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/
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Enjoying and Conserving Night Skies with Matt Crosbie, Ben Gamble, and Tim Morey
Episode 43
Thursday, October 22, 2026 • Duration 52:24
“The dark night sky is every bit a piece of wilderness to me as the howl of a wolf or the call of a loon.”
Matt Crosbie and Ben Gamble of the Bureau of Forestry and Tim Morey of the Bureau of State Parks join our host, Marci Mowery, to explore the side of Pennsylvania’s outdoors that comes alive after sunset.
Dark skies are far more than a pretty backdrop. They actually ensure nature is on the right track!
Artificial light comes with an ecological toll, such as confused migrating birds, insects drawn to lights they rarely survive, and frogs that change their calls. For us humans, light at night also disrupts melatonin and sleep.
Thankfully, it doesn’t take much to fix light pollution. Thanks to the initiative of our guests, some natural gas companies have begun putting compressor station lights on timers. Also, the town of Galeton has chosen to install fully shielded, downward-facing streetlights.
Finally, state parks are now drafting lighting zones so some areas stay dark by design. Motion-activated lights and cameras can answer security worries without all-night glare.
And of course, we can all do our part, from switching off the porch light, killing the headlights when we don’t need them, carrying smaller flashlights, and getting comfortable in the dark!
Key Topics:
Why Dark Skies Are Good for Us (6:08)
Negative Effects of Artificial Light on Our Bodies (11:29)
Sky Glow Travels Farther Than You Think (16:34)
Wild Character and the Case for Quiet (21:12)
Working with Local Industries and Communities to Reduce Light Pollution (25:25)
Where to Stargaze Across Pennsylvania (35:57)
The Easiest Things You Can Do to Reduce Light Pollution (42:00)
🎧 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.
Think Outside: Meet PORA and Discover the Adventure Pass with Lutricia Eberly
Episode 42
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 • Duration 27:09
“Get outdoors. Get off your iPad and get outdoors because it's way more fun and it's good for your brain.”
Our host, Marci Mowery, chats with Lutricia Eberly, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Recreation Association (PORA), the trade group representing the state's ski resorts, outfitters, zip lines, and adventure providers.
Lutricia grew up on a tree farm in the woods, though neither of her degrees (computer science, then theology) pointed toward outdoor recreation. Almost by accident, she turned a seasonal job at Roundtop Mountain Resort into a career. It wasn't until she moved to Girl Scouts that she recognized outdoor recreation as an industry.
PORA began in 1978 as a ski association and rebranded in 2024 to represent the whole sector. Its advocacy work centers less on trails than on the unglamorous machinery behind them. These include utility costs (snowmaking is expensive!), minor-employment law, and safety training run jointly with the state's lift inspectors.
The association's most visible project is the Pennsylvania Outdoor Adventure Pass, a $69 digital pass for fourth and fifth graders that unlocks discounts at more than 50 providers statewide. Ski slopes, zoos, caves, and river outfitters are among them. These kids are old enough for real independence, but young enough that parents are still along for the ride.
Lutricia's case is that, more than a discount card, the pass is a counter against five-plus daily hours of screen time. It’s a low-stakes way for kids to try something unfamiliar and build confidence, and, eventually, a pipeline into outdoor careers kids don't yet know exist!
Key Topics:
What PORA Actually Does (3:52)
The Outdoor Adventure Pass, Explained (8:31)
What the Pass Unlocks for Families (15:16)
Showcasing Careers in Outdoor Recreation (18:05)
Screens, Loneliness, and the Case for Getting Outside (22:43)
Women In Conservation: Exploring French Creek and Marsh Creek State Parks with Kate Gundersen-Thorpe, Kim Keller
Episode 41
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 • Duration 47:13
“We don't want anyone to ever feel like they're on an island. We don't feel like we are!”
Our host, Marci Mowery, sits down with Kate Gundersen-Thorpe, manager of French Creek State Park, and Kim Keller, manager of Marsh Creek State Park, to discuss the third annual Women in the Big Woods retreat and the winding paths that led them both into park management.
Neither planned on a conservation career. Kate discovered it through a college internship after growing up camping in New Jersey, where state parks are scarce, while Kim abandoned a research-science track after hating her first lab job and found her footing at a regional DCNR office instead.
Kate and Kim offer a candid look at what it means to work as women in a still male-dominated field. Both describe deliberately mentoring newcomers, defending each other's reputations, and building an informal support network that they wish they'd had starting out.
