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SUMMARY
Losing the Stanislaus River under the New Melones Reservoir made an impact on the people who loved the river. This episode documents three methods that transform the pain of losing a river into proactive measures to further knowledge of, connection to, and action on behalf of rivers not yet lost. This is the companion episode of The Last River Lost.
SUMMARY
The Gauley River in West Virginia has become one of the best places for river running in the fall. It began in the 1980’s when a water diversion tunnel project almost dewatered what is now a favorite river stretch for river runners. For this episode we go the Gauley River, we meet the guy who lead the work to protect the Gauley, we go to Gauley Fest, we meet the river people and we run the river.
SUMMARY
During the birth of the whitewater boating industry, the Stanislaus River in California quickly rose to popularity. In 1966 a new dam on the Stanislaus would flood this beloved stretch of river. For over a decade, river lovers and guides led campaigns, engaged in nonviolent direct action, and used rafting to let the river speak directly to the hearts of voters and representatives.
SUMMARY
The South Platte River runs right through downtown Denver and as you might imagine, this river catches a lot of trash. There are hordes of people who clean this river several times a year and have been doing so for 17 years. Today this clean up is led by Protect Our Rivers, and the South Platte is lined up for a $350 million dollar upgrade. This is a story of urban river people and the river they love.
SUMMARY
Have been using a groover this summer? Have you cleaned one....or need to clean one? This episode is a Re-issue of our "History of the Groover" episode from 2021. For many overnight river trips, the groover has become as common a tool as the PFD. Where did this groover come from, and why is a portable river toilet called a groover. This episode finds the people who were there 50 years ago when the need for the groover emerged, and when the groover itself was created.
SUMMARY
While many river runners see Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam as the leading threat to the Colorado River overall and to the Grand Canyon, there is a voice that wants to keep Lake Powell in place and full of water. To understand this viewpoint and reasoning, this episode explores this topic with the BlueRibbon Coalition and Powellheadz. This episode is the companion to our recent publication of “Glen Canyon is Again Being Submerged Under Lake Powell.”
SUMMARY
Is there a relationship between forest fire scars, floods and debris flows? This episode will explore landscapes denuded by fire and these massive storms creating floods in the fire scar zone. Is this a normal pattern? A new pattern? Coincidence? And how does understanding this correlation further our relationship with these changing landscapes? This episode explores these questions and more through the tools of western science, personal narrative, and traditional ecological knowledge.
SUMMARY
Glen Canyon was home to the flowing Colorado River until 1963 when Glen Canyon Dam closed its gates creating Lake Powell. Over the past few years, water in Powell has dropped to levels not seen since the 1960s. The River Radius went onto Lake Powell and up into the canyons to see what has returned in these canyons as they restore to their pre Powell eco-systems and to ask the questions of what is next for Powell and Glen Canyon. Guests are the Glen Canyon Institute and Eric Balkan.
SUMMARY
An exploration of unions in river guiding. Why aren’t they common? Why do some guides want them? A guide forms a union. One outfitter assesses the viability of unions on multi-day rivers. A guide turned outfitter on the Ocoee River provides healthcare to her guides. A boater turned insurance agent teaches provides healthcare insurance to river guides.
SUMMARY
As spring melt begins to fill rivers in the Western United States, the anticipation is high for big water runoff this season because of the long snowy winter. The River Forecast Centers of the National Weather Service provide forecasting for river flows across the country. This episode talks with the 3 of the Western Forecast Centers to learn about the snowpack and the coming river flows for spring of 2023.
SUMMARY
Every year since 1984, American Rivers has released a report called America's Most Endangered Rivers. To be highlighted by this report, rivers must have significance to human and natural communities, face consequential threat, and have an upcoming major decision that the public can help influence. This episode is an interview with Sinjin Eberle and Amy Souers Kober on what makes this report an effective river conservation tool, the most endangered rivers of 2023, and tangible actions that we as listeners can do to engage with the most endangered rivers of 2023.
