Brody Wilson

Friday’s newscast features updates on a high-profile assault trial in Ouray, a new state law reshaping how Colorado manages public lands, and a major gift to CMU-Montrose. We also preview Saturday’s “Stand for the Land” rally and reflect on this year’s poignant Sheep Camp Stock Dog Trials in Hotchkiss.

Paonia Food Movement is connecting the North Fork and Roaring Fork Valleys via local food, and the PlanetV Festival in Naturita is this weekend.

Handlers, herding dogs, and heartfelt memories came together at the 2025 Hodgkiss Sheep Camp Stock Dog Trials. The three-day event honored the late organizer Jolie Clark, with one of the most emotional runs featuring her dog Oren, guided by friend Steve Allen. Read how this longtime tradition in the North Fork Valley carried forward Clark’s legacy and the close-knit community of stock dog handlers.

Imagine if school was outside. In this feature from Studio M, KVNF's Brody Wilson visits with Keely Vaughn, co-founder and principal of Outer Range — an outdoor learning school in Montrose County. Students there spend 90% of their school day outside, bundled in snow gear, hiking trails, and working on hands-on projects that integrate math, science, and reading. Now, nearly complete with its third year, the school is expanding to include high school grades, and it's not just about learning outside — it's about building strong relationships and growing whole humans. Vaughn explains how the school started, how it’s growing, and what students are learning by mapping geocaches and leading overnight expeditions. It’s a story about public education done differently — grounded in place, purpose, and play.

A proposed $1.1 billion cut to public broadcasting funding could hit small Western radio stations hard. Aspen Public Radio’s Breeze Richardson says some rely on CPB for up to 30% of their budgets. The Rocky Mountain Community Radio network urges listeners to tell Congress public media still matters.ACT NOW - you can help support public media.

Conservation groups on the Western Slope have, for years, been working to conserve the air, water, and land that make Western Colorado such a wonderful place to live. Today, KVNF's Brody Wilson brings you a profile of the local chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Gunnison Gorge Anglers. We hear about their recent policy work, and conservation projects throughout our listening area.

This week on Local Motion we hear from the Colorado River District's General Manager, Andy Mueller for a Western Slope perspective on the on-going negotiations playing out between the upper basin states (CO, NM, WY, UT) and the lower basin states (CA, NV, AZ), as well as a perspective on the eventualities of the on-going drought we're experiencing. We also profile the Gunnison Gorge Anglers, the local chapter of Trout Unlimited, learning about who they are, their mission on the Western Slope, and the kinds of work they do for the rivers in our communities.

Turmoil at the Montrose Board of County Commissioners came to a head this week - starting off with the resignations of the county's top three staff members. Then the commissioners canceled public comment during the Tuesday special session planned to appoint the interim replacements of the recently departed County Manager, County Attorney, and Assistant County Manager. KVNF caught up with two local business leaders outside the meeting where both had just delivered pointed, critical public comment.

This week on Local Motion, we explore a powerful tool that landowners on the Western Slope are using to protect the open space we all value: conservation easements.KVNF’s Brody Wilson talks with Ilana Moir from Colorado West Land Trust to understand how conservation easements work—and why they’re becoming more popular. Then we hear two powerful stories from local landowners: Peter Slaugh, who protected 7,500 acres of scenic wildlife habitat near the North Fork, and Darold and Christy Hawk, a multigenerational ranching family who used an easement to secure their legacy in Crawford.Whether you’re curious about land conservation or just love a good story, this episode brings heart, history, and local perspective to an issue that impacts us all.