Along the way, they give a little tour of both parks. French Creek's CCC-built cabins, 40 miles of trail, and new glamping sites; Marsh Creek's freshly dedicated, ADA-accessible visitor center, replacing a converted residence after 52 years, plus its horse-boarding concessionaire.
They round out the conversation by discussing practical notes on Sunday hunting rules, as well as the Bark Ranger leash program.
Key Topics:
About Women in the Big Woods (07:47)
Touring French Creek: CCC History, Trails, and Glamping (11:07)
Marsh Creek: From Drinking-Water Reservoir to a New Visitor Center (17:24)
Mentorship in a Male-Dominated Field (23:17)
Start Small: Gear Swaps and Backyard Camping (27:55)
Bark Rangers and the BARK Principles (29:36)
Navigating Hunting Season on Two Different Parks (31:12)
From Intern to Manager: The DCNR Career Ladder (35:09)
Tree Complaints and Feral Raccoons (42:13)
Turning Passion into Action for Healthy Lands Week with Amy Hill
Episode 40
Monday, August 24, 2026 • Duration 22:17
"Learning about stewardship and choosing to turn your passion into action is something you can do anywhere and everywhere."
Our host Marci Mowery welcomes Amy Hill to explore how Pennsylvanians can “Turn Your Passion Into Action” during Pennsylvania Healthy Lands Week, with this year’s spotlight on Bedford County. They share how the initiative connects volunteers, families, students, and outdoor enthusiasts with hands-on stewardship of the state’s cultural and natural resources—across state parks, forests, historic sites, and community spaces.
In Buchanan State Forest, volunteers help preserve the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps, including an African American CCC camp from the Great Depression. Marci and Amy discuss uncovering remnants of historic camp structures, restoring bridges and stonework, and supporting climate resiliency. These efforts safeguard today’s forest experience while honoring the work that built much of the outdoor infrastructure people enjoy now.
Marci and Amy also highlight projects at Shawnee State Park and other Bedford County locations, where invasive plant removal, trail improvements, scrap metal cleanups, and family-friendly “micro-litter” projects at pavilions all add up to healthier ecosystems. Woody invasive plants will be upcycled into fish habitat structures for park lakes, improving aquatic environments rather than heading to a landfill.
Running from September 26 (National Public Lands Day) through October 4—during Bedford County’s fall foliage festival—Healthy Lands Week invites participants to sign up at pahealthylandsweek.org, volunteer one day, then hike, bike, paddle, or explore covered bridges and local farm-to-table food the next. And while the spotlight is on Bedford County this year, Marci and Amy emphasize that stewardship can start in any Pennsylvania community, all year long.
Key Topics:
Exploring the Susquehanna River Water Trail with Brook Lenker
Episode 39
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 • Duration 32:44
“It's a forgiving river, but you have to respect it.”
Brook Lenker, president of the Susquehanna River Trail Association, traces the origins of Pennsylvania's first formal water trail. Celebrating its 25th anniversary in recent years, the trail encompasses the 52-mile middle section of the Susquehanna between Sunbury and Harrisburg.
The idea began with a single canoe trip in the early 1990s that turned a casual acquaintance with the river into a lifelong passion. What followed was years of coalition-building. The middle section's success helped seed a statewide network that today shares in Pennsylvania's more than 83,000 miles of waterways, the second most in the nation.
What sets this stretch apart is its geography. It has roughly 500 islands, five consecutive water gaps cutting through the ridge-and-valley mountains (rare enough to earn National Natural Landmark status) and river towns like Millersburg and Harrisburg that have embraced the water rather than turned away from it.
Twenty-three designated, numbered campsites along the 52 miles, measured from the river's mouth at Havre de Grace, Maryland, invite paddlers into primitive, forested camping within sight of the State Capitol dome.
A dedicated corps of volunteer stewards, working alongside the Bureau of Forestry, keeps the sites usable, all while encountering otters, beaver dams, and at least one paddler who signed every logbook "Squid Billy."
Key Topics:
A River Rat's Canoe Trip: How the Idea Was Born (02:30)
Island Camping 101: Signs, Logbooks, and Mile Markers (08:42)
Know Before You Go: Dams and River Hazards (14:01)
Primitive Camping and a River That Changes (17:46)
Volunteer Island Stewards and Trail Upkeep (21:54)
River Encounters: Otters, Beavers, and "Squid Billy" (25:18)
Dauphin Narrows: Lady Liberty and a National Natural Landmark (27:14)
Shawnee State Park: A Day Well Spent | Manager Jim McCorkle
Episode 38
Monday, July 27, 2026 • Duration 32:15
“I live in a place where people come on vacation, and my family reminds me of that pretty frequently.”
