Animals, Nature, and You
“Animals Nature and You” celebrates the curiosity around the connection we have with the natural world.
In this podcast, we will be looking at the science and the personal experiences of experts, and everyday people. From conservationist and animal care staff to filmmakers and authors. We’ll talk to backyard birders, wildlife experts, naturalist, animal behaviorists, veterinarians and so much more.
Join us on this curious odyssey, let’s explore and reconnect together! It’s all about the connections we feel and the connections we long for.
It’s about Animals, Nature, and You!
Animals, Nature, and You
Finding the Hidden Wonders of Our State Parks
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In this episode, host Rick Schwartz explores the hidden wonders of state parks with husband and wife duo, Chris and Moe. Their journey from theater and television to nature and state parks, reveals how simply getting outside led them to discover the vibrant life in California’s state parks and more. They share insights on identifying native plants and the importance of these species for ecosystem health, offering practical tips for anyone looking to connect with nature.
Chris and Moe’s unique storytelling approach bridges the gap between education and the entertainment, making connecting to nature accessible to all. They emphasize the power of community and storytelling in fostering a passion for the environment. Whether you're an outdoor enthusiast or a curious beginner, this episode is a reminder that everyone can contribute to conservation and become a steward of the natural world.
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Links mentioned in this episode:
State of the State Parks Website
State of the State Parks on IG
State of the State Parks on FB
State of the State Parks YouTube
Find Rick here:
ZoologyRick.com
Rick's social media stuff...
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BlueSky
Podcast Music: Positive Carefree Folk Pop
Artist: Burgberg
Used with Full Music Standard Lic.
But it's all about the idea that we are doing a disservice to plants and animals and everything by not knowing their names. And by not knowing their names and giving them a lowercase letter when it comes to bear, lowercase B, lowercase C for a cow, by l giving them not a personal name, we then feel like it's okay that we can hurt them and cut them down. And it was that that kind of all of a sudden I had this kind of oh my gosh, what am I doing?
SPEAKER_02I'm Rick Schwartz, educator, public speaker, and all-around curious guy. Over the years, my curiosity and experiences, along with the many people I have worked with, revealed to me we all have a desire to feel connected to the natural world. You're listening to Animals, Nature, and You, a podcast that explores a connection between animals, nature, and humans. A podcast that celebrates learning more, following our curiosity, and reconnecting with the natural world. Welcome to another episode of Animals, Nature, and You. And of course, I am your host, Rick Schwartz, and I am very glad you're here. Today is guests, and that's guests with an ass of guests. It's kind of cool how this happened. You, if you've been following along, if you've been a part of this podcast, or if you even joined later on and went back and went through some of the old episodes, episode number two was an interview with James Parker, a co-producer and director of the movie In Our Nature. And I've stayed in touch with him, followed him on social media, always hyping up anytime I see that there's going to be a screening of the movie somewhere. And about a month and a half ago, it came up that it was being screened in Orange County, which isn't too far away from me. So I was like, you know what? I think logistically this will work. I was able to drive up in the evening and catch the screening, meet some awesome people there in Orange County, a lot of naturalists and people doing work for local ecology, and then drive home. But the cool thing was when you meet cool people, you want to have more conversations with them. This couple, Chris and Mo, they have their own podcast. They did not start off their life as naturalists or ecologists or conservationists, but they are doing so much. And I was like, I gotta have you guys on. I love your story about how you found yourself to where you are now. But also they're just so charismatic and fun to talk to. So I want to do the introduction here real quick. Uh before I jump into that, just a quick reminder. If you haven't already, make sure you follow or subscribe. That way you don't miss any of the cool interviews that are going to be happening every Thursday, or our 10-minute Tuesday specials, which sometimes, yes, run over 10 minutes, but always just a fun solo episode where I get to dive in a little more into one particular species or topic for the podcast. That being said, let's jump into the quick introduction and get talking to Chris and Mo. They are recent California naturalist grads. Chris and Mo are the hosts of the acclaimed podcast, The State of the State Parks. They are enthusiastic generalists, loving just about everything about nature, but they really love to investigate the wild world of plants, galls, fungi, lichen, browphytes, and birds. These two Orange County local nature tainers love hosting discovery tours with the Naturalist for You group, of course, when they're in town, not traveling, to do things for their podcasts, which, by the way, you can listen to in just about any podcast player. So with all of that said, you two, Chris and Mo, thank you so much for taking the time to join me and talk about all you do here on Animals Nature and You. Oh, well, we're happy to be here.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_02I didn't go into too much in the intro uh as far as how we got connected, but I love the thread in which connects us. My second episode ever on this podcast was with James Parker, the director of In Our Nature. And I've been following along, helping to promote wherever I can in my own little way that that movie. And I saw that there was gonna be a screening in Orange County. I'm like, hey, I could I could drive up there and go check out the screening. You two were hosting that screening. We were. That was a fun night. With that hosting, then getting to go up there, and I had no idea what to expect. It was a great intimate setting right there. You could have driven by it and not realize all that's going on there. It's like a botanical gardens, it's an outdoor school, it's all this, it's just a great little space. It's a nature center there in Orange County. And then get to talking to you two, and it's like, oh yeah, you got your own podcast, and you do this, you do that. And I'm like, oh, fellow podcasters, sweet. But the the thing is from just that lens, you are naturalists, you're doing hikes, you're helping educate others, you've got your podcasts, state of the state parks, and all the stuff you're doing, but that's not necessarily what you do as a day job, or not necessarily how you started your life off with a career path. That's true. So share with me what what's the path that got us to where we are today?