SUMMARY
American Rivers celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year. Founded in 1973, American Rivers is a national level river conservation organization. To understand how they see the future of rivers, we interviewed their Executive Director to hear his story and what American Rivers is focusing on in the next few decades.
SUMMARY
River corridors are the conduits of water and beauty. And so many of us treasure our time there. How do we best leave it untrammeled? Two experts on River Leave No Trace (LNT) join me to talk through the LNT philosophy.
SUMMARY
Is it true that lightning can’t strike in the Grand Canyon? How far can lightning travel through water? If it does strike, where is the safest place to be? This episode explores lightning from scientific and risk management perspectives. Grounding theory through personal narratives and best practices, this episode is a tool for any river runner’s stormy trips.
SUMMARY
Running waterfalls in rafts is not overly common, but some rafters do it. Tony Glassman and his river crew built a film about running waterfalls that eventually lead to people following their lead, but not following their path of gaining experience and skills. Tony explains the layers of training and safety and experience and communication that he and his river crew have worked through to become competent waterfall running rafters.
SUMMARY
River Guides have a great life working on rivers, guiding people down fun and beautiful rivers. But what makes that life hard? How do River Guides deal with stress? Responder Alliance is building tools for River Guides and OARS, an outfitter, is putting the tools to work with their River Guides.
SUMMARY
Hayley Stuart learned to kayak while attending an international traveling high school. Today she works with indigenous river communities in South America to prevent dams from changing their rivers into reservoirs. She is teaching these river communities to kayak, building films about this work, attends the United Nations COP meetings as a linguistics translator working to UnDam the UN, and recently earned a Masters from Oxford University in water science, policy and management.
SUMMARY
American Whitewater is one of the oldest whitewater clubs in the United States, has become the club of clubs and is a modern leader in access to whitewater rivers and river conservation. Recently the leadership at American Whitewater shifted as Mark Singleton stepped down after 18 years, and Clinton Begley became the new Executive Director. We talk with both Mark and Clinton to learn about AW, their history and their future.
SUMMARY
In September of 2020 at Kanawha Falls in West Virginia, a river rescue at midnight occurred and was given an award and labeled the “Midnight Miracle.” A group of 13 kayakers and rafters responded late that night to a facebook post about a lone kayak floating at the falls. At the 2 year anniversary of the rescue, we went with the rescued kayaker when he ran the falls again for the first time since his rescue. He and the rescue crew tell the story.
SUMMARY
Source to Sea expeditions come with a myriad of missions. This episode explores how to leverage source to sea river expeditions for conservation. Source to Sea expert Danielle Katz breaks down the types of impacts that source to sea expeditions can have, how long expeditions take to plan, and what this kind of undertaking demands from a team.
SUMMARY
For the past 27 years in November, class 5 kayakers have assembled at the Green River in North Carolina for the Green Race. And a couple thousand hardy spectators hike the miles down to cheer on these rowdy kayakers. In these two episodes we tell the story of the race and we meet two of the women racing. One has won the race 12 times. The other is a first time racer, and an Olympic kayaker. Come mad bomb the Green River with us.
SUMMARY
For the past 27 years in November, class 5 kayakers have assembled at the Green River in North Carolina for the Green Race. And a couple thousand hardy spectators hike the miles down to cheer on these rowdy kayakers. In these two episodes we tell the story of the race and we meet two of the women racing. One has won the race 12 times. The other is a first time racer, and an Olympic kayaker. Come mad bomb the Green River with us.
SUMMARY
This is the 3rd and final episode of this cluster about river guides and their health. After an intense journey through guiding and the endless summers, addiction, recovery, and rebuild, we have a conversation with Jon about his modern life. This episode is the story of Dogsmile Adventures, Jon Totten's sailing program with a healing intention, and several other organizations working to support the river guiding community.
SUMMARY
This is the 2nd episode in the cluster of 3 episodes about the health of River Guides. After 5 years of guiding rivers in Idaho and sailing charters in the Caribbean, the sun set on the Endless Summer for our guest and he found himself in the cellar of his life. And a friend grabbed onto him. He went to rehab. He returned to his natal roots. Jon helps us understand what life was like for him.
