as part of President Donald Trump's push for consolidation. A department memo says all nine regional offices will be phased out over the next year.

The Western United States is in the midst of fire season. Here in Washington, the Burdoin Fire in the Columbia Gorge has burned more than 100,000 acres. The Bear Gulch Fire on the peninsula has closed portions of Olympic National Park. Leading up to this summer, governors and lawmakers raised concerns about cuts to the US Forest Service, which fights wildland fires. Brooke Rollins is head of the USDA, which oversees the Forest Service. She told Fox News that the agency’s ability to fight fires hasn’t been affected by the cuts. But new reporting from ProPublica has found that the agency is facing staffing issues that could affect its ability to respond to fires. Guest: Abe Streep, reporter at ProPublica's Southwest Bureau Relevant Links: ProPublica: The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs. Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes. Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(I'm off this week, so I'm featuring one of my favorite interviews, which I first released in July of 2024. I hope you like it!)Today's episode is part one of a two part interview with Rand Schenk, author of a fascinating and timely new history of the Forest Service, its founder, Gifford Pinchot, and over 100 years of forest management and mismanagement in the Pacific Northwest.The book, “Forest Under Siege: The Story of Old Growth After Gifford Pinchot”,  explores the Forest Service's progressive populist origins, how it abandoned its founding mission of conservation and drove our old growth forests to the brink of extinction, and how, or if, the agency is entering a new restoration ecology era.Forest Under Siege is available at local bookstores throughout the northwest, and you can order a copy online by searching for Forest Under Siege.My email is coastrangeradio@gmail.comhttps://www.instagram.com/coastrangeradio/

When the Forest Service stops managing the forests for all uses, rural communities are the first to feel the impact of such poor decisions.In this series, we expose what's happening by focusing on one small county in Washington State. Remember, the public forests belong to you and me, but right now, anti-logging lawyers and judges are managing our forests. That needs to change.

This week in the Outdoor Minimalist public lands news review, we cover:USDA's major reorganization planWhat it means for the U.S. Forest Service and wildfire responseHow agency relocations and office closures could impact conservation workCentralization of services like civil rights, tribal affairs, and grants managementH.R. 1 “The Big Ugly Bill” with

The U.S. Forest Service is moving forward with a plan to roughly double the acreage for prescribed burns across the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.

In this episode, Bill—a retired forest ranger—shares his full, unedited account of six encounters that changed the course of his 25-year career with the U.S. Forest Service. From 1994 to 2019, Bill worked in wildlife tracking and wilderness patrol, but early on, a senior ranger showed him a footprint and warned him about things they don't put in reports. That moment marked the beginning of a quiet obsession. He  eventually left the job five years before qualifying for full pension. What drove him out was a long trail of unexplained phenomena—patterns he could no longer ignore, and stories the agency refused to acknowledge. His encounters span decades and locations, from Oregon to the Adirondacks, each one revealing signs of intelligence, curiosity, and restraint from something that doesn't officially exist.

In this episode, Bill—a retired forest ranger—shares his full, unedited account of six encounters that changed the course of his 25-year career with the U.S. Forest Service. From 1994 to 2019, Bill worked in wildlife tracking and wilderness patrol, but early on, a senior ranger showed him a footprint and warned him about things they don't put in reports. That moment marked the beginning of a quiet obsession. He  eventually left the job five years before qualifying for full pension. What drove him out was a long trail of unexplained phenomena—patterns he could no longer ignore, and stories the agency refused to acknowledge. His encounters span decades and locations, from Oregon to the Adirondacks, each one revealing signs of intelligence, curiosity, and restraint from something that doesn't officially exist.Get Our FREE NewsletterGet Brian's Books Leave Us A VoicemailVisit Our WebsiteSupport Our SponsorsVisit Untold Radio AMBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sasquatch-odyssey--4839697/support.

The Roadless Rule is a U.S. Forest Service regulation that protects inventoried roadless areas from certain timber activities and construction within the national forest system, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The rule has been in effect since 2001, but U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced recently the Trump administration plans to rescind the rule. We learn more about how the regulation affects Oregon and its forests from Travis Joseph, the president and CEO of the American Forest Resource Council, and Steve Pedery, the conservation director of Oregon Wild

Days before President Donald Trump said he would help Afghan evacuees who fled their country and were stuck in the UAE, cables reveal the Emirati government had already begun returning them to Afghanistan. The U.S. Forest Service is struggling to cope with an increase in wildfires, as cuts under the Trump administration hit home. And scientists are analyzing Antarctica's oldest ice with hopes to reveal more about the Earth's climate and atmospheric record. Today's Recommended Read can be found here. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠here⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠here⁠. Visit the ⁠Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement⁠ for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠ to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fire, fire, fire! Utah has almost matched last year's burn total and we still have a long way to go! The Monroe Canyon Fire in Sevier County is still zero percent contained... and has burned over 5-thousand acres. The Forest Service is also still trying to identify the people who were driving an U-T-V in the area when the fire started. Greg and Holly discuss the recent developments and what legal consequences could come with start a fire, intentionally and unintentionally.

