California State Parks Launches “(Re)Returning to the River” Podcast featuring the San Joaquin Watershed

Contact: Elizabeth Evans I Cannabis Watershed Protection Program 

California State Parks is excited to announce the release of “(Re)Turning to the River,” a new podcast exploring powerful connections between people and water within the San Joaquin Watershed from its Sierra Nevada headwaters out to San Francisco Bay.

The State Parks’ Watershed Interpretive Program developed the eight-episode podcast series in collaboration with American Conservation Experience interns Daniela Morales of Clovis and Jesus Valdez and Amanda Kaminsky of Merced. The interns traveled throughout the watershed, interviewing scientists, farmers, tribal leaders, community advocates, and artists – including Fresno’s Poet Laureate, Aideed Medina – to better understand how water connects landscapes, cultures and communities across the San Joaquin region.

“Being a part of this project was incredible because it put me in the unique position to collect and share stories about home here in the San Joaquin Valley, a region that often gets overlooked in the greater California narrative,” Morales said. “When our stories are told, they are often stories of deficits or problems we face. This podcast gave me the opportunity to reframe the situation through a lens of abundance and optimism for the innovations community members are building and the ways we are engaging with the natural world.”

By connecting San Joaquin Valley storytellers and podcast listeners with the waterways, landscapes and communities that intersect with state parks, “(Re)Turning to the River” reflects State Parks’ mission to protect and interpret California’s natural and cultural resources while expanding how interpretation is created and shared.

New episodes are released every two weeks in English and Spanish. Upcoming episodes include “Forgotten Landscapes,” (airing June 30) which examines floodplain restoration and the meaning of wildness at Great Valley Grasslands State Park, and “Healthy Watersheds for All,” (airing July 14) featuring Millerton Lake State Recreation Area and connections between watershed health and human well-being.

“(Re)Turning to the River” is available on all major podcast platforms. Learn more and listen at parks.ca.gov/returningtotheriver.

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California State Parks provides for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high quality outdoor recreation.