SUMMARY
Working as a River Guide is one of the greatest jobs. A job that is almost a vacation. This is the 1st episode in a cluster of 3 episodes about how the guide life can be the best life, and how it can fall into heavy use and abuse of alcohol and drugs, and no longer be a dream job. This is one guide's story of losing the dream and climbing out of the cellar to begin again with a new dream.
SUMMARY
In the late 1980s, a group of river boaters from the United States reached out to river boaters in the Soviet Union, modern day Russia. And they began an international river running friendship called Project RAFT; Russians & Americans For Teamwork. Big volume rivers of Siberia and the Altai Mountains. Friendships that are still intact today.
SUMMARY
Our 1st episode published in 2019 and in September of 2022, we hit the 50th episode. The River Radius has covered 50 rivers, 21 states and 12 countries. Here we have 8 short follow up interviews from 8 of those episodes to learn what is happening in those ongoing river stories.
SUMMARY
Is there a right associated with being able to float down a river and to engage in that joy and risk? What happens when life circumstances create barriers to accessing risk? The National Ability Center (NAC) is a river rafting outfit that focuses on developing access to rivers for all people. We spent a day this summer running a river with NAC and their boats full of participants learning about access.
SUMMARY
What is a River? What is in there, at the micro level? How does water move from the Earth’s surface through the ground, in and out of rivers? How much of the water on the planet is in rivers and how long is it there? This episode of What is a River is our annual episodic interview with an expert in their field. Dr Rebecca Neumann is a professor and researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle where she focuses on Hydrobiogeochemistry.
SUMMARY
Ben Knight builds powerful films with his partner at Felt Soul Media. DAMNATION, RED GOLD, IN CURRENT, and now LEARNING TO DROWN. In the past few years, Ben also became a father. In this episode Contributing Host Greg Cairns talks with Ben about the inside of his life, some of the process of creating his films, and his path of becoming a powerful filmmaker. And, his daughter.
SUMMARY
The Grand Salmon Source to Sea crew is paddling just shy of 1000 miles following the Snake River Basin Spring Summer Chinook Salmon from the mountains of Idaho to the Pacific Ocean. These 4 women launched in April of this spring and are now nearing the west coast. Youth Salmon Protectors is a dedicated group of 2000 young people of the Pacific Northwest. Both of these groups are working to bring attention and action to the Chinook Salmon as they near extinction. This episode is interviews with 6 members of these 2 groups.
SUMMARY
The River Radius went to Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River to learn about that dam. How do Salmon get around the Lower 4 Snake River Dams? How are the dams impacting the salmon returns? What does breach mean? What are the proposals on the table right working to avoid Salmon extinction? How do tribal treaty rights impact the salmon outcome?
SUMMARY
Chinook Salmon of the Snake River begin their lives in mountains of Idaho’s rivers, live their lives in the Pacific Ocean, and return to their natal spawning stream in Idaho. This fish is on the brink of extinction. This is the summer when all pressure is focused on maintaining this fish that is millions of years old. This is the first of 2 episodes about this Chinook Salmon.
SUMMARY
This episode is the 2nd of 2 episodes. Some stories stand the test of time. This is one. 1995, Big Susitna River in Alaska, glacial melt, rains in the canyon. Three friends fly deep into the backcountry with plans of a one day trip on big water. That day their plans changed & 27 years later they all tell the story.
SUMMARY
This episode is the 1st of 2 episodes. Some stories stand the test of time. This is one. 1995, Big Susitna River in Alaska, glacial melt, rains in the canyon. Three friends fly deep into the backcountry with plans of a one day trip on big water. That day their plans changed & 27 years later they all tell the story.
