Rewilding Earth Podcast

Tyler Socash is the Adirondack Mountain Club‘s Outdoor Skills Coordinator. The day after completing his master’s degree at the University of Rochester, Tyler embarked on a 7,000-mile thru-hiking immersion into wilderness. He joined the Adirondack Wilderness Advocates as an activist to promote the intangibles of wildness and their benefits to humanity. In 2017, Tyler put his thru-hiking skills to the test as he carried over 1,800 petitions 47 miles in 24 hours across the wildest remaining landscape in New York to advocate for wilderness protection. In an effort to meld humor with conservation efforts, Socash also co-created and co-hosts Foot Stuff Podcast, which spotlights outdoor adventure, antics, and activism around the country. You can check out all of Tyler’s wilderness adventures through his Twitter and Instagram account, @tylerhikes. Topics: * Growing up in the Adirondacks * Thru hiking and Tyler’s 7,000 mile wilderness immersion on the PCT, AT, and New Zealand’s Te Araroa * Getting people out into wilderness & building advocacy * The campaign to save wilderness in the Adirondacks * Going to Patagonia Extra Credit: Listen to Foot Stuff Podcast Tyler on TEDx Tyler Socash is the Adirondack Mountain Club‘s Outdoor Skills Coordinator. The day after completing his master’s degree at the University of Rochester, Tyler embarked on a 7,000-mile thru-hiking immersion into wilderness. He joined the Adirondack Wilderness Advocates as an activist to promote the intangibles of wildness and their benefits to humanity. In 2017, Tyler put his thru-hiking skills to the test as he carried over 1,800 petitions 47 miles in 24 hours across the wildest remaining landscape in New York to advocate for wilderness protection. In an effort to meld humor with conservation efforts, Socash also co-created and co-hosts Foot Stuff Podcast, which spotlights outdoor adventure, antics, and activism around the country. You can check out all of Tyler’s wilderness adventures through his Twitter and Instagram account, @tylerhikes. Topics: * Growing up in the Adirondacks * Thru hiking and Tyler’s 7,000 mile wilderness immersion on the PCT, AT, and New Zealand’s Te Araroa * Getting people out into wilderness & building advocacy * The campaign to save wilderness in the Adirondacks * Going to Patagonia Extra Credit: Listen to Foot Stuff Podcast Tyler on TEDx

Nicole Rosmarino, Ph.D. helped found the Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) in 1998 and has served as its Executive Director since 2011. In her work for SPLT, she is striving to create large shortgrass prairie wildlife refuges that emulate the “American Serengeti” that once occurred in the Great Plains. Thus far, SPLT has protected over 25,000 acres in southeast Colorado, a biodiversity hotspot. One of SPLT’s preserves, Heartland Ranch, is larger than any one of Colorado’s state parks. Nicole received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2002. Her dissertation focused on the Endangered Species Act and ways in which ecosystem protection and the precautionary principle have factored in the law’s legislative history. Over her career, Nicole worked to enforce the Endangered Species Act, first for the Biodiversity Legal Foundation and subsequently for a decade at WildEarth Guardians. She has endeavored to protect more than 800 species over the course of her career but now focuses on SPLT’s private landownership approach to protecting the wildlife and plants native to the southern Great Plains. Topics: * The potential for the American Serengeti to bounce back * Black footed ferrets * Pronghorn, muledeer, bison * Land trusts and their importance in protecting lands that are not covered by federal and state protected lands * How democratic and republican administrations have hindered endangered species and how private land trusts can mitigate the whims of federal government to protect species on the brink * Bringing back riparian forests and missing species the belong to the Great Plains Extra Credit: Read Nicole’s article “Bringing Back the American Serengeti“ Nicole Rosmarino, Ph.D. helped found the Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) in 1998 and has served as its Executive Director since 2011. In her work for SPLT, she is striving to create large shortgrass prairie wildlife refuges that emulate the “American Serengeti” that once occurred in the Great Plains. Thus far, SPLT has protected over 25,000 acres in southeast Colorado, a biodiversity hotspot. One of SPLT’s preserves, Heartland Ranch, is larger than any one of Colorado’s state parks. Nicole received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2002. Her dissertation focused on the Endangered Species Act and ways in which ecosystem protection and the precautionary principle have factored in the law’s legislative history. Over her career, Nicole worked to enforce the Endangered Species Act, first for the Biodiversity Legal Foundation and subsequently for a decade at WildEarth Guardians. She has endeavored to protect more than 800 species over the course of her career but now focuses on SPLT’s private landownership approach to protecting the wildlife and plants native to the southern Great Plains. Topics: * The potential for the American Serengeti to bounce back * Black footed ferrets * Pronghorn, muledeer, bison * Land trusts and their importance in protecting lands that are not covered by federal and state protected lands * How democratic and republican administrations have hindered endangered species and how private land trusts can mitigate the whims of federal government to protect species on the brink * Bringing back riparian forests and missing species the belong to the Great Plains Extra Credit: Read Nicole’s article “Bringing Back the American Serengeti“

