Christian Beckwith, Part 2 – The Fascinating History of the 10th Mountain Division
For today’s conversation, I was thrilled to chat once again with Christian Beckwith, a Jackson, Wyoming-based writer, historian, conservationist, and entrepreneur. Christian’s latest project is “Ninety-Pound Rucksack: A podcast about the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division and the dawn of outdoor recreation in America.” If you enjoy spending time up high in the mountains here …
Matt Moorhead & Galen Guerrero-Murphy – Grasslands Conservation on the Southern High Plains
Matt Moorhead and Galen Guerrero-Murphy are conservationists who work for The Nature Conservancy on its Southern Highs Plains Initiative (SHPI), a collaboration between five states with the shared goal of protecting the nation’s grasslands. The Southern High Plains encompasses approximately 71 million acres across Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The region is home …
Landscape-Scale Management in a Private Land State
This is the second of two live episodes that were recorded at the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s 2023 annual meeting in Houston, Texas. The topic of this panel discussion was Achieving Landscape-Scale Management in a Private Land State. As you learned in the previous episode, Texas has very little public land compared to …
Equitable Access to the Outdoors in Texas
This is the first of two live episodes that were recorded at the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s 2023 annual meeting in Houston, Texas. The topic of this panel discussion was Equitable Access to the Outdoors, a subject that is timely and important in all areas of the West, but especially important in Texas, …
Taylor Hawes – Innovative Conservation in the Colorado River Basin
Taylor Hawes is the Director of the Colorado River Program for the Nature Conservancy. As the leader of the program, she guides TNC’s efforts to conserve the freshwater biodiversity of the Colorado River Basin while also meeting human demands for water– challenging objectives given the wide-ranging stresses facing the river today. But despite the challenges …
Chandra Brown, Part 2 – Teaching & Learning in the West’s Wildest Landscapes
I first met Chandra Brown through the podcast more than four years ago, and with each passing year, I’ve been more and more inspired by her life and work. You may remember that she’s the founder of Freeflow Institute, a Montana-based organization that curates immersive outdoor learning experiences in Earth’s wildest classrooms. What started with …
Cate Havstad-Casad, Part 2 – Building Businesses for the Greater Good
If you’ve listened to Mountain & Prairie since the early days, then I’m sure you remember Cate Havstad-Casad. She first joined me on the podcast in early 2018 for a conversation about her life and career as a hatmaker and farmer. In late 2019, she was one of the four amazing women who joined me …
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe – Effecting Change Through Authentic Conversation
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is a world-renowned climate scientist, professor, and Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy, where she leads and coordinates the organization’s scientific efforts. She is also the author of Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, an excellent book you’ve likely heard me reference on the …
Megan Torgerson – Storytelling from Rural America
Megan Torgerson is a podcaster and the creator of Reframing Rural, a narrative podcast whose mission is to “share stories of people and places in rural America in an effort to celebrate culture, preserve history and cultivate curiosity and conversation across geographic, class and cultural divides.” In just three seasons, Megan has grown Reframing Rural …
Cole Mannix – Building Community through Land Stewardship and Local Food
Cole Mannix is the President and Founder of the Old Salt Co-op, a new, purpose-driven company that “provides meat raised with integrity from Montana landscapes its customers know and care about.” Cole and his team partner with a growing number of Montana ranches, butchers, chefs, and businesses to connect customers and producers, while simultaneously encouraging …
Carlos Fernández, Part 2 – Creating Conservation Opportunities During Uncertain Times
Carlos Fernandez is the Colorado State Director of The Nature Conservancy, one of the most effective conservation organizations in the American West and around the globe. You probably remember Carlos from our first conversation back in August of 2020, in which we discussed his inspiring career trajectory, the importance of collaborative conservation partnerships, and several …
BONUS EPISODE: Kate Matheson & The Ranchlands Podcast
If you’re a Mountain & Prairie Patreon supporter, then you probably already know that I recently began hosting another podcast for my friends at Ranchlands. It’s called the Ranchlands Podcast, and it features conversations with members of the Ranchlands community. As of today, we’re about ten episodes in, and we feel very grateful that the …
Live with the Cowboy Artists of America
This is a special episode that was recorded live in Fort Worth, Texas as part of the Cowboy Artists of America’s 56th annual exhibition and sale. The show was called “Stories From Around the Campfire,” and it was held at the world-renowned Amon Carter Musem of American Art. I was joined on stage by seven …
Chris Dombrowski, Part 2 – “The River You Touch”
Chris Dombrowski is a Missoula-based writer, poet, teacher, and fishing guide, and he’s also the author of the excellent new book The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water. If you’re a longtime Mountain & Prairie listener, you probably remember Chris’s first appearance on the podcast in which we discussed his first book …
Douglas Brinkley – Exploring the Past to Find Inspiration for the Future
Douglas Brinkley is a world-renowned historian, author, and professor who may be best known to Mountain & Prairie listeners as the author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America and Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America, which detailed the first two waves of the United States’ conservation …