SUMMARY
Each year, American Rivers, one the largest organizations advocating for clean and healthy rivers, releases their annual report of 10 rivers in the United States that need help. This episode is an interview with two staff from American Rivers, Amy Souers Kober and Matt Rice, where they explain the report, how it has led to rivers having improved water quality in the recent past, and the 10 rivers in the “America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2022” report.
SUMMARY
How many times have you ended a river trip and said that you have enough food for three more days? This episodes talks with two outfitters focused on Grand Canyon River trips. Ceiba provides food for private permit river trips. AZRA provides and prepares meals for their commercial river trips. Between both companies they are packing food for about 230 multi-week river trips each year. They share ideas on how to pack food, how to keep coolers cold and how to keep the kitchen and cooking simple and delicious.
SUMMARY
Swiftwater Rescue is a concept of understanding river hydrology and river hazards, avoiding the hazards, and engaging in rescue when needed. This episode interviews with two instructors of Swiftwater Rescue classes to learn what is taught, who can take the classes and why this is important for the river runner. Juliet Jacobsen Kastorff runs rivers in the Southeast United States, Costa Rica and Ecuador and Scott Solle runs rivers of the Western United States.
SUMMARY
Getting kids on the river is many things: fun, life-shaping and maybe intimidating. Lindsay DeFrates has written numerous “How to” articles based on her experience taking her 3 kids on river trips. Lydia Wing founded a kayak school that teaches young people how to kayak rivers. Their expert insights and approach to getting kids on the river is hosted in this episode.
SUMMARY
River cleanups with excavators, barges, bigfoot and Oreos. Living Lands & Waters is an “Industrial Strength River Cleanup” organization working to clean up the big rivers of middle America. 24 years. 118,000 volunteers. 12.4 million pounds of trash. Living on barges. Meeting the small obscure river towns.
SUMMARY
Have you ever heard someone say they don't listen to podcasts or don't know how? Have you recently learned how to listen and want to know more? This episode is all about how to listen to an episode. So, if you are a regular listener, go listen to this with someone who doesn't know how to use a podcast app and help them learn. There are many people out there, many river people, waiting to learn how to listen to The River Radius Podcast.
SUMMARY
As the 2022 podcast season for The River Radius begins, this episode introduces the new season, explains a change in the publishing style to support listening to numerous episodes back to back and it provides short explanations of the stories to come for the year. And, to introduce a new advertising sponsor, this episode has a short story of canoeing in Clipper Canoes on the Mississippi River with Big Muddy Adventures.
SUMMARY
Is it a reservoir in crisis or a river recovering? In October of 2021 a crew of river scientist and river runners and this podcast traveled down Cataract Canyon to examine a retreating reservoir and a recovering river. As Lake Powell dips below 30% of full, the Colorado River is cutting through the decades of reservoir sediment. What is in the sediment? On top of it? What is next?
SUMMARY
The Gila River and Gila Mountains of New Mexico have been home for Indigenous people for thousands of years, for colonial Spanish and Mexican people for hundreds of years, and now for all of those folks under the United States since 1912. This river along with The San Francisco River and The Mimbres River were just nominated for Wild and Scenic River protection.
This is a river of families, lineages and gathering.
SUMMARY
Dry rivers and deserts full of irrigated nut trees. Jacob Morrison's new film, “The River's End: California’s New Water War” leans into the questions about agriculture and how rivers can be maintained. In this interview, we delve into some of the topics in the film.
SUMMARY
Rafael Gallo began kayaking at the University of Tennessee in the 1970s, founded Rios Tropicales in Costa Rica in the 1985, prevented the Rio Pacuare from being dammed, was inducted into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame in 2009, taught ex-Columbian FARC soldiers to become river guides in 2018, was known and respected across the globe for his river work, and during his life helped plant nearly 31,000 trees, all to protect and support rivers. In March of 2021, he passed away. This episode is a conversation with his son, and his personal assistant/biographer about his life and his way.
SUMMARY
River shuttles are as important to a river trip as the boat. And sometimes shuttles are easy and when they aren’t easy, they can be horrible. This episode is a set of four stories from The River Radius listeners about their sh!%%y shuttle experiences.