It’s not often, especially these days, that we get to hear about a really big Rewilding  victory. Today is one of those days. The dam removal on the Elwha River in the Olympic Peninsula is not breaking news. But it continues to teach us myriad lessons in the conservation community about devotion to a long-running campaign and the rewards that come with winning a big victory for nature. Tim McNulty was there for the fight to remove 2 dams on the Elwha, which run through one of the most impressive national parks in the park system. What was less prominent in the coverage of the dam removal (and the resulting Rewilding of the river ecosystem) was the story of the dedicated, large group of people who saw it through over decades of fighting. We have a good chunk of that story here for you today. Use this. Use the Elwha for inspiration on those dark days when you need it. If you are fighting for something in your area and you feel like you just can’t do it another day, listen to this episode of Rewilding Earth to regain your footing and rejoin the fight. — Tim McNulty is a poet, essayist, and nature writer based on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. He is the author of ten poetry books and eleven books of natural history. Tim’s book “Olympic National Park: A Natural History” is a captivating and detailed accounting of the parks 1400 square miles of rugged mountains, richly forested river valleys, and pristine wilderness coastline. In 2011 Tim and hundreds of activists, organizers, and scientists rejoiced as the largest dam removal in US history began on the Elwha river, which runs through Olympic National Park to the coast. It marked the end of a decades-long battle to return the Elwha to natural flow, resulting in the return of salmon, Eagles and countless natural processes and species reliant on a healthy river freed from 2 dams. Though a great many people worked on this campaign, several of whom never got to see the fruits of their labor, Tim is the perfect spokesperson to talk about this very big Rewilding victory and what it has done locally as well as what it means in the fight to remove destructive and outmoded dams across the US. Topics: * History of the campaign to free the Elwha River * The return of the Elwha and its incredible and ongoing transformation * Lessons from this big win * Taking out other dams – the current Snake River fight example Watch The Dams Fall And The Fish And Nearshore Return See also: National Park Service news and history of Elwha dam removal and Elwha Restoration information at Olympic Park Associates. It’s not often, especially these days, that we get to hear about a really big Rewilding  victory. Today is one of those days. The dam removal on the Elwha River in the Olympic Peninsula is not breaking news. But it continues to teach us myriad lessons in the conservation community about devotion to a long-running campaign and the rewards that come with winning a big victory for nature. Tim McNulty was there for the fight to remove 2 dams on the Elwha, which run through one of the most impressive national parks in the park system. What was less prominent in the coverage of the dam removal (and the resulting Rewilding of the river ecosystem) was the story of the dedicated, large group of people who saw it through over decades of fighting. We have a good chunk of that story here for you today. Use this. Use the Elwha for inspiration on those dark days when you need it.