SPEAKER_00Um Mo, you want maybe I'll maybe I'll take the I'll take the the deep lineage and you can take the the early within the last couple of years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um Mo and I have been together for 20 years. We are married, uh, and we met in 2005 in New York City, working backstage at Shakespeare in the park together. Oh, wow. So we are as a as a trade, as a way to uh make some some moolah, we are both entertainment lighting technicians. And what that means is we do just about anything that is uh Broadway to television to events to corporates to anybody that needs people to do entertainment lighting. And it's usually we work in the special events world where things kind of go in and kind of come out real fast. We met in New York, 2005. After about two years of being there together, uh, we had a friend of ours call from California and offer us a job at Disneyland. And so we hopped on an airplane and flew across the country and started working at Disneyland in 2007. And I worked there all the way until 2015, till I kind of moved my way up into Hollywood and found a uh greener pasture on television shows, Food Network, and a whole bunch of other award shows and stuff. And Mo stayed at Disneyland as a moving light technician and stayed there literally until last six months ago. I think we just celebrated her six months of leaving that that place. And uh we have always been big uh nature lovers, but we uh to be honest, if if any of our friends see this, they're gonna be like, those two were glampers way back in the day. They were not. They were not the kind of like get outside and rough it. And we still, we still are kind of uh, I would say mildly glamper. We're a little more rough and tumble now. We can we like gross things now, but as far as like getting out there and sleeping on the floor, uh, you know, sleeping on the ground, that's that's not us yet.
SPEAKER_02So to be to be fair, to be fair then, yeah, there is a bit of history of at least getting outdoors.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Sure. I I grew up in Denver, Colorado. Um, and when you grew up in Denver, the Rocky Mountains are within 45 minutes of your house. Uh and so I think I was actually r rather spoiled when I was growing up because the mountains were always just west. They were always there, and that was just what we would do. We'd go there for the m the weekend and stuff. So I was probably a little uh askew with how lucky I was. Um Mo, why don't you go ahead and tell about where you came from?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uh well, and I grew up in North Dallas. So, and as a theater kid and living in like one of the hottest places, I did not spend a lot of time outdoors. And so a lot of people say to us, like, you guys look like it seems so new to you. And I was like, we were theater kids. We literally were inside all the time. We were very busy children in dark, dark theaters. So now everything is like, oh, it's a whole new world to us.
SPEAKER_00Before I was a technician, I was an actor. Uh that's when I met Mo. I was still in New York as an actor.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh so I've been in the the the dark room theater box my whole life. Dark room. Which is probably why we have so much enthusiasm about the outdoors right now, is we're kind of like little children out there and and dis in the discovery of it all.
SPEAKER_02Right. It's a bit infectious to listen to how you guys do your podcast and even just chatting with you two. So what was the what was the starting point of getting out of the dark room as you call it? Which is funny because you light. So it's not really dark all the time, because you light it.