Comprehensive coverage of the day's news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. A man hugs former Foreign Service employee Bob Gilchrist, of Washington, left, outside the State Department headquarters, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein).   State Department fires more than 1,300 in sweeping Trump administration reorganization. Senate Democrats clash with Forest Service chief over Trump's proposed firefighting budget cuts. House Democrats kick off campaign to hold Republicans accountable for Medicaid cuts in GOP budget bill. California leaders warn of severe fallout from federal workforce and program cuts. Los Angeles officials condemn ICE raids staged from historic Terminal Island site. Los Angeles mayor signs an executive directive to protect immigrant residents of the city. Federal immigration raid at Camarillo cannabis farm sparks protest, 200 arrests. The post State Department fired more than 1,300 in sweeping Trump administration reorganization – July 11, 2025 appeared first on KPFA.

Climate change is a lot of things: big, scary, scientifically-accurate. And as we just saw in Texas, it's not just a matter of principles or talking points. It's causing tragedies in our own country and around the globe.In the face of such an overwhelming issue, it can be hard to know what we as individuals can do. Of course we can donate to environmental causes and vote for leaders who prioritize climate policy, but there's something else that's as close to home as our own backyard. Gardening!By expanding our backyard gardens to include plants for native pollinators, we can make a difference in our own local ecosystem. Bees and butterflies are some of the most common pollinators, but hummingbirds, moths, beetles, and even bats can also be part of the process. Unfortunately, many parts of the world have been seeing declines in pollinator populations. A 2017 report done for the Center of Biological Diversity found that nearly 1 in 4 species of native bees are now at risk of extinction. Monarch butterflies, meanwhile, have declined more than 80% in the last 30 years.And that's a big deal! At least 75% of all flowering plants on Earth are pollinated by insects and animals, including almost all of the food we eat. In fact, farmers estimate that pollinators are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food we take every day.And yet, the Trump administration seems intent on making the situation worse. Since the start of Trump's second term, his administration has fired hundreds of climate and weather scientists. He wants to start drilling for oil on pristine lands full of native plants and animals and roll back protections for migratory birds. And he wants logging companies to be able to cut down some of our National Forests. He even named a lobbyist for the logging industry, Tom Schultz, as the new head of the U.S. Forest Service.There's no denying that this all feels overwhelming. But “think global, act local” doesn't only apply to your community's school board or city council. You can make a difference just by planting more native species that are good for pollinators. Not only are the beauty and fresh air good for your mental health, you'll be directly improving the environment in your area.And that is why your garden matters!For a transcript of this episode, please email comms@redwine.blue. You can learn more about us at www.redwine.blue or follow us on social media! Twitter: @TheSWPpod and @RedWineBlueUSA Instagram: @RedWineBlueUSA Facebook: @RedWineBlueUSA YouTube: @RedWineBlueUSA

Climate change is a lot of things: big, scary, scientifically-accurate. And as we just saw in Texas, it's not just a matter of principles or talking points. It's causing tragedies in our own country and around the globe.In the face of such an overwhelming issue, it can be hard to know what we as individuals can do. Of course we can donate to environmental causes and vote for leaders who prioritize climate policy, but there's something else that's as close to home as our own backyard. Gardening!By expanding our backyard gardens to include plants for native pollinators, we can make a difference in our own local ecosystem. Bees and butterflies are some of the most common pollinators, but hummingbirds, moths, beetles, and even bats can also be part of the process. Unfortunately, many parts of the world have been seeing declines in pollinator populations. A 2017 report done for the Center of Biological Diversity found that nearly 1 in 4 species of native bees are now at risk of extinction. Monarch butterflies, meanwhile, have declined more than 80% in the last 30 years.And that's a big deal! At least 75% of all flowering plants on Earth are pollinated by insects and animals, including almost all of the food we eat. In fact, farmers estimate that pollinators are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food we take every day.And yet, the Trump administration seems intent on making the situation worse. Since the start of Trump's second term, his administration has fired hundreds of climate and weather scientists. He wants to start drilling for oil on pristine lands full of native plants and animals and roll back protections for migratory birds. And he wants logging companies to be able to cut down some of our National Forests. He even named a lobbyist for the logging industry, Tom Schultz, as the new head of the U.S. Forest Service.There's no denying that this all feels overwhelming. But “think global, act local” doesn't only apply to your community's school board or city council. You can make a difference just by planting more native species that are good for pollinators. Not only are the beauty and fresh air good for your mental health, you'll be directly improving the environment in your area.And that is why your garden matters!

Born into a musical family with a singing father and R&B-loving mother, Kolby found his true calling in music at age 17, using it to transform the challenges of his childhood into artistic expression. For six years, he dedicated his weekends to a three-hour commute for studio time, collaborating with other artists and crafting albums, even distributing CDs outside local grocery stores. Now, while working as a materials handler for the U.S. Forest Service, Kolby balances his musical aspirations with being a devoted father to his 6-year-old son Karter, who shares his musical genes. His job supports both his family and his dream of becoming an entertainer, allowing him time for gigs and studio sessions as he continues to write and perform, driven by the desire to show his son the rewards of pursuing one's passion.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