Camilla Fox is the founder and executive director of Project Coyote, a national non-profit organization that promotes compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife through education, science, and advocacy. With over 20 years of experience working on behalf of wildlife and wildlands and a Masters degree in wildlife ecology, policy, and conservation, Camilla’s work has been featured in The New York Times, the BBC, NPR, Orion, National Geographic, and Mother Jones. Camilla has authored more than 70 publications and is co-author of two books: Coyotes in Our Midst and Cull of the Wild. She also co-produced the companion award-winning documentary Cull of the Wild ~ The Truth Behind Trapping and director and producer of KILLING GAMES ~ Wildlife in the Crosshairs– a documentary film released in 2017 with the aim of ending wildlife killing contests in the U.S. Topics Include: * Wildlife killing contests * A non-protected class of animals including coyote, prairie dog, bobcat, raven, and several others which can be killed on site, in contests, and is unmonitored in almost every state. * How you can get involved in your state to support the work of Project Coyote in ending wildlife killing contests. Download a transcript of this episode Camilla Fox is the founder and executive director of Project Coyote, a national non-profit organization that promotes compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife through education, science, and advocacy. With over 20 years of experience working on behalf of wildlife and wildlands and a Masters degree in wildlife ecology, policy, and conservation, Camilla’s work has been featured in The New York Times, the BBC, NPR, Orion, National Geographic, and Mother Jones. Camilla has authored more than 70 publications and is co-author of two books: Coyotes in Our Midst and Cull of the Wild. She also co-produced the companion award-winning documentary Cull of the Wild ~ The Truth Behind Trapping and director and producer of KILLING GAMES ~ Wildlife in the Crosshairs– a documentary film released in 2017 with the aim of ending wildlife killing contests in the U.S. Topics Include: * Wildlife killing contests * A non-protected class of animals including coyote, prairie dog, bobcat, raven, and several others which can be killed on site, in contests, and is unmonitored in almost every state. * How you can get involved in your state to support the work of Project Coyote in ending wildlife killing contests. Download a transcript of this episode

Paul Jepson is course director of Oxford University‘s Master in Science in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management. He’s also a Senior Research Fellow with the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He’s held Senior Research Fellowships with the Environmental Change Institute and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School. Paul is also on the supervisory board of Rewilding Europe. Through his scientific publications and work at Oxford University, he’s making an invaluable contribution to the development of rewilding as a conservation narrative in Europe and beyond. Topics: * Rewilding in Europe * Rewilding initiatives in Europe and around the world * Working with an array of stakeholders to broaden discourse and action around  the idea of Rewilding * How Rewilding experiments and initiatives can become policy Check out more episodes of the Rewilding Earth Podcast. Paul Jepson is course director of Oxford University‘s Master in Science in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management. He’s also a Senior Research Fellow with the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He’s held Senior Research Fellowships with the Environmental Change Institute and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School. Paul is also on the supervisory board of Rewilding Europe. Through his scientific publications and work at Oxford University, he’s making an invaluable contribution to the development of rewilding as a conservation narrative in Europe and beyond. Topics: * Rewilding in Europe * Rewilding initiatives in Europe and around the world * Working with an array of stakeholders to broaden discourse and action around  the idea of Rewilding * How Rewilding experiments and initiatives can become policy Check out more episodes of the Rewilding Earth Podcast.

Vance Russell is the head of biodiversity at Ecosulis which provides a variety of services including rewilding, wildlands plans, and approaches to landscape-scale conservation. Vance was California Director of Programs for the National Forest Foundation where he managed forestry projects throughout the state. He was also director of Audubon California’s Landowner Stewardship Program working with farmers and ranchers throughout California. Vance is one of the founding members of the Wild Farm Alliance, which promotes agriculture that helps to protect and restore wild nature, and currently serves on the organization’s board of directors. Topics: * Differences and similarities between North American and European Rewilding efforts. * Bridging the gaps between stakeholders’ disparate views on biodiversity rewilding needs. * Farming then and now: how technology could help Rewilding projects. * The future of Rewilding globally and the need for all levels of participation: how you can get involved.   Vance Russell is the head of biodiversity at Ecosulis which provides a variety of services including rewilding, wildlands plans, and approaches to landscape-scale conservation. Vance was California Director of Programs for the National Forest Foundation where he managed forestry projects throughout the state. He was also director of Audubon California’s Landowner Stewardship Program working with farmers and ranchers throughout California. Vance is one of the founding members of the Wild Farm Alliance, which promotes agriculture that helps to protect and restore wild nature, and currently serves on the organization’s board of directors. Topics: * Differences and similarities between North American and European Rewilding efforts. * Bridging the gaps between stakeholders’ disparate views on biodiversity rewilding needs. * Farming then and now: how technology could help Rewilding projects. * The future of Rewilding globally and the need for all levels of participation: how you can get involved.  

