What It Takes to Protect a National Monument with Daniel CollayEpisode 44 | Go Wildly Podcast

Daniel Collay grew up on a farm outside Eugene figuring things out for himself. Southern Oregon kept pulling him back — and eventually became his life's work.

After studying Environmental Studies and Outdoor Adventure Leadership at SOU, a stint in Portland doing ecological restoration, and years at Willow-Witt Ranch — a working farm and conservation property inside the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument — Daniel became Executive Director of the Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in 2024. He's also a Certified Burn Manager, Oregon Master Naturalist, and Talent City Councilor. His send-off line for people leaving Southern Oregon: "I'll see you when you move back."We talk about how national monuments are established and what land protection designations actually mean, the SOU Outdoor Program and how it shaped his friendships, career, and love life, what happens when you get a bunch of outdoor adventure leaders anywhere together, the draw of Southern Oregon, green burial and advice for death and dying, and what it looks like to get involved in your community through local politics and volunteering. Plus his most-used outdoor gear, advice for his younger self, advice for someone who wants to live like him, and how he wants to be remembered.

Links

• cascadesiskiyou.org
• cityoftalent.org/council-mayor
• eugene-or.gov/143/Camps

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Hosted & Produced by Emily Berlant & Heather White / Go Wildly Podcast

Theme Music: "Rainmaker" by Jared Masters — used with permission

Keywords

Go Wildly Podcast, Go Wildly, Southern Oregon podcast, outdoor podcast, Emily Berlant, Heather White, Daniel Collay, Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, national monument protection, land management Oregon, Willow-Witt Ranch, Forest Conservation Burial Ground, green burial Oregon, Southern Oregon University outdoor program, SOU outdoor leadership, environmental studies Oregon, ecological restoration, Certified Burn Manager, Oregon Master Naturalist, Talent City Council, Talent Oregon, Eugene Oregon, Rachel Carson Academy, community involvement local politics, volunteering Oregon, death and dying, outdoor adventure leadership, Southern Oregon draw, place-based podcast, conservation podcast, whimsy, Kula Cloth