The WildeBeat

Thu, Jun 28, 2007

Bay Area Wilderness Training, part 2

Posted at 09:00

/shows/outings [link ]

This outings program takes us on a Wilderness Leadership Training course offered by the non-profit group, Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT). This part 2 of 2 is a follow-up to our original program on ethnic diversity among wilderness users.

Steve meets a diverse group of teachers, counselors, and other youth workers on the trail just outside of Yosemite National Park. He talks to:

• Roger Miller, executive director of BAWT.
• Hector Nuño, a volunteer youth counselor from San Jose, California.
• Judy Kuang, a youth coordinator for the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco.

We also hear from:

• Katie DeClercq, a program assistant for the Norcal Mountain Bike Racing League in
• Kellie Meehan, camp director for the Presidio Community YMCA in San Francisco, California.
• The entire WLT class singing.

If you're a teacher, youth counselor, or other youth development professional in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, BAWT's Wilderness Leadership Training can teach you all the skills you'll need to take at-risk and under-privileged youth out on life-affirming wilderness adventures.

You can help BAWT with their work by participating in Climbing for Kids. A program that provides you gear and gets you up a major mountain in exchange for your fund-raising assistance.

• Show number 92 [MP3 format; length 9:59; 2,399,400 bytes]
• Combined shows number 91 & 92, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 21:26; 20,592,533 bytes]
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Thu, Jun 21, 2007

Bay Area Wilderness Training, part 1

Posted at 09:00

/shows/outings [link ]

This outings program takes us on a Wilderness Leadership Training course offered by the non-profit group, Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT). This part 1 of 2 is a follow-up to our original program on ethnic diversity among wilderness users.

Steve meets a diverse group of teachers, counselors, and other youth workers at the Cherry Lake campground just outside of Yosemite National Park. He talks to:

• Roger Miller, executive director of BAWT.
• Hector Nuño, a volunteer youth counselor from San Jose, California.
• Judy Kuang, a youth coordinator for the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco.
• We also hear from Chelsea Griffie, program director for BAWT.

So what happens to our teachers on the trail? How does BAWT finish the process of turning them into qualified wilderness guides? We'll rejoin them in part two of Bay Area Wilderness Training.

• Show number 91 [MP3 format; length 9:59; 2,400,229 bytes]
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Thu, Jun 14, 2007

Listening to Parks, part 2

Posted at 09:00

/shows/wild_places [link ]

This wild places program explores sounds in national parks. Do you go to parks for the peace and quiet? Should you expect peace and quiet at national parks?

We hear from Kurt Fristrup, a scientist for the Natural Sounds Program of the National Park Service. He plays clips recorded by their audio measuring systems, which were placed near Sentinel Dome in Yosemite National Park. He describes the greatest sources of noise pollution in the park, and how it can adversely effect visitors and wildlife.

We hear from Dan Dugan, a technical advisor to the Nature Sounds Society, and a noted expert in nature sound recording. Dan explains how you can save some of those natural sounds for yourself, using recording equipment that's comparable in price to a typical digital camera. Dan says, "Unfortunately, quiet places are vanishing fast, and that's one good reason to go out and record before they're entirely gone."

The Nature Sounds Society offers an annual Field Recording Workshop in California. For more advice from Dan, follow the Supplemental Information link, below.

Members of the WildeBeat can download an additional bonus clip with more sounds provided by the Park Service's Natural Sounds Program, and an additional interview segment on how they do their research.

• Show number 90 [MP3 format; length 9:57; 2,389,568 bytes]
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• Supplemental information

Fri, Jun 08, 2007

Tom Mangan's Hiking Column

Posted at 11:55

/blog/wild_places [link ]

Tom Mangan is another San Jose local who's given us a lot of recognition and behind-the-scenes moral support. Tom created and writes the Two Heel Drive blog about all things hiking.

We want to offer our belated congratulations to Tom for his new job as a hiking columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. You can see the archive of his hiking columns here: www.mercurynews.com/tommangan.

Best of luck on this endeavor, Tom, and happy trails!

Thu, Jun 07, 2007

Listening to Parks, part 1

Posted at 09:00

/shows/wild_places [link ]

This wild places program explores sounds in national parks. Do you go to parks for the peace and quiet? Should you expect peace and quiet at national parks?

Steve starts out in a relatively remote campground in Yosemite National Park, and discovers some noises he wasn't counting on. He interviews two campers, Maria Mustanen and Bill Garcia, about how they feel about man-made noise in parks.

Steve interviews Kurt Fristrup, a scientist for the Natural Sounds Program of the National Park Service. Kurt explains the mission of the Natural Sounds Program, and how they monitor the parks for noise pollution. He plays clips recorded by their audio measuring equipment, which they place in remote locations in the parks. Kurt mentions the park service's Night Sky Program, which we covered in our Wilderness at Night, part 1 (#13) and part 2 (#14).

So what have Kurt and his colleagues found out about noise in parks? How can you help their efforts, and collect sounds for yourself? We'll explore those questions in part two.

• Show number 89 [MP3 format; length 9:50; 2,361,460 bytes]
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