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April 20th, 2022Since its inception a few years back, SUWA’s Stewardship Program has aimed to foster a stewardship ethic and promote service as recreation in Utah through opportunities to work directly and actively to preserve and enhance the wilderness character of Utah’s public lands.
So what does all of that mean– for volunteers, and for the redrock wilderness?
Tune in to find out! You’ll be transported to a recent stewardship project in the Canyon Rims area (featuring voices from a couple inspiring University of Utah Alternative Break students) while hearing all about SUWA’s stewardship philosophy from one incredibly dynamic duo: Stewardship Director Jeremy Lynch and Stewardship Coordinator Jack Hanley.
Take action after this episode!
Sign up to stay in the know about future Stewardship Projects this season and beyond!
Check out the SUWA Stewardship Project Calendar here!
Thank you to our show supporters!
Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of SUWA. Thank you for your support!
Become a SUWA member today and support the Wild Utah Podcast
A special thank you for this episode also goes to the U of U Alternative Break crew who joined us for a one-day project that helped to create the in-the-field audio you hear on this episode.
Subscribe to Wild Utah on your favorite podcast app!
wildutah.info/Stitcher
wildutah.info/Apple
wildutah.info/SpotifyTheme music is by Haley Noel Austin, with interlude music by Larry Pattis.
Dave Pacheco is the host of Wild Utah.
Post studio production and editing is by Laura Borichevsky.
A transcript of this episode can be found here. -
March 17th, 2022How do we balance off-road vehicle use with the critical need to protect southern Utah’s redrock wilderness?
Anyone who visits southern Utah will inevitably hear the whine of off-road vehicles (ORVs) and see how their use has scarred the landscape. In southern Utah especially, the recent exponential growth of ORV recreation has led to stream erosion and water pollution, dust and soil erosion, destruction of wildlife habitat, damage to archaeological sites and cultural resources, and increased conflicts between public land users.
Travel management is one tool that can help us to take part in the creation of thoughtful, balanced plans that provide access– not excess– when it comes to off-road vehicle use and mitigate impacts to wilderness. Tune in to hear all about it (including how you can take action right now!) from SUWA’s ORV Policy Fellow, Kelsey Cruickshank.
Take action after this episode!
Comment now on the scoping plans for Paunsaugunt (Kanab, UT) travel management area!
Thank you to our show supporters!
Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of SUWA. Thank you for your support!
Become a SUWA member today and support the Wild Utah Podcast
Subscribe to Wild Utah on your favorite podcast app!
wildutah.info/Stitcher
wildutah.info/Apple
wildutah.info/SpotifyTheme music is by Haley Noel Austin, with interlude music by Larry Pattis.
Dave Pacheco is the host of Wild Utah.
Post studio production and editing is by Laura Borichevsky.
A transcript of this episode can be found here. -
February 16th, 2022
The oil & gas leasing, drilling and cleanup program in the United States is a mess– needing serious reform, time and money to fix. During the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden made some encouraging statements and promises to address the climate crisis. In particular, Mr. Biden promised to wind down oil & gas leasing and drilling on public lands in the U.S. So where do things stand one year later, especially in Utah? To answer that question and explore the administration’s ongoing efforts to reform this broken program, we are joined by SUWA Staff Attorney Landon Newell.
Take action after this episode!
Thank you to our show supporters!
Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of SUWA. Thank you for your support!
Become a SUWA member today and support the Wild Utah Podcast
Subscribe to Wild Utah on your favorite podcast app!
wildutah.info/Stitcher
wildutah.info/Apple
wildutah.info/SpotifyTheme music is by Haley Noel Austin, with interlude music by Larry Pattis.
Dave Pacheco is the host of Wild Utah.
Post studio production and editing is by Laura Borichevsky.
A transcript of this episode can be found here when this link becomes active. -
January 19th, 2022What happens when new land protections and wilderness are designated? While every land management journey is different, one thing’s for sure: the devil’s in the details.
The latest episode of Wild Utah looks at this process through 663,000 acres of land recently designated as wilderness through the 2019 John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, Congress passed the Emery County Public Land Management Act. Among other things, this act created 17 new wilderness areas, the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area, and three Wild and Scenic segments on the Green River.
As a result of these new designations, there are a lot of details to consider. And because the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must update its management plan for each of the affected areas– which includes input from the public– it’s a process that will take well over a year to complete.
So, what’s the importance of this process? What do we want to see happen in following through with these new wilderness protections? And when and how do we contact the BLM about all of this to make our voices heard? SUWA Wildlands Attorney Judi Brawer joins us in this highly informative episode that we can all look to as a guide.
Take action after this episode!
Thank you to our show supporters!
Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of SUWA. Thank you for your support!
Become a SUWA member today and support the Wild Utah Podcast
Subscribe to Wild Utah on your favorite podcast app!
wildutah.info/Stitcher
wildutah.info/Apple
wildutah.info/SpotifyTheme music is by Haley Noel Austin, with interlude music by Larry Pattis.
Dave Pacheco is the host of Wild Utah.
Post studio production and editing is by Laura Borichevsky.
A transcript of this episode is available here. -
December 15th, 2021On December 4th, the state of Utah issued a multi-million dollar contract bid, furthering their plans to file a lawsuit challenging the restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court.
The state was clearly not listening to the people.
Two days prior, on December 2nd, Tribal and Indigenous community leaders, in addition to people from across Utah, protested at the state Capitol to discourage the irresponsible misuse of state tax dollars.
Tune into the latest episode of the Wild Utah podcast to hear each of the speakers from that night, recorded live at the Capitol:
- Malcom Lehi, Councilman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Co-Chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
- Timothy Nuvangyaoma, Chairman of the Hopi Tribe
- Davis Filfred, Co-Chair of Utah Diné Bikéyah
- Olivia Juarez, Latinx Community Organizer for SUWA
- Brooke Larsen, Utah community activist, organizer, & writer
Take action after this episode!
Resources:
Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Statement on Bears Ears National Monument restoration
SUWA Statement on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument restorations
Learn more about SUWA’s stance on Bears Ears here
Learn more about SUWA’s stance on Grand Staircase-Escalante here
Highlights in the News:
KSL: Utah AG’s Office picks national law firm to assist in potential monuments lawsuit
Thank you to our show supporters!
Wild Utah is made possible by the contributing members of SUWA. Thank you for your support!
Become a SUWA member today and support the Wild Utah Podcast
Subscribe to Wild Utah on your favorite podcast app!
wildutah.info/Stitcher
wildutah.info/Apple
wildutah.info/SpotifyTheme music is by Haley Noel Austin, with interlude music by Larry Pattis.
Dave Pacheco is the host of Wild Utah.
Post studio production and editing is by Laura Borichevsky.
A transcript of this episode is available here.