SPEAKER_01It really happened in COVID, I would say, when we had to just like get outside and we just started walking and kind of discovering all of these things around us that we had no idea what to call them or what to, you know. I was like, oh, that's a cool plant. And I was like, there has to be, we see this plant all the time. There has to be a way we and so we started using Seek all the time and became quickly obsessed with Seek. And then just started down this tumble hole of I went to do that UC Climate Stewards class, and that's kind of where we got the idea. We heard Wade Crowfoot, the head of the California Natural Resources Agency, say, we need to bring more light to our California state parks because our national parks get overwhelmed in the summertimes, and there is so many resources that people just don't know about. And I was like, Well, that's interesting. I don't know a lot about state parks, and there seem to be a lot of content here. That's kind of what we got the idea.
SPEAKER_02With 6,000 state parks. When you're talking about the state parks, Chris, you just had 6,000. So that's there's 6,000 across the U.S., I'm assuming. You got the idea, like, okay, we need to help bring more exposure to these state parks while also on the heels of the COVID experience, which got you outside. You're going, we need to learn more about these plants, what's going on? It's a it's it's one thing for I think many people did get these new COVID hobbies. I picked up trail running of all things. I didn't run since middle school, and now I'm out trail running. But everyone, everyone kind of started their own thing. So that pivot initially of that that curiosity as to help identifying, helping yourself identify what these plants are in your environment, to now wanting to shine a big old light on state parks. What's the in-between there? How did we get from getting curious about our our native space to then going, hey, we need to help expose all these things?
SPEAKER_01I think it really started when we we started going on hikes with the CNPS, the California Natural, the California Native Plant Society in Orange County. And we just had no idea like how important native plants were and what they did and what even the difference was. And once you start down that path, you become a little obsessive. And I think that's what we did. And I was like, wait, I don't think anyone else knows about this or how important this is. And so then I was like, do we need to start telling people?
SPEAKER_00We uh we we've we found a Mo and I have obviously being together for so long, have found many things to do to keep ourselves entertained. And I would say mid-2000s, we were 2010s, we were into like geocaching, if you know what that is. Yeah. Get outside and go find things, right?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Uh and there's quite a dopamine hit that comes with finding a geocache. And we find that we get a very similar dopamine hit using iNaturalist and going out and discovering new plants and being like, oh my God, I don't even I don't know this one. And it I mean, as far as accelerating our learning, I think that that that in itself has been one of the biggest biggest tools.
SPEAKER_02I know too. So going back to what I started, trail running, and I've always had a a love for wildlife in the outdoors, but my life has been primarily about those in the zoological world of of the San Diego Zoo. And so talking more about international species around the world and highlighting these individuals that are critically endangered. But the diversity of life here in Southern California when it comes to our natural world is so insane. And we have a lot of invasive species that find themselves into our open spaces because people plant them, the seeds blow. So sometimes it's hard to tell. And I can tell you from my own experience, uh, Chris, into what you just said, that dopamine hit, as I started to learn the native species and be able to spot them on my trail runs and go, oh, there's one of the, oh, and I know that that one is where the is a host for these eggs of this butterfly. And to to know that and to stumble across these things and see them, it does. It it offers up sort of that that I don't know, that connectedness where when we under you know, the old saying, you understand it, you get to, you, you love it, you care for it, you'll protect it. But it's true. And and you do get that dopamine hit of like, oh, it's that's my friend. Totally. Totally. With your podcast and and you saying that the you were basically told that national parks are getting inundated with people where all these state parks are just unknown. It seems to me that that is a very big bite of the pie to go, okay, we're going to help shine a light on these state parks. I know from following your podcast, you've covered some some California ones. Do you are you planning on like just we're gonna we're gonna end up hitting all 6,000 eventually? Or like what's what's the just taking it one day at a time? What's the plan here? Oh man.
SPEAKER_01I think I was like, well, I was like, you know, we we're not exactly influencers. We don't have uh children. I was like, we could do this for the rest of our lives. This is fun, this is exciting. If nothing else, it's giving us a project and keeping our minds active, even if no one's listening.
SPEAKER_00Well, and if uh one thing that she and I talk about often is that some of our favorite podcasts have eight episodes, right? They have very little, very tiny little legs to walk, right? And you're like, I love that show, and then it's over, like the mystery is solved or whatever it is. Right. And so the dream is finding you know, like finding a podcast that has possibilities of 6,000 episodes is very similar to being like in Hollywood writing the Christmas movie that is watched every year. You know, you have this feeling of like, oh, I have legs, I have legs, this this can go for for my entire life. And I, you know, who knows? I don't think we'll obviously get to all 6,000. And that that includes all of the state recreation areas and the historic sites. And we've already been, we've done three episodes at Chino Hills already, and that's just because it's close to our house.
