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Think Outside with the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation

Think Outside with the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation

By: Marci Mowery
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Think Outside is your guide to outdoor opportunities, nature exploration, and wellness. Discover expert tips, inspiring stories, and new ways to connect with the great outdoors for a healthier, happier life. More information: https://thinkoutsidepodcast.com/Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation Biological Sciences Hygiene & Healthy Living Science
Episodes
  • Stories from the Trail: A Conversation with Tory Mather

    Stories from the Trail: A Conversation with Tory Mather
    Jun 30 2026
    “I hope that any time someone finds a new place that they love, that they want to protect and conserve that place.”Tory Mather is the author of Scenic Natural Wonders of Pennsylvania and the creator of Tory Talks Trails.She came to the project when a leg injury in 2021 gave her the time to write about hikes from her Cleveland years. As her mobility returned, the blog grew. A publisher commissioned her to catalog 84 scenic spots across the state, formatted with practical tips for every kind of visitor.The research consumed most of a year. Tory would leave Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoons, drive to wherever her next cluster of sites was, and spend the weekends hiking and taking notes.Building a platform to bring more people outdoors creates a responsibility to do so well.And so Tory practices Leave No Trace, keeps strict screen time limits to protect her own relationship with hiking, and increasingly uses her platform for conservation stories. A couple of these include land threatened by data center development and volunteer groups doing quiet stewardship.The book is an entry point. What she cares about most is what comes next, when a reader visits a place and decides they don't want to lose it.Key Topics:From Leg Injury to Book Commission (1:37)84 Places for Everybody in Pennsylvania (3:49)The Spreadsheet Behind the Book (11:19)Tory’s Favorite Place in Pennsylvania (13:24)Hiking for Yourself, Not for Your Feed (17:55)Leave No Trace and Don't Skip the Poncho (21:52)Data Centers, Elk, and What's Coming Next (24:26)Getting People Outside and Getting Them to Care (26:33)Resources:My Trails Are Many: https://mytrailsaremany.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torytalkstrails/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@torytalkstrails?_t=8hxFM2sFpVu&_r=1YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@torytalkstrails🎧 Listen to the Think Outside Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite app while on the go! New episodes drop bi-weekly on Mondays, and you may occasionally find a bonus episode, as well!The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation inspires stewardship of YOUR state parks and forests through volunteerism, education, recreation, and philanthropy.Learn more, find events, download outdoor resources, and get involved!👉 Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter🎥 Watch outdoor tips and stories on our YouTube channel📸 Follow the podcast on Instagram🎶 Podcast music provided by Evan Mongeau📱 Follow PPFF on:FacebookInstagramLinkedInYouTubeMeetUp
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    31 mins
  • Rooted in Stewardship: The William Penn Forest District with Rick Hartlieb

    Rooted in Stewardship: The William Penn Forest District with Rick Hartlieb
    Jun 15 2026
    “We're building a quilt. I call it a quilt of state forest land.”Our host, Marci Mowery, chats with Rick Hartlieb, who is the district forester for the William Penn Forest District, covering nine counties across southeastern Pennsylvania. When he arrived in 2008, the district managed 902 acres. Today, that figure stands near 3,000, the result of patient land acquisition that Rick describes as building a "quilt" of public forest in one of the Commonwealth's most urbanized regions.The district's existing holdings are ecologically distinct and historically layered.Goat Hill Wild Plant Sanctuary, on the Mason-Dixon line in Chester County, protects a serpentine barren ecosystem with globally rare plants and lepidopterous insects found nowhere else.Little Tinicum Island, Pennsylvania's only tidal state forest land, shifts between 80 and 200 acres with the tide, carrying history from its role as one of the Delaware River's earliest colonial ports, where ships staged offshore before passengers were permitted ashore, through a World War II dredging operation that reshaped its shoreline.Newer acquisitions, such as the Wertz Tract, Gibraltar Hill, Buck Hollow, and Mullan Hollow along the Horseshoe Trail, continue expanding what the district can offer.Sustaining these places requires year-round vigilance. Rick's team treats 220 ash trees across five sites on a three-year rotation, the only living ash remaining in the surrounding counties. Hemlock woolly adelgid, beech leaf disease, stiltgrass, and development pressure fill the rest of the calendar.The Highlands Conservation Act has funded roughly half of the district's acquisitions. Volunteer groups, cycling clubs, and a friends organization at Goat Hill take care of much of the rest.What animates Rick most is a legacy question. That is, how to set up forest land close enough for a King of Prussia resident to reach in thirty minutes, built to outlast any single manager who comes after.Key Topics:Goat Hill Wild Plant Sanctuary and the Serpentine Barren (3:28)Little Tinicum Island: Tides, History, and Big Ships (6:21)The Wertz and Gibraltar Hill Tracts (10:12)History in the Landscape: James Wilson and the Lenape (16:16)Managing Invasive Species and Tree Disease (18:31)Accessible Trails and the Upcoming Delmont Tract (23:49)Community Partners, Volunteers, and the Green Gym (26:20)The Future of the District (27:59)What Rick Hopes Visitors Know About This Work (31:36)Best Places to Visit in the William Penn Forest District (37:14)Resources:William Penn Forest District: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/where-to-go/state-forests/find-a-forest/william-pennWilliam Penn State Forest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilliamPennSFWilliam Penn Public Use Map: https://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=5180381&DocName=D17%20William%20Penn%20Public%20Use%20Map.pdfSpanish Language Map: https://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=3849450&DocName=FD17%20William%20Penn%20Public%20Use%20Recreation%20Guide%20Spanish%202021.pdfFriends of the State Line Serpentine Barrens: https://www.facebook.com/p/Friends-of-the-State-Line-Serpentine-Barrens-100064575826052/View from the Hopewell Fire Tower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8DiQYlVa1o🎧 Listen to the Think Outside Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite app while on the go! New episodes drop bi-weekly on Mondays, and you may occasionally find a bonus episode, as well!The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation inspires stewardship of YOUR state parks and forests through volunteerism, education, recreation, and philanthropy.Learn more, find events, download outdoor resources, and get involved!👉 Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter🎥 Watch outdoor tips and stories on our YouTube channel📸 Follow the podcast on Instagram🎶 Podcast music provided by Evan Mongeau📱 Follow PPFF on:FacebookInstagramLinkedInYouTubeMeetUp
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    41 mins
  • Exploring Pennsylvania's Conservation Landscapes with Meredith Hill, Retired, DCNR, Conservation Landscape Manager