Bob Leverett is the co-founder of the Native Tree Society, co-founder and President of Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest, chairperson for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Forest Reserves Scientific Advisory Committee, the co-author of the American Forests Champion Tree-Measuring Guidelines handbook. He is also co-author of several books including the Sierra Club Guide to Ancient Forests of the Northeast. Educated as an engineer, Bob is a recognized expert in the science of measuring trees for both science and sport. His association with old-growth forest discoveries and confirmations dates to the middle 1980s. This compelling interest placed him in the center of the early old growth preservation movements, which continue to this day. Topics: * Tree hunting * Carbon sequestration * Old-Growth vs. young forests’ ability to hold carbon * Edge-effects of Rewilding areas adjacent to old-growth * The Bill and Bob Old-Growth Road Show Extra Credit The Old Man and the Tree – Smithsonian Science, 2022 “Ecologists thought America’s primeval forests were gone. Then Bob Leverett proved them wrong and discovered a powerful new tool against climate change…” Read more Bob Leverett is the co-founder of the Native Tree Society, co-founder and President of Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest, chairperson for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Forest Reserves Scientific Advisory Committee, the co-author of the American Forests Champion Tree-Measuring Guidelines handbook. He is also co-author of several books including the Sierra Club Guide to Ancient Forests of the Northeast. Educated as an engineer, Bob is a recognized expert in the science of measuring trees for both science and sport. His association with old-growth forest discoveries and confirmations dates to the middle 1980s. This compelling interest placed him in the center of the early old growth preservation movements, which continue to this day. Topics: * Tree hunting * Carbon sequestration * Old-Growth vs. young forests’ ability to hold carbon * Edge-effects of Rewilding areas adjacent to old-growth * The Bill and Bob Old-Growth Road Show Extra Credit The Old Man and the Tree – Smithsonian Science, 2022 “Ecologists thought America’s primeval forests were gone. Then Bob Leverett proved them wrong and discovered a powerful new tool against climate change…” Read more

Joan Maloof, Professor Emeritus at Salisbury University, founded the Old-Growth Forest Network to preserve, protect and promote the country’s few remaining stands of old-growth forest. She spends her time lecturing, writing, visiting forests, assisting private landowners, and supporting local groups trying to protect community forests from development. She is the author of Teaching the Trees, Among the Ancients, Nature’s Temples, and most recently The Living Forest. Today I talk to Joan about the Old Growth Forest Network, her definition and infectious love of old growth forests, and how our listeners can get involved, on the ground, identifying and protecting old growth forests where you live. Topics: * What is old-growth forest? * How much old-growth forest is left in the Eastern United States? * How to locate and assess old-growth forest for possible inclusion in the Old-Growth Forest Network. * What do people even know about ancient, original forests these days? * Why education and accessibility (even to small patches of old-growth) matters to the future of forest protection and wildlands connectivity and recovery. * Instruction on how to get involved where you live! Joan Maloof, Professor Emeritus at Salisbury University, founded the Old-Growth Forest Network to preserve, protect and promote the country’s few remaining stands of old-growth forest. She spends her time lecturing, writing, visiting forests, assisting private landowners, and supporting local groups trying to protect community forests from development. She is the author of Teaching the Trees, Among the Ancients, Nature’s Temples, and most recently The Living Forest. Today I talk to Joan about the Old Growth Forest Network, her definition and infectious love of old growth forests, and how our listeners can get involved, on the ground, identifying and protecting old growth forests where you live. Topics: * What is old-growth forest? * How much old-growth forest is left in the Eastern United States? * How to locate and assess old-growth forest for possible inclusion in the Old-Growth Forest Network. * What do people even know about ancient, original forests these days? * Why education and accessibility (even to small patches of old-growth) matters to the future of forest protection and wildlands connectivity and recovery. * Instruction on how to get involved where you live!