SPEAKER_01It's also huge.
SPEAKER_02So with that though, well, yeah, and and then and sometimes these parks different seasons too. You go back and visit, you're gonna see and experience different things, different seasons in the same location. Do you have like sort of a a obviously 6,000s a lot, you see you know, historical sites, et cetera? Is there a list of like these are our dream spots we definitely need to hit within the next couple years, or are you just kind of like as you're I got a list.
SPEAKER_00I got a list, but the list is and Mo may not know I have this list going.
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_00The list I have is Yeah, I see she doesn't know. Um the list I have going is a list that when I have been like posting on Blue Sky or something like that, and I'll go to uh uh the state park section and I'll see somebody say they love this park. I will then write in a comment, do you recommend this place? And if they respond with a yes, I add it to this little I probably have maybe 15, 20 and the majority of them are in uh Tennessee. It uh everybody loves the Tennessee uh waterfall state parks. There's a there's a wonderful map in the middle of Tennessee that kind of goes around in a big circle, and it is all of the state parks at all have waterfalls, apparently. Well, there you go. So that is definitely, I don't know, maybe season eight, nine, ten. Uh we're currently in the middle of season two. Season three is already mostly taped. We we went and spent a whole month in the Redwoods with your good buddy, our good buddy Griff Griffith. Griff is amazing, and he took us around the the Redwoods. We recorded an uh uh an episode with him at the Humboldt Redwood State Park. And um I I can't say enough about that man and how wonderful he is.
SPEAKER_01He's amazing.
SPEAKER_02It goes right into that, the the infectious, the enthusiasm, the the excitement for the natural world. And one of the things that you know I think a lot of times I've experienced seeing happen or talking to people, in I used to do a lot of presentations for kids all the time. And to me, it always seems that that excitement, that enthusiasm, that awe for nature and wildlife is already in us from day one. And then it's life happens, the expectations of what we do for school, for career. And that interest never goes away, but I think everything else stands in front of it. So it's really hard for us to get back in touch with it sometimes. And that's what I love about your story and why I wanted to share your experience of you a career in theater, you know, and lighting and everything else. And COVID gave us all sort of that 90-degree turn, do something different for a little bit. And you realize there's there's that excitement. It's it's it's there still, it exists, and you're now experiencing it anew, uh, even though you've been camping before. And and I love that because I think there's a lot of people out there that they get little snippets or tastes of this excitement for nature and wildlife, where they're like, oh, I just don't know how to do it, or oh, I'm I'm too old to do it. I'm already doing this. And it can happen at any age, any stage, anywhere in your career. You know, I think we said this before we were recording, you don't have to be a zoologist or a botanist or you know, uh any any of the ologies to participate in making a difference. And Mo, I want to address something you said. You're like, oh, we're not influencers. I'm like, yeah. You are and you aren't, though, because sure, maybe you don't have, you know, 200,000 people following you or a million followers or whatever, but you are influencing those that are following you and that share your content. You're influencing those that are out on the hikes with you. Uh they see what you're doing, both of you. And I think it's just wonderful. And that's one thing I I want my audience to see is how we can all show up in our own way that works for us and the impact that that can have. And I think it's I it's just lovely what you guys are doing. And I'm really excited to hear more about what you guys are doing in your state park podcast.