For those of you who have listened to a range of our first 40 something episodes, you know that I think deeply and widely about our human relationship with nature and the more than human world. I love talking to artists and curators about the big, thorny questions they are asking us to think about in their work. I also love talking to adventurers in business and athletics who are pushing the boundaries of their categories. But at some point, we need to buckle down and do the hard work of making sure that we still have the wild spaces that inspire these artists and energize these adventurers. Today's guest is Nick Mucha, Director of Environmental Issues and Strategy at Patagonia. He's also a contributor and one of the editors of the new book from Patagonia “Tools to Save Our Home Planet”. After more than a decade in the non-profit space, Nick was reenergized by attending Patagonia's Tools for Grassroots Activists conference back in 2013. That renewed sense of purpose eventually led him to a desk in Patagonia itself where he works on the conference, with Patagonia's environmental non-profit grantees and on Patagonia's overall approach to environmental issues. In this episode we talk about his path to Patagonia, the recently released book, and the role of environmental activism in the current political environment where many of the gains in the US that environmental activists have achieved are under threat. Coming on the heels of the success of grassroots organizations in getting Utah Senator Mike Lee to remove his provision in President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill to sell off thousands of acres of public lands, this episode is a call to action to keep pushing with budget cuts to departments like the National Parks and Forest Service likely to make it harder and harder to protect these lands. On that point, if you did email or call your Senator or House representative to tell them to fight Senator Lee's provision - thank you, thank you, thank you. This proves that the big tent approach to environmental activist that Nick outlines in the episode works, even though we recorded this episode almost a month ago before Senator Lee's antics. We also talk a lot in the episode about Patagonia Action Works. It is a platform that helps connect Patagonia's grassroots environmental grantees with skilled volunteers who can help them with everything from copywriting to legal advice. It is a platform I am personally passionate about having completed nearly 20 projects through the platform. In recent weeks through Action Works, I had a call with Friends of the Boundary Waters about advertising strategy and with Save the Yellowstone Grizzly about strategy needs and their new documentary “Return of the Grizzly” narrated by actor Jeff Bridges, which is garnering rave reviews by those who have seen it at festivals. I hope you enjoy this episode with Nick and afterward, making sure to pick up a copy of “Tools to Save Our Home Planet” and sign up for a project on Patagonia Action Works.Links Tools to Save Our Home PlanetPatagonia Action Works

Join us in this exciting throwback compilation of classic *Jeep Talk Show* clips from the early days, back when it was called the *XJ Talk Show*! From record-breaking Jeep sales to swamp buggy racing and Lake Tahoe OHV trail updates, this collection is packed with nostalgic Jeep stories, tech tips, and off-road adventures.

The Trump Administration has announced it seeks to revoke the “Roadless Rule,” the 2001 regulation limiting U.S. Forest Service activities in unroaded areas of our National Forests. Guests Kimberly Baker of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and Scott Greacen of Friends of the Eel River join the program to discuss the history and purpose behind defending roadless areas and what this new attack on our public lands means for clean water, fish and wildlife, and recreation.More information on the history of the Roadless Rule can be found here.Support the show

In the early 1980s, a Florida family of four set out on a camping trip to the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area—and never returned. According to legend, they were attacked by a large, wolf-like creature. The father was found dead outside the RV, the mother mutilated nearby, one child torn apart inside the camper, and the other discovered high in a tree. No official reports confirm this event, but the story has taken root as one of the most unsettling pieces of American cryptid folklore.This episode explores one version of that story—possibly the most detailed account, but far from the only one. We retrace the history of Land Between the Lakes, starting with the forced removal of hundreds of families to make way for the recreation area.From there, we move into the eerie details of the alleged attack and the claims of a government cover-up that followed. Along the way, we examine decades of strange encounters, unexplained evidence, and witness accounts that continue to stir fear and fascination.The creature at the heart of the legend—often called the Beast of LBL, the Dogman, or simply the Monster—is described as a seven-foot-tall, muscular but lean figure with glowing red eyes and long claws. Stories about it stretch back over 200 years, with roots in Native American oral history. In this version, we look closely at the alleged victims: a family from Florida, including two children named Bradley and Megan, and the law enforcement officers who reportedly found the aftermath of something horrific.Some accounts mention that the case was reviewed by pathologists and examiners, but their findings were never officially released and were quickly classified. Reports speak of wounds that didn't match any known animal, evidence that vanished into federal custody, and a rapid response that many believe suggests someone was expecting something exactly like this to happen.Even today, strange things are still reported in the northern parts of Land Between the Lakes: massive footprints, tufts of unidentified hair, signs of animal panic, and stories of electronic equipment suddenly failing.Those who spend time deep in the woods speak of an overwhelming sense of being watched—and sometimes, of seeing something that shouldn't exist.Despite all of this, the U.S. Forest Service maintains that there is no verified evidence of any such creature. Official statements deny any knowledge, and the story is written off as urban legend.We don't claim to offer proof. This episode is an exploration of a persistent and terrifying piece of American folklore. It's a story built on whispers, sightings, and the fear of what might be waiting just beyond the campfire's glow.Whether it's myth, misremembered tragedy, or something far stranger, the tale of the Beast of Land Between the Lakes endures.This episode contains graphic descriptions of alleged violence, including harm to children. Listener discretion is strongly advised.

On Today's Show: 100% community supported, To Subscribe: https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/The public land sale proposal has been removed from the budget bill.Sen. Mike Lee said this morning that he may reintroduce the proposal, but will remove the sale of Forest Service land and significantly reduce the amount of Bureau of Land Management Land available for sale.A firefighter received second-degree burns to the hands, arms, and face on the Conner Fire in Nevada.Dani Shedden, mental health counselor and owner of Close the Gap Wellness, joins for an interview about Mental Health in the wildfire workforce.We discuss current uncertainty in the industry, the importance and safety of focusing on the operational mission, and finding a positive outlook in your work.Plus an operational update.THE HOTSHOT WAKE UP — Thank you to all of our paid subscribers. Your support allows us to donate generously to firefighter charities and supports all of our content. You also receive all of our article archives, more podcast episodes, Monday morning workouts, and also entered into our giveaways, plus more.

