(photo: Tim Nwachukwu)
Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser is President and CEO of the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that does everything from massive landscape protection projects to pocket parks in big cities, all built around a simple idea: land for people. I’ve wanted to have Carrie on the podcast for a long time, and we finally made it happen in person at El Pomar’s Penrose House here in Colorado Springs. She’s one of the most accomplished, grounded, and genuinely fun people I’ve talked to in a while, and her résumé is so packed I honestly don’t know how she’s fit it all into one career.
Carrie grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona, hiking into the Grand Canyon with her dad, which eventually led to summers working for one of the canyon’s most storied river companies. She planned on law school but instead earned a PhD in higher education public policy at UCLA. From there, she was one of the first employees to help build the Daniels Fund from scratch, served in leadership at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and spent nearly 11 years as President and CEO of Colorado Mountain College. Along the way, she chaired the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission during wolf reintroduction planning and somehow found time to climb all of Colorado’s 14ers.
Carrie and I talked about growing up in Flagstaff, the lessons she learned helping build one of the largest foundations in the Rockies, and how she stays grounded in roles that come with real influence. We dug into what makes Colorado Mountain College so unique, what she learned about the urban/rural divide while chairing CPW, TPL’s goal of putting every American within a 10-minute walk of a park, its incredible schoolyard transformation work, and Colorado’s Proposition 137, which voters will decide on in just a few days. We wrapped up with some great book recommendations, including a couple from Ken Salazar and Kevin Fedarko. I really enjoyed this one, and I think you will too. Enjoy!
Photos courtesy of Trust for Public Land: Header photo of Mt. Whitney Summit by Carrie, inset photo by Tim Nwachukwu
LISTEN & DOWNLOAD:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
…or wherever you get your podcasts!
A HEARTFELT THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 0:00 – Introducing Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser
- 3:27 – Growing up in Flagstaff
- 9:33 – College plan
- 18:53 – What Carrie learned
- 25:57 – Staying grounded
- 30:21 – Colorado Mountain College
- 36:01 – Making mountain communities run
- 42:49 – Being there for the community
- 46:15 – Leaving the college
- 51:11 – The value of a park
- 59:01 – The benefits of a schoolyard
- 1:02:37 – Prop 137
- 1:08:05 – It just makes sense
- 1:10:06 – Book recs
- 1:17:03 – Wrapping up
Information Referenced:
- Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser
- Carrie on Instagram and LinkedIn
- Bill Daniels, founder of cable TV
- Colorado Mountain College
- Trust for Public Lands
- Revitalizing America’s Schoolyards Act
- Prop 137
- Book recs: Team of Rivals, Borderlands, The Emerald Mile, A Walk in the Park
- Brian Yablonski on M&P
- Kevin Fedarko
- Pete McBride on M&P
- Ken Salazar
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Kristine Tompkins – Nothing to Lose
- Elliot Ross: Where Landscape, Justice, and Storytelling Meet
- Adam Cramer – Fighting for the Future of Public Lands
- Paul Hendricks – The Conservation Alliance and the Future of Public Lands
- Sebastian Junger – On Meaning, Mortality, and Belonging
- Fitz Cahall – Going on the Offense for Public Lands
Visit the podcast page for a full list of episodes where you can filter episodes by topic and guests’ vocations.
M&P IS LISTENER-SUPPORTED VIA PATREON