SPEAKER_00Um one of the things that Mo and I talk about is that there in the nature community, there seems to be a lot of people that are very smart, right? You have a lot of you got a lot of botanists, a lot of everybody, all of these people that all have their specialties. And they don't dare touch other specialties. You got people that are the most essential plant people, but if you ask them about a bird, they're they're not interested. They have gone blinders into bird, you know, into plants or whatever it is. And then there is the other side, which is a whole bunch of people who don't know anything and say plant, bird, grass, dog, right? That uh even when you ask people about like how many wasp species they know about, they're you got hornet, you got and you're like, there's 4,000 species of wasps. And people are just right. Uh so they're what we have kind of decided and talk, not decided, we've talked about the idea that what's missing is the gateway. And the gateway is nature tainment. Which is what Mo and I have coined a phrase called we are nature tamers. I love it. And which I think you probably are too, Rick. I would deem you nature tamer. Fair enough. Fair enough. But there needs to be somebody in the middle who can bring a little bit of joy and levity to some of the things that make people feel like they're going back to school.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And with that, too, you know, you bring up a good point. It's that there are specialists, and there's nothing wrong with that. We need specialists. But we also need generalists and we need those who can bridge that gap. And for those that are on the side of like, well, I'm kind of interested in wildlife, a generalist can bring them into the space where they get excited and find out that one nugget, whether it's about wasps or bats or you know, fungi, and all of a sudden they become specialists because now the generalist brought them into that space. And and that's and that's what's so essential. I think we the when I was going through college, a lot of the work we did at that level, it almost felt like a bit of gatekeeping from the general public having access to that knowledge. Either you are taking these high-end courses, learning the Latin terms and all the science behind it, or you're not. And I think one of the values and what you two bring to the table with your podcast is that you you show up with that data, with that information, but you make it digestible and approachable by the average person. So they and that's what that's the key. It's it's like, okay, I want to bring you up to what I know and see you grow from there. And that's exactly what you guys do with this. And it's fun. You guys have so much fun doing this podcast.
SPEAKER_01Oh, thanks.
SPEAKER_00We uh we you know, one of the things that um if I may, Mo, uh one of the one of the things that has really made our nature journey uh kind of make sense was once we read the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Kimmerer. Yes, uh Robin Robin Wall. Um, there's a passage that I in there that I really go for, and I I I haven't memorized the whole thing, but it's all about the idea that we are doing a disservice to plants and animals and everything by not knowing their names. And by not knowing their names and giving them a lowercase n letter when it comes to bear, lowercase B, lowercase C for a cow, by giving them not a personal name, we then feel like it's okay that we can hurt them and cut them down and destroy them. And and it was that's That kind of all of a sudden I had this kind of oh my gosh, what am I doing? I need to know all of these names. Why shouldn't I? How cool would it be if I could know everything and be like, that's a this, look at that. How cool is that? I mean, it's out there. It's just a matter of getting to it.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. I'm right on board with that, with uh braiding sweet grass uh concept. Everything she brought up in that book was so good. And and the idea of getting to know something allows us to care about. Like we were saying before, it's like I would when I started trail running, I was just running by all these things. And then there was a day I was out on the same trails, was showing my daughter this is where I go running. We were just hiking, and we came across these little blue and gray butterflies, and I had no idea what the species were, but it kept following us along. So got a good picture of it and went and looked up what it was, and then found out that there's a particular plant species that it relies on. It's the only plant, it's like like the monarch and the milkweed, right? And so then it's like, oh, we we identified that plant. And so now it's like whenever I'm out on trailer and I see that plant, I feel different about it than just running by a plant. I see where it sits within the web of life, in the ecosystem, how it's connected, that if this plant goes away, that butterfly goes away, or or all of that. And so, yeah, absolutely. The value in getting to know the names, the where they rest in the process of how we all live here is is so valuable. So that's yeah, that is great. Absolutely great.
SPEAKER_00I will say, getting to know the names is a two-step process, right? There is getting to know that that is called a an a live oak, uh, a live oak tree. But uh, you know, or a coast live oak tree. But getting then to the that's a quirkus agrifolia, which is thank you very much for that one.
SPEAKER_01That was one of the top points.
SPEAKER_00Uh that is one of the hardest things. And when you talk to the people in the the nature community that are botanists, that are bug people, they say that and and they love the phrase, common names suck. And it's like, but we're just learning. We're just we just figured these out. And it makes sense, right? Because there's like 50 things that are called the California golden bush or whatever. So I I validate that it is worth learning eventually.
SPEAKER_01Because it kind of makes it universal, right?
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01We we but it is still hard and Latin.
SPEAKER_02Totally. Totally. Yeah, and that's and that is again where I where I I very much lean on this concept of we do need to know these things, but we we don't present forward to the general public with these things. We bring them into the space and then start exposing them to that and bring them into this space of knowledge. Uh I've always found that when it seems unapproachable, someone's not less likely to ask a question about something. If they're like, I don't even know what that means, that word you just said. You know, so I sit in that space between the value of common names, the value of scientific names, and and why they're both important. Uh I don't believe one's more important than the other. And again, it depends on your audience, depends who you're talking to, who you're in that space with, um, you know, and and having those discussions. But it's it is always fun to be able to bring people into that. And I want to ask you too, because you do also lead hikes and you you are participating in group activities out in nature. For either one of you or for both answers separately, is there ever been is there been one particular moment or time where you've been out leading a hike or been on a hike that's been led by someone else where you you just really experienced this memorable aha moment or saw someone else experiencing it?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, this is gonna be a hard one. We go on a lot of hikes.