Our host, Marci Mowery, chats with Jim McCorkle who manages Shawnee State Park in Bedford County, a role he's held for five years within a 19-year park management career.
Speaking from the park's Historical and Interpretive Center, he describes a place built around its 450-acre lake, kept free of gas motors so paddlers, anglers, and swimmers share the water peacefully. Trails range from the paved, stroller-friendly Lake Shore Trail to Field Trail's unexpected Allegheny Plateau overlook, to a quieter, hillier loop along Forbes, Pigeon Hills, and Tiday trails that most visitors skip.
Overnight options span camping cottages, an island lodge once part of the Bowman family's Water Brooks Dairy Farm, and 201 campsites, including "Great Gathering" sites for larger groups and new "buddy sites" arriving alongside a rebuilt yurt for the 2027 season.
Historically, Forbes Road once passed through the property, the Shawnee people moved seasonally through the area, and longtime educator Ron Barlik spent 51 seasons amassing a Native American artifact collection now being recatalogued. The park, dammed and dedicated in 1951, marks its 75th anniversary this year with a 75K challenge and an October 17th celebration.
Volunteers, coordinated through the Friends of Shawnee and Blue Knob State Parks, sustain much of this through trail work, cleanups, and events like Art in the Park.
What Jim hopes visitors take away is that even a place built for tourists can be a backyard worth discovering!
Key Topics:
What to Expect at Shawnee (01:28)
Campsites, Great Gathering Sites, and New Buddy Sites (04:49)
Bedford County and the Surrounding Laurel Highlands (10:57)
Celebrating 75 Years of Shawnee State Park (15:10)
Family Activities (18:26)
Overlooked Trails and Quiet Contemplation Spots (19:32)
The Friends of Shawnee and Blue Knob State Parks (26:31)
Inside Forbes State Forest: Trails, History, and Hidden Wonders with Ed Callahan, District Forester
Episode 37
Wednesday, July 15, 2026 • Duration 37:54
“We just help tie in all those ownerships. I think we're the largest landowner in the Laurel Highlands.”
Our host, Marci Mowery, sits down with Ed Callahan, who is district forester for the Forbes State Forest, spanning Westmoreland, Fayette, and Somerset counties in southwestern Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands. He arrived in 1999 as assistant district forester and took over the district in 2002; since then, holdings have grown from roughly 58,000 to 64,000 acres.
The forest sits in three separated blocks (Laurel Mountain, Mount Davis, and the ridge near Quebec Run), each an hour to ninety minutes apart and ecologically distinct, tied together by neighboring state parks, game lands, and private landowners like Seven Springs and Nemacolin Woodlands.
The district's name honors General John Forbes's French and Indian War road, and sites like the 1770s-era Carroll Cabin and the Wharton Iron Furnace have been restored with grant support from the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation.
Recreation runs year-round. There’s hiking, mountain biking, hunting, native brook trout fishing, and winter sports including 120 miles of groomed snowmobile trail and dog sledding. At Mount Davis, the state's high point, a 1930s-era observation tower is being fitted with new interpretive signage so visitors who can't climb it still get the view.
Volunteers are the backbone of the operation: the 22-year-old Laurel Mountain Volunteer Group and a newer Trail Steward Program keep trails assessed and maintained.
Key Topics:
Mount Davis: The High Point and Its Observation Tower (2:37)
Wild Areas and the Shape of the District's Land (6:20)
Naming History (9:26)
Four-Season Recreation (13:44)
Storm Damage and Stream Remediation Partnerships (16:19)
Building the Volunteer and Trail Steward Programs (18:42)
Wolf Rocks and Spruce Flats Bog (24:19)
Accessibility Improvements and the Pollinator Loop (26:36)
Roadside Camping Opportunities (32:34)
Stories from the Trail: A Conversation with Tory Mather
Episode 36
Tuesday, June 30, 2026 • Duration 31:23
“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)
Rooted in Stewardship: The William Penn Forest District with Rick Hartlieb
Episode 35
Monday, June 15, 2026 • Duration 40:32
“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.
Exploring Pennsylvania's Conservation Landscapes with Meredith Hill, Retired, DCNR, Conservation Landscape Manager
Episode 34
Monday, June 1, 2026 • Duration 38:37
"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)
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🎧 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.
🎧 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.
🎧 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.
🎧 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.
🎧 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.
🎧 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.
🎧 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.
🎧 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.
🎧 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.