Francesca Claverie – A Borderlands Conservation Success Story
Francesca Claverie is the Native Plant Program Manager at the Borderlands Restoration Network. Based in the southern Arizona town of Patagonia, the Borderlands Restoration Network’s mission is “to grow a restorative economy by rebuilding healthy ecosystems, restoring habitat for plants and wildlife, and reconnecting our border communities to the land through shared learning.” Through binational …
Amber Smith – Creating Connection & Community
Amber Smith is a Montana-based rancher and the Executive Director of Women in Ranching, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to hold brave space, support courageous action, and champion rural women’s leadership on the land. Offering a blend of in-person and virtual events, Women in Ranching has filled a unique niche across a wide range …
Mike McTee & Vince Slabe – Win-Win Solutions in the Fight to Save Eagles
Mike McTee and Vince Slabe are Montana-based researchers who use cutting-edge science, writing, and educational programs to protect eagles in the American West and beyond. Both Mike and Vince are laser-focused on the surprisingly little-known issue of lead poisoning in bald and golden eagles, a problem caused mainly by eagles scavenging the remains of big …
Frances Ashforth – Art, Water, and Wide-Open Spaces
Frances B. Ashforth is an artist who specializes in drawing, printmaking, and painting. While much of her work is tied to the landscapes and rivers of the American West, she is also well known for her depictions of salt flats and coastal weather in more tropical locales. If there are two threads that bind all …
10 Must-Read Books about the American West, with Mark Kenyon
Mark Kenyon is an author, podcaster, conservationist, and member of the MeatEater crew. You probably know him from his excellent book That Wild Country: An Epic Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of America’s Public Lands, the Wired to Hunt podcast, or his contributions to MeatEater’s Netflix show and other video productions. To learn …
Nate Schweber – A Forgotten Chapter of American Conservation
Nate Schweber is an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured in the New York Times, ProPublica, Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, and more. He’s also the author of the new book This America of Ours: Bernard and Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild, which was published in early July 2022. If …
Pete McBride, Part 2: In Search of Silence
Pete McBride is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose work is regularly featured by National Geographic, Smithsonian, The Nature Conservancy, and other renowned institutions. His most recent book is titled Seeing Silence: The Beauty of the World’s Most Quiet Places, and it features photographs and stories from more than two decades of his adventures on …
Rick Ridgeway – Purpose-Driven Adventurer
Rick Ridgeway is a world-renowned mountaineer and adventurer who has devoted his life to exploring some of the wildest regions of Planet Earth– from the summit of K2 to the jungles of Borneo to the mountain ranges of the American West and almost everywhere in between. Rick is also a highly regarded author, director, and …
The Life-Changing Magic of Living Strenuously, with Kate Kavanaugh
This episode is a little different– it’s me being interviewed by my friend and past Mountain & Prairie podcast guest Kate Kavanaugh. If you’ve been listening for a while, then I’m sure you remember Kate– she’s a farmer, butcher, and all-around interesting woman who co-founded Western Daughters Butcher Shop in Denver. Kate recently started an …
Land Tawney – Energetic & Optimistic
Land Tawney is the President and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, one of North America’s leading and most effective advocates for wild public lands, waters and wildlife. Founded around a campfire in 2004, BHA uses education, nonpartisan political advocacy, stewardship initiatives, and stakeholder coalitions to ensure the protection of our public lands for generations …
Betsy Gaines Quammen – A Fascinating History of Public Lands in the West
Betsy Gaines Quammen is a historian and conservationist, and she’s also the author of the excellent book American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, & Public Lands in the West. Betsy has enjoyed a long career in the conservation world, working on issues ranging from grizzly bears in the West to fish in Mongolia to wildlife in …
Brian Yablonski – Action-Oriented Conservationist
Brian Yablonski is the Chief Executive Officer of the Property and Environment Research Center (“PERC”), a Bozeman-based research institute dedicated to promoting conservation by exploring how voluntary trade can produce positive environmental outcomes. For more than 40 years, PERC has explored market-based solutions for major conservation challenges throughout the West, and its current initiatives focus …
Dylan Tomine – Protecting What He Loves
Dylan Tomine is a conservationist, angler, and author of the excellent new book Headwaters: The Adventures, Obsession and Evolution of a Fly Fisherman. Headwaters is a collection of essays and stories from Dylan’s life as a self-proclaimed fly fishing bum, a life that has taken him from his home in the northwest to the far …
Liz Moore – For the Love of Montana
Liz Moore is the Executive Director of the Montana Nonprofit Association, an organization whose mission is to “provide leadership for Montana’s nonprofit sector and partner with charitable nonprofits to promote a sustainable, networked, and influential sector.” Founded in 2001, the MNA provides capacity, resources, and networking opportunities that allow Montana’s diverse and numerous nonprofit organizations …
Kate Mannix – A Legacy of Land Stewardship
Kate Mannix is a rancher who works alongside her family on the Mannix Ranch in Montana’s Blackfoot Valley. The Mannix family has been ranching and stewarding their family ranch since 1882, back when Timothy Benjamin Mannix purchased the land from the Northern Pacific Railroad. For generations, the Mannix family has served as loyal caretakers of …
