Outside/In

• What is a forest for?

  In New Hampshire, the most beloved swath of public land is the White Mountain National Forest. People interact with it as they would a national park – hiking, swimming, camping, and more. But a national forest is NOT a national park. The difference comes down to a fundamental concept: the “multiple-use” land mandate. In the WMNF, you’ll find parts of the forest preserved for wildlife conservation, recreation, climate resilience, and, most controversially, logging. This episode looks at one patch of forest from three different perspectives: a conservationist who would like to see cutting halted in the WMNF, loggers who would like to see it ramped up, and the US Forest Service that has to somehow appease them both. Featuring Zack Porter, Jeremy Turner, Charlie Niebling, Jasen Stock, Jim Innes, and Luke Sawyer.SUPPORTTo share questions and feedback with Outside/In, call the show’s hotline and leave us a voicemail. The number is 1-844-GO-OTTER. No question is too serious or too silly.Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKSZack Porter references this study that shows the potential carbon storage in Eastern forests by 2100. Conservation groups and logging advocates filed an amicus brief together against Standing Tree’s lawsuits. In 2024, the Southern Environmental Law Center sued the Forest Service over its timber targets. NHPR has been covering the legal fight in the White Mountain National Forest over the past year. You can read some of our previous coverage here and here. CREDITSProduced by Kate Dario. Full credits and transcript available on outsideinradio.org.

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• FEMA and the other 50 percent

  It seems like every morning, another arm of the federal government is being reformed, eliminated, or downsized. That might wind up including an agency that a lot of Americans rely on when disaster strikes: FEMA.President Trump has called FEMA a “disaster.” His new head of homeland security, Kristi Noem, has signaled it’s time to “get rid of FEMA the way it exists today.” FEMA is a big agency, and understanding its role can be difficult in the abstract. So this week, we’re playing an episode from one of our favorite public radio podcasts: Sea Change.  It’s all about something called the “50% Rule.” Host Carlyle Calhoun travels to two towns to discover how this obscure federal policy designed to stop the cycle of flood damage is leading to opposite destinies.For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.SUPPORTOutside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.  Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

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• The Great Grand Canyon Burro Rescue

  In the early 1980s, an animal rights group airlifted nearly 600 wild burros out of Grand Canyon National Park. The media ate it up – magazines sold full-page ads advertising the cause and families from the East Coast clamored to adopt the rescued animals.But conflict around wild burros in the West still exists today. What does one of the flashiest rescue stories of the last century tell us about the power of animal activism to make enduring change? Featuring Rebbel Clayton, Abbie Harlow, John MacPete, Dave Sharrow, Travis Ericsson, and Eric Claman. For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org. LINKSYou can read Abbie Harlow’s paper, “The Burro Evil” here. If you’re interested in learning more about the burro adoption process, Cynthia Brannigan outlined her experience as an employee of the Fund for Animals in her book, “The Last Diving Horse in America.”  Research for this episode was also sourced from Julie Hoffman Marshall’s Making Burros Fly and Cleveland Amory’s Ranch of Dreams. Black Beauty Ranch currently houses more than 600 animals. You can read more about their work here. Check out dozens of archival shots from the rescue, via Northern Arizona University’s Cline Library.  And yes, you can watch Brighty of the Grand Canyon on Youtube. SUPPORTOutside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. 

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• Order on the pickleball court!!!

  Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. It may also be the most hated. Tennis and basketball players are complaining about losing court space because of an “invasion” of pickleballers. Residents are losing sleep because of the incessant noise. Fights over pickleball have led to a slew of petitions, calls to the police, and even lawsuits.So why do pickleball players love this sport so much? Just how annoying is it to everyone else? And what will it take for everyone to just get along? Producer Felix Poon visits one of the most popular courts in Boston to see how the drama is unfolding there.Featuring Kemardo Henry, Martha Merson, Soren Whited, and Zariyah Cherise.For a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org.  SUPPORTOutside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKSWant to play pickleball, but don’t want to annoy the neighbors? Check out this guide to quiet pickleball paddles.Read the petition that first raised concerns over the popularity of pickleball at the South Street Courts in Jamaica Plain.Learn more about the history of pickleball, which was invented near Seattle in Bainbridge Island, WA.For more on the various conflicts arising from pickleball’s growing popularity, read One Man’s Lonely War on Central Park Pickleball (NYTimes), and Shattered Nerves, Sleepless Nights: Pickleball Noise Is Driving Everyone Nuts (NYTimes)

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• Fluoridation nation

  Ever since fluoridation became widespread in the 1950s, cavities in kids have fallen drastically. The effort is considered one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. But it’s also one of the most controversial. At really high doses, fluoride is toxic – it can calcify your ligaments and joints and even fuse your spine. It also potentially has impacts on our brains. There’s a small but growing body of research suggesting that fluoride can inhibit intelligence in children. This is still unsettled and hotly debated science but, as host Nate Hegyi finds out, in our polarized and increasingly digital world… unsettled science can quickly become doctrine. Featuring Rene Najera, Philippe Grandjean and Mark HartzlerFor a transcript and full list of credits, go to outsideinradio.org. SUPPORTOutside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.LINKSThe CDC has a website that tells you how much fluoride is in your drinking water. Here’s the reasoning behind the U.S. Public Health Service’s recommended limit for artificially fluoridating water. The National Toxicology Program suggests that a child’s IQ could be impacted if they or their pregnant mother ingests more than 1.5 ppm of fluoride in their water. Philippe Grandjean’s peer-reviewed study suggests that the safe level of fluoride in water for pregnant women is much lower than what the U.S. Public Health Service recommends.The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association have cast doubt on the National Toxicology Program’s conclusions and say that the fluoride levels in U.S. waters are safe. A U.S. district court judge ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to take a second look at its limits for fluoride in the water, citing the National Toxicology Program’s monograph. 

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