    Exploring Pennsylvania's Conservation Landscapes with Meredith Hill, Retired, DCNR, Conservation Landscape Manager
    Jun 1 2026
    "It's all about co-creation."Meredith Hill spent fifteen years at Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources managing the Conservation Landscape Program before her recent retirement. She believes that no agency, no organization, no community can accomplish conservation at scale alone.Today, Meredith joins our host Marci Mowery to discuss a program that has quietly reshaped how Pennsylvania thinks about land, community, and the relationship between the two.Born out of a visionary leader's statewide listening tour in the early 2000s, the program designated eight multi-county regions across Pennsylvania, each united by shared values but driven by the distinct needs of its place.In the Wilds, the priority was building a sustainable outdoor recreation economy around vast public lands to revitalize rural communities. In the Lehigh Valley, it was stitching green corridors together before open space disappeared forever.The program is driven, says Meredith, by trust. After all, it takes years to build, and it requires DCNR staff to step outside their bureaus and work shoulder to shoulder with local partners.Trust, in turn, produces the remarkable. Think of a network of local artisans selling handmade goods in state park shops; county planners meeting every other month for nearly two decades; communities like Galeton intentionally dimming their streetlights to protect a night sky that draws stargazers from across the world!Key Topics:What Is the Conservation Landscape Program? (01:42)Pennsylvania's Eight Landscapes (03:31)Building Trust Across Diverse Partners (11:25)The PA Wilds Cooperative: Artisans, Entrepreneurs, and Local Business (14:53)One Experience Every Pennsylvanian Should Have: Dark Skies (23:16)Pennsylvania as a Model for Other States (26:30)Measuring Progress Over Twenty Years (28:30)Why Conservation Landscapes Matter (31:08)Agriculture, Solar, and the Hard Conversations (35:08)Resources:Conservation Landscapes: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/programs-and-services/community-outreach-and-development/conservation-landscapesKinzua Bridge State Park: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/where-to-go/state-parks/find-a-park/kinzua-bridge-state-parkCherry Spring State Park: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/where-to-go/state-parks/find-a-park/cherry-springs-state-parkKeeping Dark Skies Dark: https://paparksandforests.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/keep-the-dark-skies-dark.pdf🎧 Listen to the Think Outside Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite app while on the go! New episodes drop bi-weekly on Mondays, and you may occasionally find a bonus episode, as well!The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation inspires stewardship of YOUR state parks and forests through volunteerism, education, recreation, and philanthropy.Learn more, find events, download outdoor resources, and get involved!👉 Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter🎥 Watch outdoor tips and stories on our YouTube channel📸 Follow the podcast on Instagram🎶 Podcast music provided by Evan Mongeau📱 Follow PPFF on:FacebookInstagramLinkedInYouTubeMeetUp
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    39 mins
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