SPEAKER_00Yesterday, yesterday, we actually led a hike with the Orange County chapter of the CNPS, the California Native Plant Society. This is a good one. Uh and we went and walked around uh Crystal Cove State Park. We did a reboot walk of our first episode ever. That was interesting. It was a we're gonna walk the same path and see what's changed and kind of go go at it, right? And we, first of all, everything had changed. So much was different, other than the trail. The plants, we're we we were there in a January of 2024, and it's now uh April of 26. And so so much has changed. But the aha moment that you mentioned that you're that you're looking for, um we have been on many uh hikes with naturalists and things. So what we do is we're you know, you're picking and you're choosing, you're finding cool things that little little moments that you can have with people. And when you go with the CNPS group, some of these people are like all scientific name, and they're just on the hike because they want to find rare plants, uh, rare species. They want to be the they want to be the people that document rare species. And it is, I get it, it's a that's the dopamine rush. Like, you want to talk about dopamine rush. Yeah. But we were on that hike, and one of the gags that somebody has taught us through the years is when you go to a toyon bush, or a toy, you know, a big toyon, it's a California chaparral native with little red berries on it, and it is a classic uh native down here in Southern California. But you go up to that bush, you pull a leaf off, everybody pulls a leaf off, and you kind of crush it up in your hands, and then you blow on it like a you heat it up so it kind of makes it a little steamy. And the smell changes from a vegetable smell to kind of like an almond smell. And it is it's what toy on tea smells like. But people have this moment where they're like, what are you, what are you doing? You're making me, you're making me smell, and then there's this like right? It's this kind of aha moment that so there that would be the aha moment of of yesterday that I can that I can remember. That was fun really seeing some of those plant guys that that are really not really in it for any of this fun to see them go, what on is this? And have them go, oh, it really does. It was it was very satisfying.
SPEAKER_01And I think we actually took another thing from the Kimmerer book where we always ask the plant if we can take some of it before we take it, and we taught that to the whole group, too. We were like, you got and it will tell you if you're allowed to take it or not. It will not give if you cannot have it.
SPEAKER_02Truly. That's cool. That is so cool. So we did we talked about for the individual experience, the dopamine hit of getting to know nature better, getting to know the species. We've talked about the you know, nature tamement, getting people out there but in an entertaining way to get them hooked. Uh all of that, the dopamine hit, everything. I want to ask you guys maybe a sort of pullback, the the 30,000-foot view. Why is it important that we make sure our fellow humans stay in touch with nature?
SPEAKER_01I think there's a I what we have found is that after my dad died, that we really needed the outdoor space a lot more. And it really was a calming and ever like just good presence to be in and ground yourself when you're just like, what's going on? Everything's crazy, and just to be outside and be like, I buy a stream because it's okay. That was that the piece of it all is really what I keep going back to.
SPEAKER_00The thing that I am kind of thinking about these days is the idea that we're in a tumultuous time, no doubt, no matter what where you are, what you think. We everybody thinks we're in a tumultuous time. And there seems to be a lot of people spinning out. You spend a lot of time sitting at your phone, looking at your phone spinning out, and no matter where you are. Somebody put it in our brain that you gotta pick one thing. Pick one thing and get out there and save that thing. Whatever it is, save it, protect it, pick one thing, whether it's gonna be nature, whether it's gonna be the ozone, whether it's gonna be I who cares. Pick one thing, get off your phone, and get outside and save it. And so so Mo and I kind of picked nature, right? We decided that it's time to to get outside. We are we're a part of a group of people trying to save a piece of land in Orange, California called the Save Orange Hills. We have 400 acres of land that that this uh big company, whose name I won't mention for fear of whatever, uh they own everything in Orange County and in Irvine County and whatnot. Irvine County. And they want to build a thousand single family plus two million dollar homes in a spot that burned in 2017 and 2007. And it is just a terrible idea. And we decided to get on board with this group. And now we're going out and we're doing tables and we are a part of this team. And guess what? It feels great. Joining a club. Truly. Truly.