Learn how to protect wildlands and wildways, and, just in time for Halloween, how to “die green!”A conversation with Jamie Phillips, founder and Executive Director of the Eddy Foundation. With on-the-ground reporter: John Davis Topics: * Wildlands Philanthropy * Splitrock Wildway * Eddy Foundation projects * Corridors, Underpasses and Wildways * Bringing youth into the conservation movement * Green cemeteries that people are dying to get into! About Eddy Foundation By supporting the interconnectedness of humans with each other and the ecosystem, the Eddy Foundation encourages truly sustainable natural and human communities. It works with individuals and organizations to help ensure that future generations can enjoy healthy landscapes with a full range of biodiversity. The Foundation supports projects that benefit old-growth forests, non-polluted watersheds, the arts, education and wild nature. ​Contributions to the Eddy are tax deductible. Learn how to protect wildlands and wildways, and, just in time for Halloween, how to “die green!”A conversation with Jamie Phillips, founder and Executive Director of the Eddy Foundation. With on-the-ground reporter: John Davis Topics: * Wildlands Philanthropy * Splitrock Wildway * Eddy Foundation projects * Corridors, Underpasses and Wildways * Bringing youth into the conservation movement * Green cemeteries that people are dying to get into! About Eddy Foundation By supporting the interconnectedness of humans with each other and the ecosystem, the Eddy Foundation encourages truly sustainable natural and human communities. It works with individuals and organizations to help ensure that future generations can enjoy healthy landscapes with a full range of biodiversity. The Foundation supports projects that benefit old-growth forests, non-polluted watersheds, the arts, education and wild nature. ​Contributions to the Eddy are tax deductible.

John Davis, Executive Director of The Rewilding Institute, interviews Dave Parsons, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Rewilding Board member, about the Mexican Wolf reintroduction and recovery program in the United States Southwest. Interview takes place in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, Spring of 2018. Topics: * Mexican wolf reintroduction * Lobo recovery program status * Gila Wilderness John Davis, Executive Director of The Rewilding Institute, interviews Dave Parsons, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Rewilding Board member, about the Mexican Wolf reintroduction and recovery program in the United States Southwest. Interview takes place in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, Spring of 2018. Topics: * Mexican wolf reintroduction * Lobo recovery program status * Gila Wilderness

John Davis is executive director of The Rewilding Institute and editor of Rewilding Earth. For Rewilding, he serves as a wildways scout, editor, interviewer, and writer. He rounds out his living with conservation field work, particularly within New York’s Adirondack Park, where he lives. John serves on boards of RESTORE: The North Woods, Eddy Foundation, Champlain Area Trails, Cougar Rewilding Foundation, and Algonquin to Adirondack Conservation Collaborative. You can read more about John’s background and work at Rewilding.org, starting with his latest article “Rewilding Distilled” which takes you through the fundamentals of Rewilding. And… that’s where we’re starting today, with John’s definition of Rewilding… In this episode: * What is Rewilding? * Split Rock Wildway, Adirondack Park * Aspect of rewilding you don’t hear about often: Deadbeat dams * Return of atlantic salmon. * Local rewilding. * Road removal – hundreds of thousands of miles of roads that were used to get timber, not used now, can be removed. * Economic impact of rewilding – dam removal, road obliterating, studies for crossings, reintroduction of missing species. Thousands of jobs. * Resurgence of interest in wildlife watching, benefits to humans of being near unfragmented intact natural communities. * A modern Civilian Conservation Corps * Natural infrastructure and human infrastructure upgrades work together to prepare for the future of climate chaos. * John’s call for the American Eel as a possible aquatic counterpart (flagship species) to Eastern Cougar reintroduction. * Plants: American Chestnut, blight resistant, keystone species, possible contributor to the demise of passenger pigeon when their food source was removed. * Continental Wildways important, especially so as broad swaths relatively intact wildways. * Sue Morse, Keeping Track * Wolves, pumas, eels, and chestnuts. Read more about John’s work in his series on the Split Rock Wildway. John Davis is executive director of The Rewilding Institute and editor of Rewilding Earth. For Rewilding, he serves as a wildways scout, editor, interviewer, and writer. He rounds out his living with conservation field work, particularly within New York’s Adirondack Park, where he lives. John serves on boards of RESTORE: The North Woods, Eddy Foundation, Champlain Area Trails, Cougar Rewilding Foundation, and Algonquin to Adirondack Conservation Collaborative. You can read more about John’s background and work at Rewilding.org, starting with his latest article “Rewilding Distilled” which takes you through the fundamentals of Rewilding. And… that’s where we’re starting today, with John’s definition of Rewilding… In this episode: * What is Rewilding? * Split Rock Wildway, Adirondack Park * Aspect of rewilding you don’t hear about often: Deadbeat dams * Return of atlantic salmon. * Local rewilding. * Road removal – hundreds of thousands of miles of roads that were used to get timber, not used now, can be removed. * Economic impact of rewilding – dam removal, road obliterating, studies for crossings, reintroduction of missing species. Thousands of jobs. * Resurgence of interest in wildlife watching, benefits to humans of being near unfragmented intact natural communities. * A modern Civilian Conservation Corps * Natural infrastructure and human infrastructure upgrades work together to prepare for the future of climate chaos. * John’s call for the American Eel as a possible aquatic counterpart (flagship