NOTE: This episode contains stories set in the Bull Run Watershed, a protected area closed to the public. We do not condone or encourage trespassing or violating posted access restrictions. Always respect local laws, regulations, and the environment.What happens when a seasoned Forest Service firefighter finds himself patrolling one of the most restricted, untouched forest zones in Oregon — and begins to feel he's not alone? In this chilling and mysterious episode, we speak with Rick, a former seasonal fire prevention officer for the Zigzag Ranger District, who spent months deep in the Bull Run Watershed — a place off-limits to the public for over 100 years. Rick recalls the haunting silence, the oppressive feeling of being watched, and the unshakable knowledge that something was tracking him through the brush. From eerie encounters in Colorado's Deadman Tower and Pingree Park to being shadowed near Lolo Pass and Large Mountain, Rick's story is a rare look inside the places Bigfoot might truly call home. This episode includes firsthand accounts from NF-10, Hatfield Wilderness, and Bull Run Reservoir #1 — including the terrifying days Rick worked alone, clearing fire access roads… while something watched from just beyond the trees. Don't miss this rare glimpse into one of Oregon's most mysterious regions.

In this episode, we catch up after a month-long break and dive into what's been going on in the world—including protests overseas and global tension. Wade shares a behind-the-scenes look at working concert security, and we swap stories from a recent camping trip while planning the next one. Curt's Corner delivers as always, sparking conversation about BLM and Forest Service land that might be heading to the auction block. This episode is made possible by The Pearl On Main. https://thepearlonmain.com/ Contact: Voicemail/Text: 385-988-0042 Website: http://www.theweeklyinsalt.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_weekly_insalt TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theweeklyinsalt  

"God bless America, let's save some of it." — Edward Abbey One of the senators Utah sent to Washington has slipped in some very dangerous legal language into the big federal budgeting bill, language that’s vague enough to allow the beginning of the sell-off of our Western Public Lands. Including National Forests. Not including national parks, monuments, etc., but very much including Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands. In fact, that’s what this senator, “Based Mike Lee,” titled this section of the Senate legislation: MANDATORY DISPOSAL OF BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND AND NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND. No, sorry, not gonna happen. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Fleet managers make the world go round, so why doesn't the world recognize that?"

#95 - Mike Pritchett is the founder of Kids With Disabilities Adventures — a nonprofit dedicated to helping kids with disabilities and their families experience the outdoors through turkey hunting, big game, and fishing trips. In this heartfelt episode, Mike shares how the organization got started, the stories that fuel him, and the incredible impact it's had on children, parents, and volunteers. We also talk about fatherhood, mindset, and how the outdoors can heal and connect. Mike even shares his go-to fish recipe for your next lake trip — and yes, it'll convert even the pickiest eaters. Whether you love hunting, community-driven work, or just a dang good story, this one's for you. BONUS: Want to hear from the teachers, volunteers, and Forest Service staff who've been part of KWD? Watch the Voices from the Field bonus video here →  Get our FAVORITE links, codes & more here! EPISODE MENTIONS:  Kids with Disabilities Adventures website HERE Connect w/ KWD Instagram HERE Watch the show on YouTube HERE Submit your stories at thereckoningpodcast.com/submit SHEEPFEET for custom orthotics, the best hunting shoe and the hideout hoodie use code: RECKONING for 10% OFF SHOP HERE MTN OPS for the best supplements and gear. Use code BRITT for 20% OFF your order! RUGGED ROAD COOLER GET 10% OFF your lightweight and organized cooler here or USE CODE: LONG  Have Reckoning create content for your brand, learn more HERE! Follow Us on Social:  Brittney Long IGReckoning IG Affiliate Disclaimer.  Show Notes may contain affiliate links. If you click through my referral link, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase.  Thank you for supporting RECKONING LLC.  