SPEAKER_02Both those answers are exactly what I always am looking for, in the sense that uh the individual, the collective, the all of it, you know, Mo going through grief and the the way your world turns upside down when something like that happens, whether it's the the loss of a family member or anything else that creates that experience of grief. Lord knows I had several years in a row of very much of all that happening. I can tell you I completely understand exactly what you said, Mo, in the sense that sometimes your world is completely upside down feeling and and your head is spinning. And for whatever reason, being by a creek or just being outside, the sun on you, away from buildings and phones and computers, it just gives you a moment to go, oh yeah. I'm a living creature on this planet too. Let's start there, go from there, and kind of rebalance and reground. And then, Chris, to what you were saying too, it's that sense of having purpose for something greater than self. Then I'm gonna save the ozone, save 400 acres in Orange County, whatever it is, and you find your tribe, your people, your group, the the community in that. Uh I I think it's it's so wonderful. And and again, I I want to point out to you guys, as much as you said you are not influencers, you are part of what we're talking about right now with this, with this podcast, with the things you do, is you're creating community, you're creating space, you're creating opportunities, education, reconnectedness. Somebody out there in your in your sphere is dealing with something, and you help them forget about it for a little bit, reconnect with nature, whatever it might be. And and I think it's wonderful. I really, really do. And I appreciate you know the the fact that James's film basically brought us together because I had no idea guys, you know, who you were or anything before, and other than just wanting to go see that that it is so good, it is. No, I'll I'll always be talking about that film. But uh is there anything that we haven't covered that you would like to share with my audience other than I'm definitely gonna put links down below for your podcast and your social media and your website. I want people to get to know you guys and and check out your content. Uh hopefully maybe even inspire somebody somewhere else to do something in their area to save 400 acres that needs to be saved or whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, one thing that I think we could probably drop would be uh uh, you know, to not that we're would love to talk about ourselves. Uh there's a documentary, another documentary that Mo and I watched right before we did the In Our Nature documentary. Mo was the name of that documentary.
SPEAKER_01And I think it's on Netflix. I know. It sounds a little drastic. Join or die.
SPEAKER_00It's on Netflix, but it's about the idea that within the last 50 to 60 years, the amount of clubs that people have joined has really fallen off. And with the people and how they've as they've stopped joining clubs and joining things and becoming part of things, depression has gone up. All of the negatives have gone up when joining clubs has gone down.
SPEAKER_01It's really interesting.
SPEAKER_00It's a a wonderful documentary, join or die.
SPEAKER_01It's all about how uh not not just that the the membership has gone down, but we used to have to be in these clubs with like people we didn't see eye to eye exactly on everything on. You know, you were in the rotary club and you know, Mary was on your nerve sometimes, but you met every Tuesday and you still like worked it out. And it's like that is what is wrong with our society right now, is that no one can work anything out. We're just on our phone freaking out all the time.
SPEAKER_02Because you're not seeing any nuance. Well, and I you know, it goes it goes back to, if I if I'm just putting my two cents on that, I think it goes back to almost the same sediment of naming the plants. And in the sense that there's that we feel a little more of a personal connection when we have that opportunity to name it, understand it, recognize it. Same thing with people. We're not interfacing enough to to know or to to say, uh, well, I may disagree with this person, but I know them as an individual and I can understand or see why that might be, or we can have this discourse versus someone pops up on your phone saying, Your idea is wrong, my idea is right. You don't know them, you know. And so I at first I will say, join or die as a title made me flinch, but now I get it. Yeah. People are dying. Yeah. Yeah. You we've lost that community, we've lost that sense of being a part of something. And anybody who's done any work on apes, especially the human ape, we need that social connection. That's that's we are a social creature. So it is a big requirement for our survival.
SPEAKER_00Well, and in that that transition, you can join our club, the state of the stateparks.com.
SPEAKER_02So what what can what can people look for when they get on that website and they're looking to join and be a part of it? What are they looking for?
SPEAKER_00Well, we got a mailing list, uh, which of course anybody can sign up for and we send out all our events and whatnot that's going on. We have a Patreon that you could join, um, where we have behind the scenes footage and all sorts of fun little gags that we share with our Patreon. And it costs like $3 to join. Uh, we get it. It's not a great time for people to shell out extra cash. Um, but we are 100%, we're 100% driven by donation and sponsor, and we would love to stop being lighting people sooner or later. So uh yeah. But yeah. Anything else, Mo?
