Episodes

25 years ago the Edwards Dam was removed from the Kennebec in Maine allowing alewives and sturgeon to return to their spawning grounds in force, revitalizing the ecosystem and delighting the paddlers and local communities with the sturgeons’ explosive breaching displays. In the summer of 2024, 2 separate source to sea trips ran the lengths of the Sandy and Kennebec in Maine. Contributing host Clark Tate was part of the Sandy trip and tells the on river story of both source to sea trips.

In the summer of 2024, the Chilcotin River in British Columbia had a landslide that completely blocked the river creating a natural dam. For the next 6 days the river water backed up behind this dam until the waters finally worked over the top the of the landslide, creating a breach that would exceed the previous historical flows by 5 fold. 3 people share their experience and knowledge of the landslide in this episode. EPISODE GUESTS TŜILHQOT’IN National Government Jenny Philbrick, Executive D...

Why have cases of reported bat encounters at the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon drastically increased in the last several years? What are the chances of contracting rabies from a bat encounter? How is the safety of helicopter crews wrapped up in the physical location of a bat encounter? What does the vaccination process look like? In this episode, we utilize the personal story of a river runner's bat bite in the Grand Canyon, the expert perspectives of 2 ecologists, a CDC rabies expert, and ...

Working as a commercial river guide is one of the best jobs, day after day on rivers, helping people enjoy rivers, seeing beauty, having fun, chasing adrenaline. Creating incredible friendships, some of which might last a lifetime. And there can be a dark layer. Sexual Harassment continues to percolate, as it does in many places, in the layers of river guide culture. This episode goes there and learns about sexual harassment in the river guiding culture. We talk with Dr Maria Blevins, long time ...

This episode is Part 2 of our live on stage interview with Kevin Fedarko. Kevin joins us to talk through his new book A WALK IN THE PARK. In Part 2 we go into the west end of the Grand Canyon and learn about the events that confound and inspire the messages that emerge in his new book.

This episode was recorded live in Cortez, Colorado at the Sunflower Theatre. Kevin Fedarko, author of THE EMERALD MILE, is our guest on stage where we discuss his new book, A WALK IN THE PARK. This book is the account of Kevin’s walk through the length of the Grand Canyon, not across it. He did this with his friend and colleague Pete McBride. Over the course of 75 days scattered through 14 months, they walked 750 miles inside the Grand Canyon. While this book delivers the details of how hard that journey was, the real essence is what they discovered about the threats to the canyon, the people of the canyon, and evolving views of what wilderness can mean. This episode is Part 1 of this interview.

As snow is melting and running down rivers across the US, this episode talks with hydrologists at 5 regions of the National River Forecast Center to gain perspectives on how much snow and rain fell over the winter and how it will melt and what the rivers will look like this spring and summer. We focus on the Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, California, some of Nevada, and the Colorado River Basin. SPONSORS ROCKY TALKIE 5 Watt Radio, Waterproof Discount Code 10% off: RIVERRADIUS10 Instagram Fac...

Dams have been blocking rivers for decades. Is there a growing crack in the dam? This episode explores dam removal as an increasing trend. We talk with guests at the Chattooga River and Tugalo Dam, the Snake River and the Lower Snake River Dams, and the Klamath River and the active removal project there. And we look at the trends globally for dam construction and removal. SPONSORS Paddle Ways Download the Paddle Ways app on your phone, then go to the Paddle Ways website with discount link here ...

Each year American Rivers publishes a list of 10 rivers that hold great opportunity for river quality improvements. This year, in addition to covering the full list with Amy Kober of American Rivers, we talk with local experts to include the ocean surfers at the Tijuana River estuary in California, the river lovers at the Duck River in Tennessee, and the high desert river people overseeing the entire state of New Mexico. We hear about the unique rivers and the work happening to care for these pl...

This 2nd Emerald Mile episode picks up where the 1st episode left off telling the story of the Emerald Mile’s namesake and the saga to protect it. Taking the lead from park scientists, an environmental lobbyist, and a photographer, we explore the ecological consequences of clear-cutting logging practices, the need to expand the park, and the evolving conditions of an impacted landscape. Was the Emerald Mile lost at the hand of mankind? What does conservation mean for landscapes encroached upon?

Kevin Fedarko’s book, the Emerald Mile, takes readers on the journey of the fastest ride through the Grand Canyon in a dory named the Emerald Mile. Fedarko’s book dives into the backstory of the dam, the characters, and even the record-breaking journey, and yet leaves one question remaining: what is the backstory of the dory’s namesake? In this 1st of 2 Emerald Mile episodes, the stories of Fedarko and Dave Van De Mark demonstrate the impact that words and imagery make when applied to places lik...

