Episodes

After the Dragon Bravo Fire, Grand Canyon trail staff warned that the North Kaibab Trail faced years of heightened danger from debris flows, flash floods and rockfall. Yet the entire trail reopened in May 2026. Journalist Joe Dana of Phoenix's 12 News joins 90 Miles from Needles to discuss his reporting on internal National Park Service recommendations, pressure to restore public access, and the decisions made before the deadly August 29 Grand Canyon flood.

This week: four things to understand about desert flash floods, why blaming victims makes us less safe, and what both travelers and institutions can do to reduce the danger.

Journalist Kimon de Greef follows the dirty business behind psychedelic “toad medicine”: wildlife exploitation, manufactured Indigenous tradition and a global market selling ego death as transcendence.

The boundary between two ground-squirrel species preserves the memory of a wetter Mojave,and a barrier that disappeared thousands of years ago.

Only a handful of vaquitas have recently been observed, but the species doesn't have to be doomed. Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho explains why these desert porpoises remain capable of recovery, and what must change to keep them alive.

Kate Scott reports from a tree sit in Lochiel, where activists occupied the last of four landmark cottonwoods after contractors destroyed the others for double-wall construction through the San Rafael Valley.

Chris argues that federal environmental law remains indispensable but insufficient, calling for durable local power, community narratives and relationships capable of defending desert places when national protections are weakened or ignored.

Writer Morgan Sjogren describes the emotional and ecological stakes of renewed attacks on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante, connecting monument boundaries to rivers, cultural landscapes, resource extraction and everyday life in southern Utah.

Chance Wilcox explains how Dateline Resources’ proposed rare-earth mine could industrialize roughly 20,000 acres beside Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park, threatening residents, wildlife, water, air quality and a tourism-dependent economy.

Chris examines fireworks as a recurring source of wildland ignitions, explaining how invasive grasses and depleted firefighting capacity magnify the danger while proposing safer celebrations suited to desert communities.

Laura Cunningham and Kevin Emmerich trace Greenlink West from the Amargosa Valley toward northern Nevada, arguing that the transmission line will accelerate utility-scale solar, gas generation and hyperscale data-center development across intact desert.

Chris combines practical hot-weather safety with an examination of unequal heat exposure, contrasting voluntary recreation with the risks imposed on migrants, outdoor workers and incarcerated people who often cannot escape extreme temperatures.

After a personal loss and production hiatus, Chris speaks candidly about the podcast’s reach and asks listeners to help by reviewing, recommending and sharing the show so desert reporting can find the people who need it.

Content note: sadness. Due to the death of a close family member, we will return on June 5. Listen if you want a few details.

Russ McSpadden documents plans for a second wall through Organ Pipe and Cabeza Prieta, including damage to sacred geoglyphs, groundwater and wildlife habitat made possible by sweeping REAL ID Act waivers.

Cindy Bernard and Bernard Leibov respond to criticism of the High Desert Art Fair, distinguishing commercial fairs from biennials and arguing that art, education and economic survival can coexist with responsible participation in desert community life.

Chris follows Colorado River water through irrigation districts, alfalfa fields, dairies and beef production, showing why livestock feed dominates consumptive use and how food choices intersect with tribal rights, farm policy and river survival.

A personal history of Cima opens into the evolutionary partnership between Joshua trees and Shasta ground sloths, asking how a plant adapted to past climate shifts can migrate now that its most effective seed disperser is extinct.

Ruth Nolan and Chris examine how promotional media, upscale art events and imported visions can accelerate gentrification in the Morongo Basin, arguing that newcomers should listen to the land and existing communities before remaking either.

Chris explains how collapsing local media has stripped desert communities of context and institutional memory, and introduces the Fellowship for Desert Reporting as a way to support emerging journalists and deeper, systems-aware work.

Laiken Jordahl describes the unusually broad Big Bend coalition opposing border-wall construction, where ranchers, conservationists and local officials are defending wildlife, the recovering Rio Grande and cross-border community life.

Caroline Tracey discusses Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History, tracing how water diversion transforms terminal lakes while using natural history, queer theory and personal narrative to challenge the idea that saline landscapes are barren or disposable.

Responding to sexual-assault allegations against César Chávez, Chris examines the damage caused by hero worship and argues for accountable, distributed movements that value collective work above charismatic leaders.

Dr. Jackie Grant explains how a Congressional Review Act attack on Grand Staircase–Escalante’s management plan could destabilize public-land planning nationwide, despite extensive local participation and the monument’s ecological and economic importance.