SUMMARY
New Mexico passed a law in 2015 that unintentionally resulted in two public rivers now being fenced off from public use by private landowners. A case was presented before the New Mexico State Supreme Court in 2020 looking to have the law repealed. This episode interviews Lesli Allison from the Western Landowners Alliance and Steve Harris from Far Flung Adventures to get the clear story.
SUMMARY
This episode is a quick hello and a request for story input from you, our listeners of The River Radius. Do you have a story of a river shuttle that went sideways, really far sideways? We want to hear from you. There are more details in this super short episode.
Thanks for listening!
SUMMARY
Southern California is home for 19 million people and imports the majority of its municipal water from the Colorado and Sacramento Rivers, moving that water hundreds of miles through humanmade aqueducts. Both rivers have decreased flows meaning less water for So Cal. This episode looks at how So Cal gained water, how they are changing their water profile, and how rivers may continue to be impacted by their extractions.
SUMMARY
Southern California has to import the majority of their municipal water from the Sacramento and Colorado Rivers and they have done this for much of the last 80 years. With 19 million water consumers in Southern California and decreasing flows in these rivers, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is looking to recycle their used water, all the way back to tap.
SUMMARY
This episode is floating down the river with Matt Moseley before, during and after his open water swim in the Green River of Utah in June of 2021. This
swim down a river flowing at record low levels becomes a vessel for deep dives into the blue mind and the health of western rivers.
SUMMARY
The Saco River in New Hampshire and Maine hosted a Source to Sea expedition this past spring of 2021. Two acquaintances were both planning to travel the Saco River from Mt Washington to the Atlantic Ocean. So they partnered up and paddled fully loaded paddle boards from the source to the sea.
SUMMARY
Imagine a river with no sediment. None at all. A temperature that is a barely above freezing. A river that is new and old all at the same time. These are the rivers that form on the top of the glaciers of Greenland.
SUMMARY
For many overnight river trips, the groover has become as common a tool as the PFD. Where did this groover come from, and why is a portable river toilet called a groover. This episode finds the people who were there 50 years ago when the need for the groover emerged, and when the groover itself was created.
SUMMARY
Dr. Laurence C. Smith is a professor, river researcher and author. His most recent book, "Rivers of Power," is a tour of humans’ consistent pursuit of living next to rivers through time, and how in our modern times, humans are rerouting rivers and choosing how water moves and is used. Dr Smith provides insight into the connections of human culture and rivers that we easily overlook.
SUMMARY
How about ending a river trip at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay. The Pacific Ocean waiting to pull you out. This episode is the last in a set of three about the Sacramento River Source to Sea project starting near Mount Shasta and ending at that edge of the Pacific. Hear the stories of bringing this 400 mile trip to a close.
SUMMARY
From the basic to the complex, this episode explores what comprises a river. Our guest is Dr. David Montgomery, author and professor. Is a river more than water? Where does the water come from and where does it go? This episode helps unravel the mysteries of what a river is.
SUMMARY
Sacramento Source to Sea started on snow skis in the mountains and are now paddling the Sacramento River in the Central Valley of California closing in on sea level. This non wilderness journey explores a river that grows food for America.
SUMMARY
This episode is a follow up to the Returning Rapids episode and hosts a conversation with the Bureau of Reclamation about the receding Lake Powell and all the sediment byproduct left behind as the nation's second largest reservoir sits at 1/3 of full.
SUMMARY
This is the first in a series of episodes that will host real time interviews with the Sac Source to Sea crew as they navigate the Sacramento River from its headwaters in the Klamath Mountains in Northern California to just past the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Bay.
SUMMARY
Cataract Canyon is welcoming some of its rapids back to the flow of the river as the Colorado River is recovering from a reservoir. A crew of river runners has been there witnessing and documenting the Returning Rapids.
