Heartwood Forest Protection Podcast

Dave Cooper Interview: White Oaks & Bourbon

In this interview, Dave weaves together the story of white oak trees, the Kentucky bourbon boom, and his personal discovery of how a tourist industry he thought was good

Sam Stearns: Protecting the Shawnee

Sam Stearns is a forest protection activist from Southern Illinois and has been working to protect the Shawnee National Forest for most of his life. He is the founder of

Matt Peters on Heartwood, NEPA, Categorical Exclusions, and the Paper Monkeywrench

This interview took place on July 9, 2025. Matt Peters is the current coordinator for Heartwood and a longtime forest protection activist. He founded the Allegheny Defens

Biography of Andy Mahler by Steven Higgs + Andy Honored by State of Indiana with Award

This episode is a recording of the keynote address at Heartwood's 34th Annual Reunion on October 3, 2025, which took place at Andy Mahler and Linda Lee's longtime home, t

Andy Mahler Interview: Talking About Cancer

This interview of Andy Mahler took place on July 21, 2025 and is the last conversation I had with Andy before he died. Having already spoken about Andy's childhood, the

Andy Mahler Interview - Buffalo Springs and the Hoosier National Forest

 This conversation with Andy Mahler took place July 15th, 2025 and is the third of four interviews I did with Andy during the summer of 2025. The focal point of this con

Andy Mahler Interview - The Creation of Heartwood

In this interview, which took place on  July 14, 2025, Andy provides the background of what was happening in his life, and the forest around him, that led to the formatio

Andy Mahler Interview - The Early Years

In the summer of 2025, Andy and I took the time to sit with each other on 4 occasions to talk about his life. We had these conversations knowing his time was short due to

Introducing the Heartwood Forest Protection Podcast

Welcome to the Heartwood Forest Protection Podcast, a place where we talk with activists about their work protecting forests and learn what we can do to make a difference