National Parks Traveler Podcast | Yellowstone Wolves at 30

National Parks Traveler Podcast | Yellowstone Wolves at 30

Author: Kurt Repanshek January 12, 2025 Duration: 43:11

There are sounds that wake you up out of a deep sleep, only to be dismissed as you fall back to sleep. And then there are sounds that rivet you, make you sit bolt upright.

That was the type of sound that woke us while we were deep in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. Sunrise hadn't yet come, yet we were wide awake, listening to one of the most mesmerizing sounds you can encounter in the wilds: The melodious rising and falling howl of a wolf.

It was late summer in 2008 when two friends and I were lucky enough to catch that howling. Had it been 20 years earlier, there would have been an audible hole in the park sky because there were no wolves in Yellowstone in 1988. 

It was an effort launched early in the 1990s that returned the predators to the park in January 12, 1995 – 30 years ago – when 14 wolves trapped in Canada were brought into Yellowstone to kick off an audacious effort to see healthy wolf packs loping through the park.

How have they done? To find out, our guest today is Eric Clewis, the Northern Rockies senior representative for Defenders of Wildlife.


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 | Shrinking Mount Rainier [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:49
Gazing up at mountains from their valleys down below, it's hard, if not impossible, to detect any change on the top of the mountains. But change is ongoing, especially in recent history as the climate continues to warm.…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Park Friends Under Pressure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:40
The government shutdown has been record-setting in terms of its length. So, too, has been the time that many employees of the National Park Service have been furloughed without pay. How has the shutdown affected the park…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | November NewsMatch Fundraiser [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:24
What is a "typical" day at the National Parks Traveler like? When you surf over to the website there's always content there, ready to update you on news from around the National Park System. How is it generated, and who…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | The Battle of Saratoga [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:27
Though the Revolutionary War didn't officially end until September 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, a key turning point in the war for independence occurred six years earlier in a small corner of today's New…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Government Shutdown Blues [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:09
The federal government is shut down, but the national parks – most of them, anyway – are open. Back during his first term in office President Donald Trump also kept the parks open during the government shutdown that stre…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Kansas Road Trip [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:46
Kansas is a big place, and not one particularly well-known for national park destinations. But that doesn't mean you should overlook the Sunflower State. In the closing days of September, as the country seemed destined f…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Rebuilding the Appalachian Trail [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:23
Nearly 700 volunteers, including some from as far away as Japan, descended on the Appalachian Trail in the past year in an unprecedented effort to recover a landscape forever scarred by Hurricane Helene. The storm in Sep…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Disappearing Black History [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:28
This past week unspecified interpretive materials related to slavery were either removed or tagged for removal from Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. It also was reported that a troubling photo kno…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Historic Preservation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:14
We can't escape history. We're born into a world full of it, and we're making it as we go from day to day. But how are we at preserving history? There's been a lot of concern this year that the administration of Presiden…