Episode Summary: In this riveting episode, host Chris Clarke covers the urgent issue threatening millions of acres of public land in the United States. Buried in what Chris calls the "Bloated Billionaire Bailout," a budget rider proposed by Senator Mike Lee targets up to 3 million acres of public lands for sale. These lands, managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, span 11 western states. Chris urges listeners to take action by calling their senators to stop this dangerous rider that undermines public access to these vital natural resources. Throughout the episode, a comprehensive discussion highlights the broader impacts of this potential land sale. Chris articulates how the rider threatens essential services, cultural survival, and the ecological balance of these desert lands. The discussion touches on contrasting visions for the use of public lands, with Mike Lee's push for privatization and development versus the preservation and conservation ethos championed by many environmentalists. Chris also outlines the economic dimensions of this conflict, emphasizing the potential loss of public use areas that provide significant recreational and environmental benefits to local communities. Key Takeaways: Legislative Threat: A budget rider by Mike Lee threatens to privatize millions of acres of public lands in western US states, including critical desert ecosystems. Conservation vs. Development:The episode explores the tension between conserving public lands for ecological, cultural, and recreational purposes versus commercial development and privatization. Call to Action: Chris Clarke urges listeners to contact their senators to oppose the rider and protect these invaluable public lands. Impactful Example: Tucson's Sabino Canyon serves as a hypothetical example of the possible negative outcomes from land privatization, jeopardizing local public access. Political Dynamics:There is bipartisan opposition to the rider, with some Republican senators indicating they cannot support a bill that includes this provision. Public pressure has led to some revisions of the original rider, but significant threats remain. Notable Quotes: 1. "We're talking about a public lands fire sale, and commercial interests are first in line." 2. "Mike Lee doesn't consider non-consumptive use as a real use of public lands. If it doesn't turn a profit, it doesn't count in his worldview." 3. "This would not be affordable housing... it's far more likely that housing built in Sabino Canyon would be extremely expensive." 4. "Our common heritage is threatened, and we've got to stop this rider from moving forward." Resources: Senate Switchboard: 202-224-3121 https://www.senate.gov Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta information: https://chihuahuandesert.org/fiesta-information/ Map of eligible lands and data from the Wilderness Society: https://www.wilderness.org/articles/media-resources/250-million-acres-public-lands-eligible-sale-senr-bill Fundraising link for El Paso trip: https://90milesfromneedles.com/elpaso Jonathan Thompson's Substack The Land Desk: https://www.landdesk.org/Become a desert defender!: https://90milesfromneedles.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In March of 2025, Emily Ford lined up at the starting line of one of the world's most difficult races – The Iditarod. To race this iconic event hadn't been a lifelong dream but rather the next step on Emily's pursuit of her passions – cold quiet places and four legged friends. Support comes from Kuat Racks  Oboz Terns Use code DIRTBAG to save 25% off your first order Diaries+ Members-- Their support is powering the Diaries- thank you! You can join today. And Then What Actions 3 million acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands are currently slated to be sold. Call your Senators and tell them: Don't Sell Public Lands. Call 202-224-3121 ⁠Write