Professor Tom Rooney is an ecologist, conservation biologist, and advocate for good stewardship of wild places and the wild things that live there. His scientific reputation is built on the management problems and challenges posed by white-tailed deer. His research examines the role of deer in forest ecosystems has been featured in the New York Times Science Times, Discover Magazine, Washington Monthly, Nautilus Magazine, and other publications. [More on Tom at Wright State University] Today I spoke with Tom about his work in the upper midwest. He had some surprisingly good news around wolves and their effects on flora and fauna in the region as well as what it might take to improve connectivity among the areas affected by high road densities and other barriers to wildlife movement. Topics * The effects wolves have on the landscape, prey species, and flora. * The smallest predators Tom has worked with. (HINT: smaller than you might think!) * The surprising estimate of the number of wolves in upper midwest. (Can you guess how many?) * How many deer do wolves take in Wisconsin every year? * Possibilities for connectivity with current public lands network. * What to do if you’re interested in the natural sciences and working on research projects like the ones professor Rooney describes in this podcast. Did you know? * There are over 1 million deer in Wisconsin! * Wolves aren’t the biggest predator on deer in the upper midwest. (Can you guess which animals take more deer than wolves?) Professor Tom Rooney is an ecologist, conservation biologist, and advocate for good stewardship of wild places and the wild things that live there. His scientific reputation is built on the management problems and challenges posed by white-tailed deer. His research examines the role of deer in forest ecosystems has been featured in the New York Times Science Times, Discover Magazine, Washington Monthly, Nautilus Magazine, and other publications. [More on Tom at Wright State University] Today I spoke with Tom about his work in the upper midwest. He had some surprisingly good news around wolves and their effects on flora and fauna in the region as well as what it might take to improve connectivity among the areas affected by high road densities and other barriers to wildlife movement. Topics * The effects wolves have on the landscape, prey species, and flora. * The smallest predators Tom has worked with. (HINT: smaller than you might think!) * The surprising estimate of the number of wolves in upper midwest. (Can you guess how many?) * How many deer do wolves take in Wisconsin every year? * Possibilities for connectivity with current public lands network. * What to do if you’re interested in the natural sciences and working on research projects like the ones professor Rooney describes in this podcast. Did you know? * There are over 1 million deer in Wisconsin! * Wolves aren’t the biggest predator on deer in the upper midwest. (Can you guess which animals take more deer than wolves?)

Today, Rewilding Institute Director John Davis takes us to Ibera Argentina, where he interviewed Conservation Land Trust staffers Sofia Heinonen, Luli Masera, and Sebastian Di Martino about rewilding efforts in the region, including their work with Jaguars, Peccary, Macaws, and lowland Tapirs. Iberá, located in the center and center-north of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, is one of the most important freshwater wetlands on the continent and the second-largest in the world after Pantanal in Brazil. Guests To dive deeper, be sure to check out the Rewilding Argentina series submitted by CLT. Ibera Landscape and Wildlife Gallery Today, Rewilding Institute Director John Davis takes us to Ibera Argentina, where he interviewed Conservation Land Trust staffers Sofia Heinonen, Luli Masera, and Sebastian Di Martino about rewilding efforts in the region, including their work with Jaguars, Peccary, Macaws, and lowland Tapirs. Iberá, located in the center and center-north of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, is one of the most important freshwater wetlands on the continent and the second-largest in the world after Pantanal in Brazil. Guests To dive deeper, be sure to check out the Rewilding Argentina series submitted by CLT. Ibera Landscape and Wildlife Gallery