Atmospheric Rivers are bands of water vapor in the sky, sometimes a few thousand miles long, bringing winter moisture to the west coast of North America and delivering it all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes flies research planes above these storms all winter tracking the details and forecasting the coming storm and this episode hosts their director to learn about Atmospheric Rivers. SPONSORS Down River Equipment Raftopia 2024 Sales Event Instag...

American Whitewater published their Top 10 List of Stewardship issues in January 2024. This is a mix of dam removal projects, legislation and policy pushes, Wild and Scenic options, all encompassed in the work from American Whitewater to keep rivers clean and accessible. This episode is an interview Kevin Colburn from American Whitewater learning about each river on this list and the positive end goals. SPONSORS AED One Stop Shop Over It Raft Covers @overitraftcovers GUESTS American Whitewate...

The river guiding and river running world are sometimes perceived as idyllic and welcoming. When is it something different? Our guest today is an openly gay man, and he share’s his story of working as a river guide and guide company manager for the past decade and how some of that is idyllic, and other parts are full of discrimination. SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers @nissanusa www.nissanusa.com AED ONE STOP SHOP Volume and Outfitter Discounts THE RIVER RADIUS Website Runoff signup (episo...

The Mountain Hydrology Lab at West Virginia University has defined the density of whitewater river runs in the United States and cross referenced this data with how climate change will alter those flows, and how changes in river flows, to include low flows and floods, will impact the people living along those rivers. This episode talks at length with the Director of the Mountain Hydrology Lab, who is also a stout river kayaker, Associate Professor Nicolas Zegre about this work his students are d...

In the first episode of 2024, a commercial river guide tells his story of having a massive heart attack while guiding a trip in May of 2023 on the South Fork of the American River in California. This episode is recorded with an audience of river guides and outfitters. Beyond the story is the question of the role of AEDs in commercial river guiding. SPONSORS AED One-Stop Shop Bulk Order Discount Covered With Carrie website CONFERENCE American Outdoors Association Instagram THE RIVER RADIUS Web...

There are numerous authors and media professionals doing work to explore river topics. To close out the 2023 river and podcast year, this episode hosts two of the best. Heather Hansman is an author writing books and magazine articles. Teal Lehto, a.k.a., “Western Water Girl” is a social media content creator. We talk through their respective crafts, leadership in river conservation and trending topics. SPONSORS Covered with Carrie Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram GUESTS Heather Hansman Web...

The Klamath River 2nd episode. In the Spring of 2025, a group of teenagers from several Tribal Nations of the Klamath River Basin and greater region will descend the newly undammed Klamath River from source to sea. These teens began learning how to kayak in 2022 and 2023, began learning about river policy and fish science, and are bringing their family stories to the river with them. In the summer of 2023 The River Radius spent a week with these young paddlers on the water and on the microphone ...

After 100 years of dams stagnating the flows of the Klamath River and killing the Salmon runs, a group of teenagers from the tribal nations of the Klamath Basin will paddle the Klamath from source to sea to usher in the post-dam Klamath. In this 1st of 2 episodes on the topic, the founders of Rios to Rivers & Paddle Tribal Waters explain how their own paddle experiences and time travel, brought the inception of this powerful passage. SPONSORS NRS @nrsweb Mighty Arrow Foundation Virga Foundat...

Payson Kennedy at 39 was a career academic, and with his wife Aurelia had four kids, a house, and two cars in Atlanta. After working on the stunt team for the film Deliverance in 1971 and a summer running a raft company, he and his wife decided to leave it all behind and with a good friend, started the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Today, 50 years later, the Nantahala Outdoor Center is one of the most important and successful river guide operations and instruction schools in the river world. SPONSO...

Our 3rd Annual episode of "What is a River" comes to you from a plane flying above the flooded Yampa River Valley in northwest Colorado. In May 2023, River Radius host Sam Carter joined two geomorphologists and a hometown river guide to fly above the Yampa River when it peaked at 20,000 cfs. This flight and episode learns about the deep value of an un-dammed, free flowing river spreading its waters across the flood plains and pounding down deep sandstone canyons. EPISODE IMAGE Kent Vertrees @po...

The Native Teen Guide in Training Program held its 12th year of training teenagers from various tribal nations how to work as river guides. This year was the first year that the guide staff for this program was all Indigenous. The River Radius joined the NTGIT program at the boat ramp, campground and river warehouse to hear this story. SPONSORS NRS Website LEAD Program PFDs NRS Duct Tape Diaries Instagram Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram Nissan USA Instagram Nissan Worldwide GUESTS Nati...

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.

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.