The New Type II Fun: Public Land Advocacy (Live at The Rut!)

Live in Big Sky! This episode is a live panel I moderated this past September at The Rut Mountain Runs in Big Sky, Montana, presented by Trust for Public Land and The North Face.

If you’re not familiar with The Rut, it’s one of the premier trail running festivals in the country. It’s three full days of racing, from an 11K all the way up to a super-challenging 50K with about 10,500 feet of climbing and descending. There’s even a 1K “Runt Run” for the kiddos. But what makes it all so special is the people. Pros, weekend warriors and families are all out there together, and the vibe is fun, welcoming and humble. I’ve been to a lot of trail races over the years, and I can honestly say this was the most welcoming one I’ve experienced anywhere.

That’s no surprise, because The Rut was co-founded and is directed by Mike Foote. Mike was a guest on the show years ago and has since become a good friend. He’s one of the most thoughtful, kind and inclusive people I know, and he brings a conservation ethic to everything he does. This year he and his team even launched The Rut Grants, a program that funds the people and places that give life to the sport of trail running.

That made The Rut the perfect setting for a conversation with some of the West’s most effective conservation practitioners and thinkers about the threats our public lands are facing and what we can do about them. It was an all-star panel: Olivia Amber, ultrarunner for The North Face; Dillon Osleger, author of the excellent book Trail Work,; Hilary Eisen, Federal Policy Director at Wild Montana; and David Weinstein, Northern Rockies Director at Trust for Public Land. We dug into everything from the Roadless Rule rollback to Forest Service staffing cuts to last year’s attempt to sell off public lands, and what actually moves the needle with elected officials.

I’m releasing this one around the 2026 midterms, and hopefully this election cycle will be a positive one for public lands. The threats to public lands rise and fall with different administrations, but they never fully stop. f you’ve listened to my conversations with historians of the West, you know these fights go back to the days of Theodore Roosevelt, and they’ve continued right up to today. They take different forms from decade to decade, but the threats are always looming. So as people who love these places, we need to stay vigilant, stay engaged and be willing to speak up. That can mean submitting public comments, calling your elected officials, donating to nonprofits doing the work or volunteering your time. But the harsh reality is that whatever you do, you need be prepared to do it for the rest of your life, because these threats are not going to stop.

On a lighter note, I’d really encourage you to pick a race at The Rut and go. It’s a great celebration of the mountains, endurance sports and good people. Registration for 2027 opens on January 12th, 2027, at 8 a.m. Mountain Time, and it sells out fast, so mark your calendar. You can find everything at runtherut.com.

A big thanks to Mike and the whole Rut team for inviting me up to moderate. And thanks to our panelists for sharing their wisdom and for the work they do every day to protect the West’s wide-open spaces.