Rick Ridgeway is a mountaineer and adventurer, who during his career has also been an environmentalist, writer, filmmaker and businessman. Ridgeway has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was part of the 1978 team that were the first Americans to summit K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. Since 2005 he has overseen environmental affairs at the outdoor clothing company Patagonia, which has long been a supporter of groups like The Rewilding Institute. He has authored six books and dozens of magazine articles, and produced or directed many documentary films. During his explorations Ridgeway witnessed the degradations of the wildlands that had come to define his life: he saw firsthand remote grasslands in Patagonia turned to tourist cities, and the glaciers on Kilimanjaro disappear. He also witnessed the wildlife that inhabited those wildlands decline, and in the mid-’90s he began a series of journeys that allowed him to communicate, through books and films, what was happening to these formerly wild regions. –Wikipedia Today I talk with Rick about conservation initiatives and activism in which Patagonia is taking part or leading, what it means to be an “activist company,” and how listeners can continue to help make sure companies are in business for the right reasons. Podcast Topics: * Activist companies * Rewilding * Bears Ears * 3 pillars of climate change focus * Patagonia’s global activism and initiatives Bonus: Get to know more about Rick Ridgeway Rick Ridgeway is a mountaineer and adventurer, who during his career has also been an environmentalist, writer, filmmaker and businessman. Ridgeway has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was part of the 1978 team that were the first Americans to summit K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. Since 2005 he has overseen environmental affairs at the outdoor clothing company Patagonia, which has long been a supporter of groups like The Rewilding Institute. He has authored six books and dozens of magazine articles, and produced or directed many documentary films. During his explorations Ridgeway witnessed the degradations of the wildlands that had come to define his life: he saw firsthand remote grasslands in Patagonia turned to tourist cities, and the glaciers on Kilimanjaro disappear. He also witnessed the wildlife that inhabited those wildlands decline, and in the mid-’90s he began a series of journeys that allowed him to communicate, through books and films, what was happening to these formerly wild regions. –Wikipedia Today I talk with Rick about conservation initiatives and activism in which Patagonia is taking part or leading, what it means to be an “activist company,” and how listeners can continue to help make sure companies are in business for the right reasons. Podcast Topics: * Activist companies * Rewilding * Bears Ears * 3 pillars of climate change focus * Patagonia’s global activism and initiatives Bonus: Get to know more about Rick Ridgeway

What is “Rewilding?” Episode 2 – Part 2 of the “What is Rewilding” series on the Rewilding Earth podcast. Introduction “Reed Noss has been publishing on conservation biology since the early 1980s, shortly after the first texts that used the name appeared. He is especially well known for his work developing concepts and approaches for regional and continental-scale conservation planning and reserve network design. By the late 1990s, he was collaborating with conservation biologist, Michael E. Soulé to refine the conservation idea of rewilding. According to their paper “Rewilding and Biodiversity: Complementary Goals for Continental Conservation” Soulé and Noss identified the driving factors of rewilding as “cores, corridors, and carnivores”. In more recent decades, Noss has spoken about the decline of educational opportunities in natural history, and the diminishing exposure that students have to it.” –Wikipedia In this episode of the Rewilding Earth podcast, Reed discusses the early years of conservation biology, the first core, corridor mapping projects he led, as well as his thoughts on the current political climate for wilderness recovery and Rewilding efforts and how people can get involved. Topics: * Wilderness recovery * First rewilding mapping projects * Carnivores, Cores, Corridors * Rewilding in Florida * Florida black bear & puma * Rewilding in Ohio What is “Rewilding?” Episode 2 – Part 2 of the “What is Rewilding” series on the Rewilding Earth podcast. Introduction “Reed Noss has been publishing on conservation biology since the early 1980s, shortly after the first texts that used the name appeared. He is especially well known for his work developing concepts and approaches for regional and continental-scale conservation planning and reserve network design. By the late 1990s, he was collaborating with conservation biologist, Michael E. Soulé to refine the conservation idea of rewilding. According to their paper “Rewilding and Biodiversity: Complementary Goals for Continental Conservation” Soulé and Noss identified the driving factors of rewilding as “cores, corridors, and carnivores”. In more recent decades, Noss has spoken about the decline of educational opportunities in natural history, and the diminishing exposure that students have to it.” –Wikipedia In this episode of the Rewilding Earth podcast, Reed discusses the early years of conservation biology, the first core, corridor mapping projects he led, as well as his thoughts on the current political climate for wilderness recovery and Rewilding efforts and how people can get involved. Topics: * Wilderness recovery * First rewilding mapping projects * Carnivores, Cores, Corridors * Rewilding in Florida * Florida black bear & puma * Rewilding in Ohio