Saving America's Top 10 Most Endangered Public Lands: Stephanie Pearson Explains the Political, Corporate, & Ecological Threats

Award-winning travel writer Stephanie Pearson explains the top 10 federal public lands in the USA (out of the 640 million acres that we co-own with wild animals) that are most in need of our protection from a variety of elevating threats at this point in human history (we discuss industrial activity in Alaska and Minnesota, AI data centers all over, climate crisis-caused extinctions in Hawaii, wildlife fragmentation in the Western grasslands, introduced species killing off mammals in the Everglades, government censorship at parks nationwide, and proposed border walls messing up wild lands in Texas). This is based on Stephanie's special news report co-published by Outside magazine and RePublic. The article is titled “America’s Most Endangered Public Lands 2026” and can be read at the website Republic(dot)land. Republic is a new nonprofit online journalism source dedicated to protecting America’s public lands. 

In this 50-minute "In Tune to Nature" radio show, aired March 25, 2026, host Carrie Freeman interviews outdoors writer Stephanie Pearson about her public lands article and ideas for getting politically engaged and enjoying public lands, and at the end we get a preview of her newest National Geographic book "100 Hikes of a Lifetime USA". Stephanie's travel and outdoor writing can be found at https://stephanieannpearson.com/ 

"In Tune to Nature" is an hour-long radio show airing Wednesdays at 6pm Eastern Time on 89.3FM-Atlanta radio and streaming worldwide on wrfg.org (Radio Free Georgia, a nonprofit indie station) hosted by me, Carrie Freeman, or friend Melody Paris. The show's website and my contact info can be found at https://wrfg.org/intunetonature/  While there, consider donating to Radio Free Georgia, a 50+ year old progressive, non-commercial, indie radio station, run largely by volunteers like me and Melody.

Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like those who depend on our millions of acres of publicly-owned land for their survival. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on In Tune to Nature do not necessarily reflect those of WRFG, its board, staff, or volunteers.

Photo Credit: Republic.land website image of Stephanie Pearson's "America's Most Endangered Public Lands" article