Gavin Dahl
Ocassional Sub Room to GrooveGavin Dahl is a writer and producer with a passion for community media. He worked for KVNF from July 2020 to July 2022. He won awards and recognition for his KVNF reporting from the Colorado Broadcasters Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Previously, he was station manager at KDNK Carbondale, led the Open Media Project for Government and operated The Colorado Channel for the nonprofit Open Media Foundation, and served as station liaison at the nationally-syndicated program Alternative Radio with David Barsamian. Other stops along his path include serving as community broadcast coordinator for the nonprofit Common Frequency, reaching millions of readers as a junior editor at RawStory.com, launching a news department at KYRS Spokane, recruiting and training dozens of volunteers at KRBX Boise, working in production and music staff roles at KAOS Olympia, and producing on-air campaigns for Seattle's Air America Radio affiliate. Along the way his writing has been published by The Montrose Press, The Sopris Sun, Boulder Weekly, Raw Story, Radio Survivor, Boise Weekly, and The Austin American-Statesman. He graduated from The Evergreen State College with a BA in media production and community organizing.
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Warming waters and large dams make it hard for many fish species to migrate and spawn. Kaleb Roedel looks at efforts to help threatened and endangered species. Plus, we continue toward a tipping point where reversing levels of greenhouse gasses in the environment may no longer be possible. A group of locals is digging their hands in the dirt to engage in a practical response to climate change. Kate Redmond filed this report on Earth Day back in April. -
This week on Local Motion Gavin Dahl is joined by two guests, Mary Menz and Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, to discuss a special event coming up Sunday, July 10th from 2 to 4pm at the Ute Indian Museum in Montrose. History Colorado and Valley Food Partnership are presenting a talk on Ute Ethnobotany and Land Stewardship and a tour of the museum’s ethnobotany garden. -
Dinosaur fossils usually get the limelight in southeastern Utah. But the area also has a treasure trove of Jurassic-era mammals. KZMU’s Justin Higginbottom visited a quarry to speak with archeologists excavating human’s earliest ancestors. Plus, in March, Bluecorn Cafe and Mercantile opened for the first time at the new Bluecorn beeswax candle factory in Montrose. The space features over 25,000 square feet for candle production, distribution, and retail, along with a cafe now open, and a music venue coming soon. Owner Jon Kornbluh walked me around on opening day. -
Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. Federal officials have given leaders in seven western states a new charge, to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before a deadline later this summer. Without major cutbacks in water use the nation’s two largest reservoirs are in danger of reaching critically low levels. KUNC’s Alex Hager reports. Plus, Gavin Dahl speaks with one of the leaders of the Canary Committee. -
Access to labor and employment standards can be inconsistent for guest workers coming to the U.S. to do farm and ranch work. A local advocacy organization is making great strides to remedy that. Kate Redmond has more. Then the pandemic wreaked havoc in many nursing homes and prisons. State psychiatric hospitals say they controlled COVID-19 a lot better, though there are some notable exceptions. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Madelyn Beck reports. -
Raymond Toney shares one more episode The Colorado Howl, from KDUR in Durango. Then, residents of a mobile home park in Gunnison were recently without water for most of the day. The three wells that supply their water are unreliable. They’ve been speaking up for years without result. Now a few Gunnison residents are working on an initiative to address equity in water issues. Stephanie Maltarich reports for the Headwaters series. -
Raymond Toney shares another edition of The Colorado Howl, about gray wolf reintroduction, from KDUR Durango. Then, in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, a majority of water that melts from mountains is used for agriculture. Fields are irrigated for pasture and hay to feed cattle on nearly 100 ranches in the region. A centuries-old system determines who gets water first and who gets it last. Stephanie Maltarich reports for Headwaters. -
Today we hear another installment of The Colorado Howl by Raymond Toney, distributed by KDUR Durango. Then, Blue Mesa Reservoir once resembled a deep and healthy lake. But a 22-year drought, coupled with obligations to release water to downstream users, has left the reservoir far below the normal high watermark. Experts say it will take a lot more than one snowy winter to refill the reservoir. Reporter Stephanie Maltarich visited both ends of the reservoir to understand its purpose and its future. -
Today we hear another edition of The Colorado Howl, by Raymond Toney and KDUR. Plus, the streams, creeks and rivers that run from jagged mountains into Crested Butte’s watersheds are iconic. At a glance, water in creeks and streams around the area is clear and pristine. But the legacy of mining tells a different story. For the Headwaters series, Stephanie Maltarich reports on the continued progress being made by the area’s most upstream stewards. -
The Colorado Howl is focused on gray wolf restoration in Colorado following voter approval of Proposition 114 in 2020. The producer is Raymond Toney of Bayfield, a lawyer by trade. Jon Lynch, the Program Director at our Rocky Mountain Community Radio partner station KDUR, based at Fort Lewis College serves as liaison to the project. Plus, for nearly a century, scientists from around the world have studied water and climate in the north end of the Gunnison Valley. And in 2021, the high mountain watershed entered a new chapter: a first-of-its-kind project where scientists will trace snow from where it arrives in the atmosphere, to where it melts into the ground. The research aims to understand water and snow in mountain systems for the first time. This story is the first in a five-episode series, Headwaters, reported by Stephanie Maltarich.
