Season Two of Trail Break Radio features conversations recorded at Winter Wildlands Alliance’s 11th Biennial Grassroots Advocacy Conference at the University of Washington Pack Forest, bringing voices from across the winter advocacy and public lands community straight to your headphones.

Episode 1: Public Lands From the Ground Up: Where Do We Go From Here?

Release date: February 5, 2026

For decades, the federal agencies tasked with managing our public lands have been deeply understaffed and chronically underfunded. Even before the most recent waves of government cuts, many communities were already frustrated by complex public processes and decision-making systems that felt slow, opaque, or out of reach. Today, in the wake of some of the deepest cuts in the history of America’s public lands, those pressures have only intensified.

In this opening episode of Season Two, we ask some big questions: Are there silver linings in this moment of upheaval? Could these challenges create space for meaningful reform? And what would it actually look like to improve how public lands agencies balance sustainable recreation, resource protection, and long-term conservation?

To dig in, we brought together a powerhouse panel of public lands experts, advocates, and policy leaders:

• Susan Jane Brown, Principal and Chief Legal Counsel, Silvix Resources

• Hilary Eisen, Federal Policy Director, Wild Montana

• Megan Birzell, Washington State Director, The Wilderness Society

The conversation is expertly moderated by Fitz Cahall, host of Dirtbag Diaries, guiding listeners through a grounded, honest discussion about where we are—and where we might go next.