The WildeBeat
"The audio journal about getting into the wilderness." For 10 minutes each week, we help you explore and appreciate America's wilderness. Listen to The Wildebeat to explore new places, learn safe and responsible skills, and prepare to get into the wilderness! You don't need to do extreme sports to enjoy nature and being outdoors; anyone can enjoy backcountry activities, such as camping, hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, rafting, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, mountaineering, skiing, or snowshoeing. We're a non-profit, listener-supported educational service of Earth Island Institute. (For a complete audio archive, please visit our web site: www.wildebeat.net.)

by webmaster@wildebeat.net (Steve Sergeant)
29 Apr 2005 at 12:55pm

This is a 45 second promotional clip about the show.

WildeBeat Promo [MP3 format; length 0:45; 792,815 bytes]
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by webmaster@wildebeat.net (Steve Sergeant)
3 Jul 2008 at 1:00pm

This skills program explains the gear you can carry to tread lightly on your favorite wild places. This is the second in a series of presentations by the Leave No Trace traveling trainers.

J.D. Tanner and Emily Ressler talk about the gear you can bring along to make it easier to Leave No Trace. They talk about shoes and shelter, bags and trowels, cameras and sketch pads, lights and blankets, cans and binoculars, and radios and headphones. All of this gear, and more, can help you leave the wild places you visit as good or better than you found them.

Specifically, Emily mentions Restop, WAG bags, and poop tubes. J.D. mentions bear cans, which we discussed in detail in our previous edition, Bear Cans Revisited.

We'll hear more from Emily Ressler and J.D. Tanner in a future edition. The series will continue several weeks from now when J.D and Emily explain more details about a specific Leave No Trace principle.

Show number 145 [MP3 format; length 9:47; 2,352,439 bytes] Show number 145, high-quality stereo version [MP3 format; length 9:47; 9,406,657 bytes] Show number 145 script

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by webmaster@wildebeat.net (Steve Sergeant)
26 Jun 2008 at 1:00pm

This wild places program is part two of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas that lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. (Part one is here.) Who makes these things, and how do we know they work?

Steve tells the story with the help of:

Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Calder Reid, wilderness manager for the Inyo National Forest. Allen DeForrest of Wild Ideas, manufacturer of the Bearikade. Tom Cohen of Ursack Jamie Hogan of Bear Vault. Josh Leavitt of Wilderness Solutions.

Harold Werner and Calder Reid are members of the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group (SIBBG), the standards-setting body for bear management in the major Sierra Nevada wilderness areas. Their group also performs the tests that lead to the approval of canisters for use in Yosemite National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, and the Inyo National Forest. Several other jurisdictions also require canisters from the SIBBG approved list.

This edition was originally presented on August 31, 2006.

Photo credit: Calder Reid, Inyo National Forest

Show number 144 [MP3 format; length 10:50; 2,603,437 bytes] Combined show numbers 143 & 144, exntended version [MP3 format; length 21:13; 10,189,501 bytes] Show number 143 script Combined show numbers 143 & 144 script

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by webmaster@wildebeat.net (Steve Sergeant)
19 Jun 2008 at 1:01pm

This wild places program is part one of an exploration of the situation in the Sierra Nevada wilderness areas that lead to the development of the bear-resistant food canister. Why were they invented, who invented them, and how did that happen?

Steve tells the story with the help of:

Harold Werner, a wildlife biologist from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Tori Seher, a wildlife biologist from Yosemite National Park. Richard Garcia, the president of Garcia Machine, manufacturer of the Backpacker's Cache. Calder Reid, wilderness manager for the Inyo National Forest.

Harold Werner, Calder Reid, and Tori Seher are members of the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group (SIBBG), the standards-setting body for bear management in the major Sierra Nevada wilderness areas.

Next week, we'll give you updates about how the industry grew from these beginnings, and the effect all of this has had on parks, forests, bears, and wilderness visitors. This edition was originally presented on August 24, 2006.

Show number 143 [MP3 format; length 10:40; 2,561,641 bytes] Show number 143 script

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by webmaster@wildebeat.net (Steve Sergeant)
12 Jun 2008 at 1:00pm

This gear program presents reviews of two rain jackets and a poncho. An important part of keeping warm is keeping dry, and the first part you want to protect is your torso.

Steve Nelson reviews the Antigravitygear Poncho Villa. Gail Staisil reviews the Outdoor Research Celestial Jacket. Jim Sabiston reviews the Integral Designs eVENT Cruiser Jacket.

If you're interested in reviewing for Backpack Gear Test (BGT), read: How to become a tester. Manufacturers provide more gear than the volunteers at BGT can keep up with. By becoming a tester, you can help your fellow wilderness travelers find out what gear will work for them.

Show number 142 [MP3 format; length 9:57; 2,389,850 bytes] Show number 142, extended version [MP3 format; length 12:22; 5,939,060 bytes]Show number 142 script

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by webmaster@wildebeat.net (Steve Sergeant)
5 Jun 2008 at 1:00pm

This skills program introduces our series on primitive technologies. You always see cavemen portrayed as stupid and comical. But what do you suppose they knew that you don't?

We hear from Norm Kidder. He's the vice president of the Society of Primitive Technologies. He talks about the society's goal to re-learn, study, and teach stone age skills. Norm explains that using cutting edges and fire were the first technological skills developed by the earliest humans.

In addition to the Society of Primitive Technologies, another source of primitive skills education is the Northern California group, Primitive Ways.

We'll hear more from Norm Kidder in a future edition. The series will continue several weeks from now when we learn the specifics of several primitive skills.

Show number 141 [MP3 format; length 11:04; 2,636,230 bytes] Show number 141 script

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