This wild places program profiles the Sheephole Valley Wilderness in the Mojave Desert. This may be the largest waterless wilderness in the 48 states. We hear from Steve Tabor, the president of the Berkeley, California based outings group, the Desert Survivors. Steve Tabor has extensive experience in the Sheephole Valley Wilderness, and may be one of the first in recorded history to cross it, unsupported, on foot. Dan Abbe, the Wilderness Specialist for the Needles Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management provides the official perspective on the area. If you’re considering visiting a desert wilderness, there are some things you should know. Steve Tabor got us started in our edition #34, Desert Backpacking Tips. Steve Sergeant visited the Sheephole Valley with the Desert Survivors last year, and produced our editions #35 & #36, Surviving the Desert, as a report on that trip. Show number 81 [MP3 format; length 9:59; 2,398,427 bytes] Show number 81, extended version [MP3 format; length 11:01; 5,294,581 bytes] Show number 81 script

Wilderness Deals for Wheels
This wild places program investigates the relationship of the popular sport of mountain bicycling to wilderness preservation. What do these groups want when they lobby for the protection of wild places? Steve tells the story with the help of: Roger Abeh, a park ranger for the Department of Parks of the City of San Jose, California. John Kramer, the acting Wilderness Manager for the Pacific Southwest Region of the National Forest Service. Ryan Henson, the policy director for the California Wilderness Coalition. Mark Eller, Communications Director for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, also known as IMBA. A recent point of contention between wilderness groups and mountain bicycling groups was over the establishment of the King Range Wilderness. This wilderness was established in October, 2006, as part of the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act. The bonus material linked below includes additional interview clips about responsible mountain bike riding in the backcountry. Steve talks to Tom Ward, the California Policy director of the International Mountain Bicycling Association and Ben Lawhon, the education director of the Leave No Trace Center for outdoor Ethics. Show number 66 [MP3 format; length 9:48; 2,354,424 bytes] Show number 66, high-fidelity stereo [MP3 format; length 9:48; 9,414,180 bytes] Show number 66 script Bonus interview segment, Tom Ward of IMBA and Ben Lawhon of Leave No Trace [MP3 format; length 9:08; 1,097,689 bytes]

History of Backcountry Skiing
This skills program is a look at the evolution and history of the sport of backcountry ski touring in California. Howard Weamer, who also appeared in edition #69: Indoor Snow camping, has been the keeper or master of the backcountry ski hut at Ostrander Lake in Yosemite National Park for 33 years. Over that time, and in his formative years before, Howard saw tremendous changes in the sport of backcountry skiing. Howard talks about some of those changes, and his experiences in the early days of backcountry skiing in California. Show number 72 [MP3 format; length 9:45; 2,342,058 bytes] Show number 72 script

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