Dillon Osleger is a scientist, writer, and environmental advocate whose work is anchored in society's relationship with wild and rapidly changing environments. With an academic background in geology, ecology, and climate science, he has spent over a decade working on trail restoration, land management, and public lands policy across the American West.
On this episode of Nature Revisited, Osleger reminds us of the forgotten trails of the Western United States. One of the greatest infrastructure investments in the nation’s history—paths through our public lands—has been rubbed away by time and deliberate neglect. As federal investment dwindles, more than two-thirds of a nationwide network of wagon roads, water sources, trap lines, and Indigenous trading trails and campgrounds have gradually been erased from the map. Asking how we can better care for the places that are claimed for the American public, Osleger offers a land ethic born of joy in stewardship, attention to history and community, and living and treading lightly.