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The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication. Whether you sign up for the free or paid tier, I appreciate your support for independent ski journalism.WhoErik Lambert, Co-Founder of Bluebird Backcountry, Colorado and founder of Bonfire CollectiveRecorded onApril 8, 2025About Bluebird BackcountryLocated in: Just east of the junction of US 40 and Colorado 14, 20-ish miles southwest of Steamboat Springs, ColoradoYears active: 2020 to 2023Closest neighboring U.S. ski areas: Steamboat (:39), Howelsen Hill (:45), Base elevation: 8,600 feetSummit elevation: 9,845 feetVertical drop: 1,245 feetSkiable acres: 4,200-plus acres (3,000 acres guided; 1,200-plus acres avalanche-managed and ski-patrolled)Average annual snowfall: 196 inchesLift fleet: None!Why I interviewed himFirst question: why is the ski newsletter that constantly reminds readers that it's concerned always and only with lift-served skiing devoting an entire podcast episode to a closed ski area that had no lifts at all? Didn't I write this when Indy Pass added Bluebird back in 2022?:Wait a minute, what the f**k exactly is going on here? I have to walk to the f*****g top? Like a person from the past? Before they invented this thing like a hundred years ago called a chairlift? No? You actually ski up? Like some kind of weird humanoid platypus Howard the Duck thing? Bro I so did not sign up for this s**t. I am way too lazy and broken.Yup, that was me. But if you've been here long enough, you know that making fun of things that are hard is my way of making fun of myself for being Basic Ski Bro. Really I respected the hell out of Bluebird, its founders, and its skiers, and earnestly believed for a moment that the ski area could offer a new model for ski area development in a nation that had mostly stopped building them:Bluebird has a lot of the trappings of a lift-served ski area, with 28 marked runs and 11 marked skin tracks, making it a really solid place to dial your uphill kit and technique before throwing yourself out into the wilderness.I haven't really talked about this yet, but I think Bluebird may be the blueprint for re-igniting ski-area development in the vast American wilderness. The big Colorado resorts – other than Crested Butte and Telluride – have been at capacity for years. They keep building more and bigger lifts, but skiing needs a relief valve. One exists in the smaller ski areas that populate Colorado and are posting record business results, but in a growing state in a finally-growing sport, Bluebird shows us another way to do skiing.More specifically, I wrote in a post the following year:Bluebird fused the controlled environment and relative safety of a ski area with the grit and exhilaration of the uphill ski experience. The operating model, stripped of expensive chairlifts and resource-intensive snowmaking and grooming equipment, appeared to suit the current moment of reflexive opposition to mechanized development in the wilderness. For a moment, this patrolled, avalanche-controlled, low-infrastructure startup appeared to be a model for future ski area development in the United States. …If Bluebird could establish a beachhead in Colorado, home to a dozen of America's most-developed ski resorts and nearly one in every four of the nation's skier visits, then it could act as proof-of-concept for a new sort of American ski area. One that provided a novel experience in relative safety, sure, but, more important, one that could actually proceed as a concept in a nation allergic to new ski area development: no chairlifts, no snowmaking, no grooming, no permanent buildings.Dozens of American ski markets appeared to have the right ingredients for such a business: ample snow, empty wilderness, and too many skiers jamming too few ski areas that grow incrementally in size but never in number. If indoor ski areas are poised to become the nation's next-generation incubators, then liftless wilderness centers could create capacity on the opposite end of the skill spectrum, redoubts for experts burned out on liftlines but less enthusiastic about the dangers of touring the unmanaged backcountry. Bluebird could also act as a transition area for confident skiers who wanted to enter the wilderness but needed to hone their uphill and avalanche-analysis skills first. …Bluebird was affordable and approachable. Day tickets started at $39. A season pass cost $289. The ski area rented uphill gear and set skin tracks. The vibe was concert-tailgate-meets-#VanLife-minimalism-and-chill, with free bacon famously served at the mid-mountain yurt.That second bit of analysis, unfortunately, was latched to an article announcing Bluebird's permanent closure in 2023. Co-founder Jeff Woodward told me at the time that Bluebird's relative remoteness – past most of mainline Colorado skiing – and a drying-up of investors drove the shutdown decision.Why now was a good time for this interviewBluebird's 2023 closure shocked the ski community. Over already? A ski area offering affordable, uncrowded, safe uphill skiing seemed too wedded to skiing's post-Covid outdoors-hurray moment to crumble so quickly. Weren't Backcountry Bros multiplying as the suburban Abercrombie and Applebee's masses discovered the outside and flooded lift-served ski areas? I offered a possible explanation for Bluebird's untimely shutdown:There is another, less optimistic reading here. Bluebird may have failed because it's remote and small for its neighborhood. Or we are witnessing perception bump up against reality. The popular narrative is that we are in the midst of a backcountry resurgence, quantified by soaring gear sales and perpetually parked-out trailheads. Hundreds of skiers regularly skin up many western ski areas before the lifts open. But the number of skiers willing to haul themselves up a mountain under their own power is miniscule compared to those who prefer the ease and convenience of a chairlift, which, thanks to the megapass, is more affordable than at any point in modern ski history.Ski media glorifies uphilling. Social media amplifies it. But maybe the average skier just isn't that interested. You can, after all, make your own ice cream or soda or bread, often at considerable initial expense and multiples of the effort and time that it would take to simply purchase these items. A small number of people will engage in these activities out of curiosity or because they possess a craftsman's zeal for assembly. But most will not. And that's the challenge for whoever takes the next run at building a liftless ski area.Still, I couldn't stop thinking about my podcast conversation the year prior with Lonie Glieberman, founder of the improbable and remote Mount Bohemia. When he opened the experts-only, no-snowmaking, no-grooming freefall zone in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in 2000, the ski industry collectively scoffed. It will never work, they promised, and for years it didn't. Boho lost money for a long time. But Glieberman persisted and, through a $99-season-pass strategy and an aggressively curated fist-bump image, Boho now sits at the aspirational pinnacle of Midwest skiing, a pilgrimage spot that is so successful it no longer sells Saturday day-time lift tickets.Could Bluebird have ascended to similar cult destination given more time? I don't know. We might never know.But shortly after Bluebird's shuttering, Erik Lambert, who co-founded Bluebird with Woodward, reached out to me. He's since helped with The Storm's digital-marketing efforts and knows the product well. With two years to process the rapid and permanent unraveling of an enterprise that had for a time consumed his life and passion, he felt ready to tell his version of the Bluebird story. And he asked if we could use The Storm to do it.What we talked aboutHow an East Coast kid developed a backcountry obsession; White Grass, West Virginia; the very long starter-kit list for backcountry skiing; Bluebird as backcountry primer; Jackson Hole as backcountry firestarter; why a nation as expansive and wild as the United States has little suitable land for ready ski area development; a 100-page form to secure a four-day Forest Service permit; early Bluebird pilots at Mosquito Pass and Winter Park; a surprising number of beginners, not just to backcountry, but to skiing; why the founders envisioned a network of Bluebirds; why Bluebird moved locations after season one; creating social scaffolding out of what is “inherently an anti-social experience”; free bacon!; 20 inches to begin operating; “we didn't know if people would actually pay to go backcountry skiing in this kind of environment”; “backcountry skiing was wild and out there, and very few people were doing it”; who Bluebird thought would show up and who actually did – “we were absolutely flummoxed by what transpired”; the good and bad of Bluebird's location; why none of the obvious abandoned Colorado ski areas worked for Bluebird; “we did everything the right way … and the right way is expensive”; “it felt like it was working”; why financing finally ran out; comparisons to Bohemia; “what we really needed was that second location”; moving on from failure – “it's been really hard to talk about for a long time”; Bluebird's legacy – “we were able to get thousands of people their best winter day”; “I think about it every day in one way or another”; the alternate universe of our own pasts; “somebody's going to make something like this work because it can and should exist”; and why I don't think this story is necessarily over just yet.What I got wrong* We mentioned a forthcoming trip to Colorado – that trip is now in the past, and I included GoPro footage of Lambert skiing with me in Loveland on a soft May day.* I heard “New Hampshire” and assigned Lambert's first backcountry outing to Mount Washington and Tuckerman Ravine, but the trek took place in Gulf of Slides.Podcast NotesOn White GrassThe Existing facility that most resembles Bluebird Backcountry is White Grass, West Virginia, ostensibly a cross-country ski area that sits on a 1,200-foot vertical drop and attracts plenty of skinners. I hosted founder Chip Chase on the pod last year:On Forest Service permit boundariesThe developed portion of a ski area is often smaller than what's designated as the “permit area” on their Forest Service masterplan. Copper Mountain's 2024 masterplan, for example, shows large parcels included in the permit that currently sit outside of lift service:On Bluebird's shifting locationsBluebird's first season was set on Whiteley Peak:The following winter, Bluebird shifted operations to Bear Mountain, which is depicted in the trailmap at the top of this article. Lambert breaks down the reasons for this move in our conversation.On breaking my leg in-boundsYeah I know, the regulars have heard me tell this story more times than a bear s***s under the bridge water, but for anyone new here, one of the reasons I am Skis Inbounds Bro is that I did my best Civil War re-enactment at Black Mountain of Maine three years ago. It's kind of a miracle that not only did patrol not have to stuff a rag in my mouth while they sawed my leg off, but that I've skied 156 days since the accident. This is a testament both to being alive in the future and skiing within 300 yards of a Patrol hut equipped with evac sleds and radios to make sure a fentanyl drip is waiting in the base area recovery room. Here's the story: On abandoned Colorado ski areasBerthoud Pass feels like the lost Colorado ski area most likely to have have endured and found a niche had it lasted into our indie-is-cool, alt-megapass world of 2025. Dropping off US 40 11 miles south of Winter Park, the ski area delivered around 1,000 feet of vert and a pair of modern fixed-grip chairlifts. The bump ran from 1937 to 2001 - Colorado Ski History houses the full story.Geneva Basin suffered from a more remote location than Berthoud, and struggled through several owners from its 1963 opening to failed early ‘90s attempts at revitalization (the ski area last operated in 1984, according to Colorado Ski History). The mountain ran a couple of double chairs and surface lifts on 1,250 vertical feet:I also mentioned Hidden Valley, more commonly known as Ski Estes Park. This was another long-runner, hanging around from 1955 to 1991. Estes rocked an impressive 2,000-foot vertical drop, but spun just one chairlift and a bunch of surface lifts, likely making it impossible to compete as the Colorado megas modernized in the 1980s (Colorado Ski History doesn't go too deeply into the mountain's shutdown).On U.S. Forest Service permitsAn oft-cited stat is that roughly half of U.S. ski areas operate on Forest Service land. This number isn't quite right: 116 of America's 501 active ski areas are under Forest Service permits. While this is fewer than a quarter of active ski areas, those 116 collectively house 63 percentage of American ski terrain.I broke this down extensively a couple months back:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing (and sometimes adjacent things such as Bluebird) all year long. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