SPEAKER_01What what else can they just say if they if they join I g yeah, I guess on our inst our our Instagram we do promote like our hike our upcoming hikes and stuff. We do a lot of events with uh with our local like naturalists for you group of other naturalists here in Orange County. And so there is like, I would say quite a group of naturalists and outdoors people gaining together. And I think we're all starting to understand who each other are in Orange County and team up and get it together a little.
SPEAKER_02I would encourage people too, even if you're not in Orange County or Southern California, check out their content, check out their website, check out their Instagram, because through that, too, the network, the algorithm, all that, you'll start to find maybe people or clubs or hiking groups or naturalist groups or botanical groups in your area, or you can look at this content and okay, I'm gonna Google something like this, but with my zip code and see if something comes up. So yeah, I really want to encourage people that even if you're not Orange County based here in Southern California, definitely check out the content that that Mo and Chris have going on because it's it's it's so good and it's inspiring too.
SPEAKER_00Well, and if you if anybody out there has any suggestions of state parks that they would love, please reach out to us. I mean, we're state of the stateparks at gmail.com. I mean, it is very easy to get a hold of us. Uh and we've been out of the we've been out of the we've been out of California a little bit. We did an episode in New Mexico and a couple in New Jersey. Uh but it's all been because of like we've gone on, like I worked the World Cup last year. So I went, I was like, well, I got a day off. I'm going to a state park. Might as well. So yeah. But uh reach out to us. We would love anybody's input, input, whatever you guys want to send, we would love to hear from everybody.
SPEAKER_02So excellent, excellent. Well, thank you both so very much for taking time today to come in here and and hang out, talk about what you're doing, why you're doing it, why it's important, and how people can connect. I just really appreciate what you're doing, and and thank you so much for taking the time to be on Animals Nature and You. Oh, thank you very much, Rick.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much, Rick. It's been so fun.
SPEAKER_02And of course, thank you, dear listeners. I appreciate you joining me here on Animals Nature and You. And I also have to say not just thank you for being here for this episode, but thank you for all you're doing to help get the word out about this podcast. I don't know exactly what you're doing, but I know I have zero budget for advertising. How I know you're doing something, though, is the numbers continue to show me that we have more and more listeners every episode. And it's not just people are showing up to listen to a particular guest. It's that they're sticking around. It's they're coming back for more. It's that you are sharing this information. Whether you're sharing links to particular episodes or just sharing verbally, hey, I this is a podcast you ought to check out. That's really how we build a community and a group that is going to be with us for the long haul. And I appreciate that tremendously. I really, really do. For me, this is a this is a project. It's a project of passion. I feel these stories are important. These people that we talk to on a weekly basis, they're doing great work that needs to be shared. It's a reminder of how we all can do something anytime, any place, anywhere we can be a part of making good things happen. And that's important to me. And clearly by the fact that the audience continues to grow, you're showing me it's important to you too. And I appreciate it tremendously. Now, if you are new, if you're here just for Chris and Mo, thank you for being here. I hope you stick around. Hit follow, hit subscribe so you don't miss any of the upcoming episodes. We have awesome interviews every Thursday like this one today, and then every Tuesday, 10 minute Tuesday where I dive into solo, just me, diving into a particular topic for a species that I think is interesting or fun or reflecting back to the previous interview, whatever it might be. Hit subscribe, hit follow. Check out all the links down below. Anything uh that Chris and Moe might have mentioned that is interesting that you want more information on, that all that information down below, their social media, their website, their podcast, my website, zoology rick.com, my social media zoology rick, social media for animals nature new, only on Instagram. That link is down there below. Also. Now, last but not least, Rick, how do I get a hold of you if I don't do social media? Thanks for asking. Over on the audio players for this podcast, sadly not on YouTube yet, maybe someday, but not today. You can click on fan mail. That link at the very top allows you to send a text or voicemail to me. Don't worry, your number is not shown to me, so it's all private. And it's a great way to stay in touch, whether you have some ideas for a show or just a comment you want to leave or just say, hey, I appreciate it, whatever it might be. So it's a fun way to stay in touch if you don't do social media. A lot of people take a break from social media or just stop social media altogether. And I get it, I totally understand. All right, we're gonna wrap this all up. Again, thank you all so very much. Have a good one, everybody.
