Nature Connection Radio

Just 30 minutes from Portland, Tualatin Valley is Oregon's underrated wine country — home to 40+ wineries, one of the state's most ethnically diverse food scenes, tax-free shopping, and a 21-mile paved trail past a giant wooden troll. 

On this shared episode of Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine & Travel Show," presented in partnership with the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), Sylke Neal-Finnegan, VP of Communications and PR at Explore Tualatin Valley, gives us a conversational tour of the Willamette Valley's northwest corner.

Beyond the vineyards, Tualatin Valley is shaped by a 50-year-old urban growth boundary that protects farmland and keeps its wine country sustainable including some dry-farming. Sylke also digs into the region's thriving arts scene — from the Broadway Rose Theatre Company to the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts — plus year-round outdoor adventure along the Tualatin River, Hagg Lake, and the fully accessible Banks-Vernonia State Trail. It's proof that this corner of the Willamette Valley offers a lot to experience.

Featured image: David Hill Vineyards & Winery, courtesy of Explore Tualatin Valley.

RESOURCES LINKS:
- Plan your visit: https://tualatinvalley.org/ 
- Learn more about IFWTWA: https://www.ifwtwa.org/ 
- Follow the Food, Wine & Travel Podcast: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/food-wine-travel-podcast-ifwtwa 
- Check out Big Blend Radio's "Travel Food & Wine: Digital Podcast Magazine: https://www.bigblendmediahouse.com/p/travel-food-wine-magazine

Michael Calhoun, a lifelong resident of Vernonia, Oregon and Board Chair of the Columbia Soil & Water Conservation District, joins this shared episode of Big Blend Radio's "Parks & Travel" Podcast — timed to National Park Week 2026 — to share the story of the Banks-Vernonia Trail, a 20-mile former logging railroad that became Oregon's first rails-to-trail conversion and later earned National Recreation Trail certification from the National Park Service.

Michael talks about growing up in a town shaped by the timber industry, the community debate that surrounded turning an old rail line into a public trail, and how that decision revitalized Vernonia decades later. He and host Lisa D. Smith dig into the balance between resource extraction and conservation, why community-led certifications like National Recreation Trail status can help protect public lands from development pressure, and how Vernonia is now pursuing Dark Sky community status to protect migrating birds and pollinators.

This conversation covers real, practical advice for any community sitting on an overlooked trail, railroad corridor, or public land asset — and why stacking certifications and designations can build long-term resilience.

Learn more and connect with Michael:
- Banks-Vernonia State Trail (National Recreation Trail Database): https://www.nrtapplication.org/trails/banks-vernonia-state-trail 
- L.L. Stub Stewart State Park (Oregon State Parks): https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=104 
- Michael Calhoun on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael--calhoun/ 
- Michael Calhoun for Columbia Soil & Water Conservation District on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Michael-Calhoun-for-Columbia-Soil-Water-Conservation-District-100086151820617/

Sasha Waters, director and producer of the new American Masters documentary "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World," joins Big Blend Radio to talk about bringing the life of one of America's most beloved and most private poets to the screen.

Mary Oliver was a bestselling poet and Pulitzer Prize winner whose work — including "Wild Geese" and "The Journey" — has reached readers far beyond the usual poetry audience. Waters discusses how Oliver's decades in Provincetown, Massachusetts shaped her writing, the restorative power of nature and dogs in Oliver's life, and her four-decade love story with photographer Molly Malone Cook. 

The conversation also explores how the film balances intimacy with the privacy Oliver so fiercely protected, the process of bringing in voices like John Waters, Steve Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter, and Stephen Colbert to read her work, and why Oliver's message about paying attention to the natural world feels more urgent than ever.

This episode also lands right in the middle of American Artists Appreciation Month — a fitting time to celebrate a filmmaker telling the story of one of America's great literary artists.

The film premiered as the opening selection at True/False Film Festival this year, and has since screened at the Berkshire International Film Festival and Provincetown Film Festival. It's out now in theaters — including IFC Center in New York and Laemmle theaters in LA — and expanding nationwide, with a digital and home video release coming August 25th. "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World" also premieres nationwide on PBS Tuesday, August 25 as part of American Masters.

🎬 Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/B7bfYkgotBM  
📺 More on PBS/American Masters: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mary-oliver-documentary/37967/  
🎟️ Theaters, showtimes & booking: https://kinolorber.com/film/mary-oliver-saved-by-the-beauty-of-the-world

Filmmaker Casey Carter joins Big Blend Radio to talk about his feature documentary debut, "To Use a Mountain," which traces the search for a permanent U.S. nuclear waste repository back to the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Casey and Lisa dig into the six candidate communities featured in the film — in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Nevada — and the farmers, miners, tribal leaders, and citizen scientists who fought back when their land was marked as a possible dumping ground for the nation's most dangerous waste.

The conversation traces a direct line from that 1980s fight to today's headlines: Casey explains how the current data-center boom and a so-called "nuclear renaissance" are reviving interest in new reactor sites, including small modular reactors proposed for underground placement near data centers. Lisa connects the dots to ongoing battles over public lands, from Chaco Canyon to Bears Ears, and asks what it means for communities asked to carry this burden for 10,000 years with no lasting solution in sight.

"To Use a Mountain" opens theatrically at DCTV in New York on Friday, August 21st, and arrives on VOD through Grasshopper Film in early 2027.

Learn more: https://www.touseamountainfilm.com

In Part Three of her “Lessons Learned from Travel” series, travel writr Linda Ballou takes us into the wilds of Alaska and Canada for a powerful story about adventure, wilderness, and environmental stewardship.

In this shared episode of Big Blend Radio’s “Lost Angel Travel Adventures” Show, Linda reflects on her journey down the Tatshenshini River, also known as Raven’s River, which begins near Haines, Alaska, travels through Canada, and flows toward the Gulf of Alaska. She shares an excerpt from her book "Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler’s Tales," describing the river’s glaciers, wildlife, birds, salmon, and breathtaking wilderness—and the profound effect the journey had on her.

But this adventure became much more than a rafting trip. Linda explains how experiencing this pristine wilderness transformed her from an “adventure junkie” into an environmentalist and inspired her to become involved in the fight against the proposed Windy Craggy mine. She also discusses the current threat of the Palmer Project in the Chilkat River Valley, the importance of the region to the Tlingit people, and its significance as habitat for salmon, bears, and thousands of bald eagles.

Linda also explores what travelers can learn from rivers: letting go, unplugging from the outside world, being fully present, listening to nature, and finding your own “inner river” or current during times of change.

The conversation ultimately becomes a call for environmental stewardship and citizen action, reminding us that travelers are temporary members of the communities and landscapes they visit—and that protecting wilderness requires a constant vigil.

🌎 American Adventures Month: This episode celebrates the spirit of exploring and protecting America's extraordinary natural landscapes.

RESOURCE LINKS:
🎧 Listen to the new audiobook edition of Lost Angel Walkabout: One Traveler's Tales: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Angel-Walkabout-Travelers-Tales/dp/ 

🌍 Linda Ballou:
https://www.LindaBallouAuthor.com 
https://www.LostAngelAdventures.com 

🎙️ Subscribe to Lost Angel Travel Adventures Podcast:
https://lost-angel-travel-adventures.podbean.com 

📖 Explore the NEW Lost Angel Travel Adventures Digital Podcast Magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/yhwzg/podcast-retrospective/