A new plan from the U.S. Forest Service lays out how to protect and manage the Arizona National Scenic Trail—an 807-mile path that stretches from Mexico to Utah. We look at the trail’s origins, what the plan includes, and why it matters for the future of public lands in the Southwest.Support the show: https://www.myheraldreview.com/site/forms/subscription_services/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this June, 2025 edition of "Keep it Wild," we talk with Jo Swanson, director of the Friends of the Superior National Forest. Formerly known as the Minnesota Volunteer Connection, the Friends of SNF partners with the U.S. Forest Service on maintenance projects throughout the Superior National Forest, including the BWCAW, and area campgrounds and trails. The group is currently looking for volunteers to help with a number of projects this summer, including pulling invasive plants at the Pincushion Mountains trail system outside of Grand Marais, and trail maintenance work on the Moss and South Lake trails on the Gunflint Trail. (Photo courtesy of Friends of SNF)

After a rash of federal job cuts earlier this year, the U.S. Forest Service is reversing course and asking people qualified to fight fires to come back to work. Missoulian outdoors reporter Sam Wilson sat down with MTPR's Austin Amestoy with more.

Explore Virginia is a new podcast coming Summer 2025 brought to you by the creator of Hike. Virginia has 43 state parks with more than 700 miles of trails, 24 wilderness areas, 22 national park sites and over 100,000 miles of streams and rivers. Whether you hike, bike, camp, paddle or are looking for a day trip itinerary, this podcast will highlight the best of what Virginia has to offer the outdoor adventure seeker. Subscribe hereFollow on Instagram or FacebookMusic clip credit:"Whiskey on the Mississippi" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support the showConnect with Hike:Instagram: @thehikepodcast @shenandoahexplorerFacebook: @thehikepodcastEmail: hikepodcast@gmail.com

Send us a textThis week's Hunter's Brief covers critical updates on public land threats, conservation funding, and state-level regulations affecting hunters and anglers across America. Senate Republicans' proposal to sell 3.29 million acres of public lands leads major headlines alongside conservation gains and industry controversies.• Senate Republicans propose selling 3.29 million acres of BLM and Forest Service lands across Western states• Federal class action lawsuit against archery manufacturers alleges price fixing since 2021• Congress allocates $10 million for Chronic Wasting Disease research in 34 states• BLM proposes new rule balancing conservation and recreation on 245 million acres of public land• Interior Department blocks 211-mile mining road in Alaska, protecting caribou habitat• North Carolina debates conservation access pass for non-hunters using game lands• Washington Governor's Fish and Wildlife Commission nominees draw mixed reactions• Pennsylvania Senate passes bill offering discounted licenses to volunteer firefighters• New Hampshire's fish and game funding proposal stalls due to low public support• Klamath River dam removal brings salmon upstream but Keno Dam remains blockedJoin us Monday for our full-length storytelling episode. You never know what epic hunter fish story you'll hear next, and if you found value in these news stories today, please subscribe, rate and share with your hunting and fishing crew.Support the showHunting Stories InstagramHave a story? Click here!

A summertime gig can be a rite of passage for many, and summer hiring of teenagers crests right about now. Seasonal jobs may be harder to find this year though amid tariffs, travel restrictions and general economic uncertainty. And when teens don't find a summer job, there can be long-term consequences. Also on the show: the Forest Service is down firefighters ahead of wildfire season and a look at what's next for cooling U.S.-China trade relations.