SUMMARY
River permits for western rivers are becoming more and more competitive. Why do we have permits, how many people are applying and what comes next? This episodes hosts conversations with the permit office at Recreation One Stop (rec.gov) and with the river permitting offices at Dinosaur National Monument, Salmon-Challis National Forest in Idaho and Grand Canyon National Park.
SUMMARY
Rowing Home is the story of one person paddling and rowing from Montana and Minnesota on the biggest rivers of North America, to the Gulf of Mexico, and then to Texas. All by water. Canoes, kayaks, planes, headwaters and ocean waters.
SUMMARY
The Blue Nile River of Ethiopia is the largest volume river feeding into the Nile River. In 1987 and 2019, Steve Stahl boated the Blue Nile. This river passes by many small groups of people, through intense whitewater and is populated with Nile Crocodiles and Hippopotamus. His trip in 2019 is the last descent of this river before it is impounded behind a new dam and he tells us the story of the river and the people he encounters.
SUMMARY
As our attention spans decrease this fall of 2020, this short episode tells the story of a man who planned to kayak home after a stint in jail, yet decided to not even go to jail, and head on down the river back home. For a person who grew up on that river, ignoring the river permits he needed that day was not even on his mind, and his continued hobby of hunting dinosaur bones was as normal as drinking water.
SUMMARY
The Greenback Cutthroat Trout survived many different assaults on its existence and its genetic lineage. Once it was found in hiding above a waterfall, work began to reestablish this fish in its original basin. And yet, this work runs into itself as the projects require more changes to the streams of Colorado.
SUMMARY
The Greenback Cutthroat Trout of Colorado was once a prolific fish in the in the streams of the South Platte River Basin. That all changed with the arrival of European Americans. Since then it has been spread across the state, hybridized, squeezed out by non-native fish, placed on the Endangered Species List, named the State Fish of Colorado, and thought to be extinct. After many efforts to reestablish this fish, it took a college student, a PhD student to sort out the details and set the path for the Greenback Cutthroat Trout to regain its place in its home river basin.
SUMMARY
The Poudre River is a river in Colorado that has water added to it at is headwaters and now the majority of the river is up for grabs by water projects on the Front Range of Colorado. It is also a Wild and Scenic River that starts at the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park. And yet there are options for what happens to its flows.
SUMMARY
CONFLUENCE is a new book about rivers in the American West, cultural interactions that lay just beyond the banks of these rivers, and the adventures to capture these stories. Zak is a new literary influence in the genre of rivers and tells us about his new book and the forces that influence his writing.
SUMMARY
By living his life the way he wanted, Herm Hoops found himself becoming a river lover, a river boater and a man pursuing his life on his terms. He chased passion instead of career. He stood up for rivers and learned that was conservation. He found his dream job.
SUMMARY
13 boaters launched down the Grand Canyon in February 2020 for a 25 day journey. They emerged from the canyon on March 14 to the corona virus pandemic. This is a story about moving from bliss to a TP shortage in the course of one day.
SUMMARY
The Selway River in Idaho has hosted humans for thousands of years with Salmon and Steelhead fisheries, resources to build shelters, and amazing water. Over the summers of 2018 and 2019 archeological research has been conducted on the Selway to clarify and protect the artifacts in the river valley. Jeff Adams explains as much as he can, the story of humans along the Selway long before the Europeans arrived.
SUMMARY
2020 is here and this short episode explains what to expect on the podcast this year, and what was happening behind the scenes last year.
SUMMARY
Jenny and Mike Fiebig decided to go on one long river journey. 138 days. Wyoming to Mexico. Source to Sea on the Green River. This is their story of being a human on a river trip.
SUMMARY
Cataract Canyon in Utah can host the biggest whitewater in North America. In 1983 it had flows over 100,000 CFS. Two commercial river trips were stuck in Cataract for that highwater and their guides tell their story.
MUSIC
The music for our shows is written, performed and produced by our friend
GENE REININGER
and our friends at
DIABOLICAL SOUND PLATOON
You can find their recordings and live performance schedule at Facebook, Soundcloud, and Instagram
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