25 years ago the Edwards Dam was removed from the Kennebec River 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…

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 peopl…

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 episo…

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 r…

SPONSORS American Whitewater instagram facebook American Rivers instagram facebook NRS instagram facebook High Desert Life Outdoors instagram facebook Free Flow Institute instagram facebook KSJD Community Radio instagram facebook GUEST Kevin Fedarko A WALK IN THE PARK Order the book Audio Book THE EMERALD MILE Pete McBride While Pete is not a forma…

SPONSORS American Whitewater instagram facebook American Rivers instagram facebook NRS instagram facebook High Desert Life Outdoors instagram facebook Free Flow Institute instagram facebook KSJD Community Radio instagram facebook GUEST Kevin Fedarko A WALK IN THE PARK Order the book Audio Book THE EMERALD MILE Pete McBride While Pete is not a forma…

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, Califor…

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 c…

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, a…

SPONSORS Down River Equipment Instagram Facebook AED One Stop Shop discount landing page GUESTS John Amodio Facebook Linkedin: John Amodio Kevin Fedarko Instagram Facebook Vicki Ozaki Leonel Arguello Dave Van De Mark CONTRIBUTING HOST Samara Rosen RESOURCES Navigating Ecological Transformation: Resist–Accept–Direct as a Path to a New Resource Manag…

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…

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 …

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 a…

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 Den…

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 wi…

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.…

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…

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 fa…

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 …

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 late…

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…

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…

SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram Over It Raft Covers Instagram Promo Code (free shipping): riverradius GUESTS Scott Armstrong with All Outdoors Scott Underwood with Mother Lode River Center Jann Dorman Ron Stork Keiko Mertz Stan Dodson Amy Stroud Colton Johnson Tim Lasko Friends of the River EPISODE CONTENT RESOURCES The Last River Los…

SPONSORS Denver Area Nissan Dealers Instagram Over It Raft Covers Instagram Promo Code (free shipping): riverradius GUESTS David Brown Book for sale Book on Facebook: The Whitewater Wars American Whitewater 40th Gauley Fest Instagram Facebook Animal Upper Gauley Race Ace Adventure Resort Dylan Pennick River Company Outfitters Instagram Tik Tok Rive…

EPISODE SPONSORS Over It Raft Covers Promo Code: riverradius Wholesum Promo Code: riverradius GUESTS Mark Dubois Kevin Wolf RESOURCES The Stanislaus River Archive Restoring the Stanislaus River Tim Palmer Tim Palmer’s book: Stanislaus: the Struggle for a River Friends of the River Episode Cover Photo by Tim Palmer from the Stanislaus River Archive …

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…

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 fin…

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 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? Th…

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 Powel…

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 guid…

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…

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…

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. ADVERTISING SPONSORS NISSAN DENVE…

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. ADVERTISING SPONSORS American Whitewater Instagram Down River Equipment Instagram Raftopia at Down River Equipment GUESTS Colter P…

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 s…

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 …

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. GUESTS Brooke Edwards Responder Alliance Instagram Co…

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 linguisti…

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 Executive Director. We talk wit…

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 whe…

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. ADVER…

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 …

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 …

ADVERTISING SPONSOR Nissan and the Denver Area Nissan Dealers website Nissan Instagram GUEST Jon Totten Dogsmile Adventures Instagram Music Jon likes Jason Isbell, “It Gets Easier” SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE For emergencies, call the : 1-800-273-8255 DENVER RECOVERY CENTER REDSIDE FOUNDATION Instagram Facebook HELPLINE, 208-740-1192, Response with…

ADVERTISING SPONSOR Nissan and the Denver Area Nissan Dealers website Nissan Instagram GUEST Jon Totten Dogsmile Adventures Instagram Music Jon likes Jason Isbell, “It Gets Easier” SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE For emergencies, call the : 1-800-273-8255 DENVER RECOVERY CENTER REDSIDE FOUNDATION Instagram Facebook HELPLINE, 208-740-1192, Response with…

ADVERTISING SPONSOR Nissan and the Denver Area Nissan Dealers website Nissan Instagram GUEST Jon Totten Dogsmile Adventures Instagram Music Jon likes Jason Isbell, “It Gets Easier” SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE For emergencies, call the : 1-800-273-8255 DENVER RECOVERY CENTER REDSIDE FOUNDATION Instagram Facebook HELPLINE, 208-740-1192, Response with…

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. SPONSO…

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. ALL ADVERTISERS FOR RIVER RADIUS PODCAST Jack's Plastic Welding Fort Co…

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 …