A Rancher Takes on Wildfire Management

Brian Lehrer (0:10)

Brian Lehrer on WNYC. And to close out the show today, we're going to hear from our former colleague here at New York Public Radio, Anna Sale. You may know her as the host of the podcast, Death, Sex and Money, which used to be a WNYC production and is now housed at Slate. She's not here today to talk about Death, Sex and Money though. She's actually back in New York because it's Climate Week and she's launching a new interview series that she made in collaboration with the National Geographic Society called People Trying, where she follows the stories of several Americans who work with land and water, and how they're adapting to changing climate conditions across the country. She has brought with her, to us, the subject of one of Anna's episodes, Shelly Kelly. She's a rancher from rural Nebraska, who started the Sandhills Task Force, which is a network of ranchers focused on wildfire and drought resiliency. She's joining Anna here in New York for Climate Week, to talk about her work and about the new series. We thought it would be really interesting to let most of you in the New York metropolis, hear from a rural Midwest rancher about how climate change is changing things out there. You know how it's changing things here.

Anna, always great to have you back and Shelly, so great to have you on the show. Welcome to WNYC.

Anna Sale (1:31)

Thank you, Brian.

Brian Lehrer (1:34)

Do we have both of you?

Shelly Kelly (1:35)

Yes.

Brian Lehrer (1:35)

Shelly is right here with me. Great. Just making sure. Anna, tell me a little bit about the premise of your new show. Who qualifies as People Trying?

Anna Sale (1:44)

Well, all of us are trying, of course. But for the purposes of this series, what we are looking at is, I was really interested in doing more journalism and hearing directly from people who work close to land, water and nature about what their challenges they're facing, what interventions they're trying, as we're all adapting to change. Because I think sometimes when we talk about climate change, it can become a very abstract conversation very quickly. We hear a lot from scientists and policymakers and investors and technologists as we should.

But I also think we should hear a little bit more from people who are working close to the ground about how the things that are suggested to them to manage their land differently or think about water differently, how that fits into the ecosystem of all of the decisions and things they're trying to manage, whether they're a natural resource manager or trying to run a business in agriculture.

Brian Lehrer (2:42)

So Shelly, before we get to the meat of the matter, I heard it's your first time in New York. What's it been like so far?

Shelly Kelly (2:49)

What an experience. This has been an awesome cultural experience so far. Anna's been wonderful at showing me a lot of new aspects that you don't think about every day when you're out in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

Just how communication and commuting is very different here than it is at home.

Anna Sale (3:12)

We rode the subway for the first time last night, Brian.

Shelly Kelly (3:14)

It was an adventure.

Brian Lehrer (3:17)

You know, Anna, that this is a question we'll occasionally ask listeners, just to have some fun on the phones.

What do you show an out of town guest in New York? Now I have to throw that question to you, because Shelly said you're showing her around.

Anna Sale (3:33)

That's such a good question. What did I want to show her? I was showing her Radio City Music Hall. I was showing her how the subway works. I was showing her, we were walking towards, we went to the Irr Inn last night and met with some other people who work in regenerative agriculture, so showing her where the Hudson River is and just orienting her to the natural landscape that surrounds New York City. That was sort of the tour.

Brian Lehrer (3:54)

You went to the Irr Inn, local watering hole right near the station.

Shelly Kelly (3:57)

Yep.

Brian Lehrer (3:58)

So Shelly, you're a rancher, you come from a ranching family. I wonder if you can do a little ranching 101 for a mostly urban or suburban audience. Like what kind of rancher are you and what does that mean you do mostly in your work day to day?

Shelly Kelly (4:16)

Oh, what a great question. Yeah, I'm blessed with the opportunity to lease land. I grew up on a ranch. We raise cattle, mostly a cow-calf operation, which means we have mama cows. We help them have their babies. We raise their babies and then once they get so big, about the time you think about they go off to college, and so we wean them and they go to another operation where they continue their journey.