After federal workers were fired in February, many warned it would be much harder to keep the over 3 million acres in the Bridger-Teton National Forest clean, accessible and safe this summer. We check in. Also, what the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” may mean for rural hospitals like St. John’s here in Jackson, a chat with a four-member bluegrass band from Victor and a high alpine lake in the southern end of the Wind River Range is the nation's poopiest.

Mid-episode music this week is from the Balsamroots, a four-member band based in Victor, Idaho, that has been playing in and around the Tetons since forming in 2018.

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

This week, we have a BONUS episode from “The Modern West,” a production of PRX and our friends over at Wyoming Public Media. In the podcast's 10th season, “The Gray in Between,” reporters tackle stories from a wolf incident in Sublette County last year that gained worldwide attention, to creative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, to the inevitable death of elk in the Jackson Herd, right here, in our backyard.

Join Wyoming Public Radio’s Caitlin Tan as she takes us to Sublette County, where it’s been over a year since a man brought an injured wolf into a bar.

We learn how more immigrants in Teton County are being transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A new state law could continue the trend. We’ll hear more about how parents are talking with t heir kids about antisemitism, a look at Teton Science School’s efforts to keep students around after some tough years for enrollment. And, there’s lots of talk right now about selling off federal land. What might it look like if states take over management?

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

This is a bonus episode from “The Modern West,” a production of PRX and our friends over at Wyoming Public Media. In the podcast's 10th season, “The Gray in Between,” reporters tackle stories from a wolf incident in Sublette County last year that gained worldwide attention, to creative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, to the inevitable death of elk in the Jackson Herd, right here, in our backyard.

This week: People are solving the affordable housing shortage in the American West by building unusual homes like straw bale or modular.

Take a trip to Grand Teton National Park’s most popular trail where an adaptive athlete from Jackson is advising Grand Teton National Park on how to make it more accessible. We remember a beloved mother, photographer and Jacksonite that died in a tragic accident earlier this month. We unpack a threat to public media, including KHOL, being considered by federal lawmakers and we have a conversation with the founder of the Targhee Music camp, a bluegrass sanctuary of sorts.

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

This week, we have a bonus episode from “The Modern West,” a production of PRX and our friends over at Wyoming Public Media. In the podcasts 10th season, “The Gray in Between,” reporters tackle stories from a wolf incident in Sublette County last year that gained worldwide attention, to creative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, to the inevitable death of elk in the Jackson Herd, right here, in our backyard.

Reported and produced by KHOL’s Dante Filpula Ankney, hop in a pickup as we head out into the National Elk Refuge just outside Jackson, to hear all about the debate over whether to wean elk off winter feeding before chronic wasting disease strikes.

On this week’s episode: The print news scene in Pinedale is a one-woman show. We journey 80 miles to the Western outpost to see how a start-up radio station is trying to parch the news desert, and all the political challenges that come with the territory. In Teton County’s schools, we hear how educator Piper Worthington is trying to integrate students in their first year from another country. The Mexican-born, European-trained chef Oscar Ortega is a top-five finalist for the James Beard Award in the category of outstanding bakery. He shares what keeps him innovating in his Jackson shops. And, with selling federal land for housing or energy development back on the table in Congress, we learn how some conservatives in our region advocate for the idea on a much larger scale.

Jackson Unpacked airs locally at 89.1 FM or via live-stream Mondays at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and Fridays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. Support Jackson’s only nonprofit newsroom by becoming a member of KHOL today.

The Jackson Hole Rodeo sits in the middle of town and sells out almost every summer night. We hear what’s on the minds of those in the stands and the chutes as its organizers consider if its popularity has a cap. Author and editor at The New Yorker, Michael Luo, joins us to talk about Wyoming’s hidden history of anti-Chinese violence and immigration. A Jackson musical about a woman’s rise to power in a frontier town returns to the stage. And Salt Lake City band Huertado shares how the Utah landscape inspires their reverb-drenched sound.