A summertime gig can be a rite of passage for many, and summer hiring of teenagers crests right about now. Seasonal jobs may be harder to find this year though amid tariffs, travel restrictions and general economic uncertainty. And when teens don't find a summer job, there can be long-term consequences. Also on the show: the Forest Service is down firefighters ahead of wildfire season and a look at what's next for cooling U.S.-China trade relations.

Americans are facing a massive crisis in earth care. The stark reality is that we've all been witnessing the decimation of multiple government land management agencies, such as the National Park Service and US Fish and Wildlife, among many others. And it's becoming increasingly obvious how the present administration's drastic cuts to staffing and budgets translates into the wholesale gutting of public services, environmental protections, and critical research for planetary health. But what we don't hear about so much is the cost of these changes to the actual federal employees on the front lines of these agencies-- in terms of their economic security, their mental health, and even their human dignity.In this conversation, Mark, a federal worker reflects on his 33-year career with the U.S. Forest Service, discussing his journey in land conservation, the importance of education in fostering environmental values, and the current threats to environmental regulations under political changes. He emphasizes the human cost of these policies and the need for community engagement and honest conversations to resist anti-Earth agendas. Mark also shares his ongoing passion for conservation and the role of education in shaping future generations' relationship with the environment.Episode 12: Mark's previous episode on EarthkeepersEpisode 14: Children and earthkeeping: The Woodsong Forest SchoolTakeawaysMark reflects on his fulfilling career in land conservation.Education plays a crucial role in valuing the environment.The dismantling of environmental regulations poses significant risks.Political changes have drastically affected land management agencies.Restoring environmental standards will be a long and costly process.Federal employees are facing unprecedented challenges and trauma.Community engagement is essential for effective conservation efforts.Real resistance requires honest conversations and understanding.Mark emphasizes the importance of native species in restoration.Everyone has a role in educating others about environmental issues.Keywordsland conservation, environmental policy, education, native species, public lands, whistleblower, environmental regulations, political impact, community engagement, national parksFind us on our website: Earthkeepers Support the Earthkeepers podcast Check out the Ecological Disciple

The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, also called the Triple Nickles, were the first Black paratroopers in the U.S. military, and their story is connected to the desegregation of the military after World War II. Research: 555th Parachute Infantry. “Malvin L. Brown.” http://triplenickle.com/malvinbrown.htm Aney, Warren. “Triple Nickles -- 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion.” Oregon Encyclopedia. https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/555th_parachute_infantry_triple_nickle_batallion/ Associated Press. “Air Force Starts Probe Into Troop Bombing.” The Miami Herald. 9/18/1948. https://www.newspapers.com/image/617847549/ Associated Press. “Army Lists Dead in Bomb Blast.” The Tampa Times. 9/18/1948. https://www.newspapers.com/image/326171714/ Biggs, Bradley. “The Triple Nickles: America’s First All-Black Paratroop Unit.” Hamden, Conn. Archon Books. 1986. Bradsher, Greg and Sylvia Naylor. “Firefly Project and the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (‘Smoke Jumpers’).” National Archives. 2/10/2015. https://rediscovering-black-history.blogs.archives.gov/2015/02/10/the-555th-smoke-jumpers/ Cieslak, Thomas. “Equal in All Ways to All Paratroopers - The Origin of the ‘Triple Nickles’.” U.S. Army. 5/27/2019. https://www.army.mil/article/222374/equal_in_all_ways_to_all_paratroopers_the_origin_of_the_triple_Nickles Crumley, Todd and Aaron Arthur. “The Triple Nickles and Operation Firefly.” National Archives. 2/5/2020. https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2020/02/05/the-triple-Nickles-and-operation-firefly/ Curran, Jonathan. “The 555TH Parachute Infantry Company ‘Triple Nickles.’” U.S. Army National Museum. https://www.thenmusa.org/articles/triple-Nickles/ Ferguson, Paul-Thomas. “African American Service and Racial Integration in the U.S. Military.” U.S. Army. 2/23/2021. Via archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20240327034226/https://www.army.mil/article/243604/african_american_service_and_racial_integration_in_the_u_s_military Forest Service Aviation & Fire Management. “History of Smokejumping.” August 1, 1980 Gidlund, Carl. “African-American Smokejumpers Help Celebrate Smokey’s 50th.” Fire management notes / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1993. https://archive.org/details/CAT77680365067/ Morris, Walter. “Base Plate.” Triplenickle.com. http://triplenickle.com/waltermorris.htm Queen, Jennifer. “The Triple Nickles: A 75-Year Legacy.” USD Forest Service. 2/28/2020. Via archive.org. https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/triple-Nickles-75-year-legacy The Forest History Society. “U.S. Forest Service Smokejumpers.” Via Archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20170316132550/https://foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Policy/Fire/Smokejumpers/Smokejumpers.aspx USDA Forest Service. “Operation Firefly & the 555th.” https://www.fs.usda.gov/science-technology/fire/smokejumpers/missoula/history/operation-firefly Weeks, Linton. “How Black Smokejumpers Helped Save The American West.” NPR History Dept. 1/22/2015. https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/01/22/376973981/how-black-smokejumpers-helped-save-the-american-west Williams, Robert F. “The "Triple Nickles": Jim Crow Was an Elite Black Airborne Battalion's Toughest Foe.” History News Network. 9/6/2020. https://www.hnn.us/article/the-triple-Nickles-jim-crow-was-an-elite-black-air See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.