National Parks Traveler Podcast | The Future of Grizzly Bears

National Parks Traveler Podcast | The Future of Grizzly Bears

Author: Kurt Repanshek July 20, 2025 Duration: 44:10

Grizzly bears. They define charismatic megafauna. Huge animals that draw both human admiration and fear. Once they roamed the entire country, though that was a long time ago. Today there are pockets of grizzly bear populations in the Rocky Mountains from Yellowstone to Glacier National Parks.

Among the questions that revolve around grizzly bears is how many are too many, are they a threat to humans, should they be removed from the landscape, or protected?

To explore those issues our guests today are Erin Edge and Joseph Vaile from Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit wildlife advocacy organization.


There's a world of stories waiting beyond the park entrance sign, and the National Parks Traveler Podcast is your audio guide to them. Led by Kurt Repanshek, this series goes deeper than trail maps and visitor statistics. It connects the natural wonder you experience firsthand with the crucial, often unseen work happening behind the scenes-the science informing conservation, the cultural histories embedded in the landscape, and the policy decisions that will shape these places for future generations. As the audio companion to the editorially independent nonprofit media organization, this podcast delivers a thoughtful blend of on-the-ground reports, interviews with researchers and park staff, and nuanced discussions about the challenges and triumphs in managing protected areas. You'll hear the sounds of the parks and the voices of the people dedicated to them. Each episode is an invitation to better understand the complex tapestry of ecology, history, and society that makes every national park far more than a scenic destination. Tune in for a regular dose of insight that will deepen your appreciation and perhaps even shape your next journey into America's most treasured public lands.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

National Parks Traveler Podcast
Podcast Episodes
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Federal Lands Fire Sale [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:09
There are some in Congress who think we should have a fire sale on public lands. Places across national forests and the Bureau of Land Management that politicians think should be offered for sale, either to try to adopt…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | How Wild [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:07
Today our guest is Marissa Ortega-Welch, a San Francisco-based freelance journalist who focuses on environmental issues. Last year she generated a series of podcasts surrounding the topic of official wilderness – the his…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Plight of the Parks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:45
So much is happening so quickly to the National Park Service. There have been staff reductions, hiring freezes, spending freezes, orders from the Interior Secretary to make sure that visitors find national parks welcomin…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Environmental Partisanship [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:42
Is green a red and blue construct? Put another way, is there a political partisan divide over the environment? That's a particularly interesting question, no doubt more so in recent years as the country seems to have dri…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | North American Bird Declines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:54
True birders are some of the most determined and persistent hobbyists out there. If you want to call bird watching a hobby. For many, it's more like a passion. Many look forward to "Big Day" competitions, where individua…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Walt Dabney and Public Lands [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:35
It's fair to say that the nation's public lands, those managed by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal land-management agencies are at risk under the Trump a…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Congressman Jared Huffman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:18
The first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term might be the most tumultuous first 100 days of any president. He certainly came in prepared to move his agenda forward, no matter what barriers to it existed. We…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | National Park Science At Risk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:52
There has been much upheaval in the National Park Service this year, with firings, then rehires, and staff deciding to retire now rather than risk sticking around and being fired. There have been fears that more Park Ser…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | George Wright Society [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:52
George Melendez Wright was a brilliant young scientist with the National Park Service back in the 1920s and 1930s. You could say he was ahead of his time, in that he wanted the Park Service to take a holistic role in how…