Yellowstone National Park

Like many outlandish schemes before it, the idea for Howl came together over a beer. It was the summer of 2023 and the two of us – Idaho Capital Sun senior reporter Clark Corbin and Extremely American podcast host Heath Druzin – had just finished a game of pub trivia in Boise.

Thirty years after wolves were brought back from near extinction in the U.S. Rocky Mountains, the state of Idaho is back in the wolf-killing business.

Wolves represent perhaps nature’s greatest comeback. Exterminated from the West before the middle of the 20th century, they now roam nine Western states. But some scientists say wolves might be in trouble again and that key states may be inflating the number of wolves through faulty science.

Sitting in an old-growth spruce fir forest, Doug Smith says he can see first-hand the impact of reintroducing wolves on the larger ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park.

Heath and Clark get lost backpacking in Yellowstone National Park on the trail of wolves with Doug Smith, one of the top wolf experts in the world. Along the way, Smith shows listeners how the return of wolves has changed the iconic park’s landscape.

A new podcast series tracks the reintroduction of wolves to the American West 30 years later.

National Parks Week begins this weekend, kicking off with free entry to all parks on Saturday, April 19 — just weeks after mass layoffs and court-ordered reinstatements of some park workers.

The resolution to hand over wide swaths of public land failed after a bumpy ride in the Senate.

Grizzly bear 399 died this year after being hit by a car in Jackson, Wyoming. She was a popular roadside attraction, a mama bear with her cubs, photographed so often that she became a worldwide sensation.

The National Park Service this month issued a first-ever director’s order to strengthen its consultation with tribes in the Mountain West and beyond.