Speakers and Guests for SITW 2004

We met Wendy Glenn at her ranch house and the headquarters of The Malpai Group. She told us the difficulties of collaboration and the possibilities it presents. The Malpai group tries to keep ranchers on their land in order to preserve large, unfragmented landscapes that still dominate much of the West. Read more...

The Westies spent a sunny fall afternoon with Trevor Hare and Mike Quigley from the Tucson based Sky Island Alliance in Sycamore Canyon in the Coranada National Forest. The Alliance hadsbeen collaborating with local ranchers in the creation of a wildlife corridor, protecting large tracks of land from development. Read more...

Greg Maier of the U.S. Border Patrol gave us on an illuminating tour of the border from a different perspective. He took us to places where illegal immigrants cross and wait, and took us to border patrol holding cells where illegal immigrants are waiting to be sent home.

Thanks to ecologist Paul Arbetan for teaching the second half of our ecology course. Paul took us from Bandelier National Monument to Mexico, showed us the changes along the way, and gave us a crash course in Geographic Information Systems.

Former Nevada Forest Service Supervisor Gloria Flora, founder of Sustainanble Obtainable Solutions, and Deputy Forest Service Supervisor Kendall Clark came out on a cold afternoon to our Cameltracks camp by Santa Fe to discuss oil-drilling, natural gas-mining, and other issues facing Southwestern public lands. Read more...

Special thanks to Guy and Sheila McPhersen, residents of the Nature Conservancy's Gila River Farm, for hosting us on their land and sharing their home--and showers--with us.

Writer Sharmen Apt Russell author of Kill the Cowboy and a professor at Western New Mexico University, met the group to talk about writing and our experiences in the West. She offered many tips to us and described her own style of writing. Read more...

Peter Russell served as our liaison to the southern New Mexico Nature Conservancy while staying at the TNC's Lichty Center outside of Cliff, New Meixco. He gave us a slide-show and talked about TNC and its land conservation principles, and its mission to save "the Last Great Places." Read more...

Mike and Carol Fugagli from the Nature Conservancy came out and gave the students a chance to capture and "bird-band" Savannah Sparrows on the Gila River Farm. Read more...

We are grateful to author and friend Ellen Meloy for teaching the second half of our writing course, and for sharing her knowledge and love for southeastern Utah with us.

We met with activist Ken Sleight, the man who inspired Ed Abbey to create the character Seldom Seen Smith in The Monkey Wrench Gang, at Pack Creek Ranch outside of Moab, Utah. Read more...

Author Ann Weiler Walka visited Ellen's writing class and did some readings at our camp outside of Bluff, UT.

Gene Stevenson, former river rat, former Exxon employee, and geologist extraordinaire, filled our cold heads with the history of the rocks lining the San Juan river. Read more...

Joe Pachak led us on two wonderful days exploring the history of Bluff. From helping Joe document petroglyph panels, to exploring ruins, we all came away from Bluff with a new respect for the area's history.

Former San Juan County Commissioner and member of the Navajo legislature Mark Maryboy came out to our camp in the Valley of the Gods to talk about Navajo culture and the politics of the Southwest. Read more...

Mark Meloy, Ellen's husband and San Juan River Ranger, shared with us a memorable series of slides from the San Juan river and from the Bluff area. Read more...

We spoke with Glen Arnodo, political director for Culinary Workers Union Local 226 about Las Vegas politics, the Strip, and union activism. Read more...

Longtime Las Vegas resident Irene Rostine met with us to talk about the history of Las Vegas, and how the city and its residents have changed. Then she kindly invited us to her house for dinner! Read more...

Author Hal Rothman took us on an off-the-strip bus tour from the suburbs to old Las Vegas-all the while offering insight into how and why Las Vegas is growing so fast. Read more...

Thanks to Paul Hoornbeek who taught the first leg of our our writing course at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, and gave us an earfull about water issues, the ski industry, and the passive voice. Read more...

Bartshe Miller led Semester in the West on an excellent tour of the South Tufa Towers on Mono Lake. He talked to us about the evolution of the lake and the valley, as well as the politics and process of restoring Mono Lake. Read more...

On the summit of Mammoth Mountain, we met with the Environmental Program Director for Mammoth Mountain Resorts, Lisa Isaacs, and the Governmental Relations Manager, Alix Fabbro. Read more...

Brian Tillemans, the water resources manager for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), spent a morning with us discussing the Owens River Gorge next to one of the aqueducts used to generate electricity for LA. Read more...

Mike Prather of the Owens Valley Committee took us on an excellent multi-day tour of the Owens Valley--from the dry Owens lakebed, to artesian springs, to the beginnings of the L.A. aqueduct. Read more...

Friends of the Inyo activist Keith Glidewell met with us by the ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest to talk about his organization and their efforts to prevent damage by off-road-vehicles on public lands. Read more...

Steve and Robin Boies held a discussion and gave us a tour of their ranch. They talked to us about improving ranching practices, and the politics of collaboration. Read more...

Grant Gerber met with us in his Elko law offices to discuss his work protecting individual property rights among landowners in conflict with the Federal Government. He is a strong proponent of county rights, and an active member of the Wise Use movement. Read more...

Jim Collard and the staff of Cortez Gold Mine took us on a tour of their operation in Northern Nevada. They told us about mining sustainably, and encouraged us to appreciate the open pit mine as a source of jobs, social programs, and a work of art. Read more...

John Marvel of the Western Watersheds project took us on a tour of lands which have been decimated by poor grazing practices. John challenged us to think about what we want to see our public lands to look like as part owners. Read more...

We met with sisters Carrie and Mary Dann of the Western Shoshone and attorney Julie Fischel, on the Danns' ranch in Crescent Valley. We spoke about the Shoshone Defense Project and its continued struggle against the BLM to restore land rights to the Shoshone. Read more...

Dinosaur National Monument botanist Tamara "The Tamarisk Warrior" Naumann joined us at Rainbow Park and gave us an earfull about non-native species and weeds in the monument. In the afternoon, she led us on a service learning project where we removed tamarisk from the banks of the Green River. Read more...

Whitman alumns Chris Kitchen and Sam Pope treated us to an after-dinner discussion on the socio-economic state of Jackson and effects of the huge local ski resort scene." Read more...

Quite by luck, Ranger Mark Hannah of Yellowstone, emerged from the shadows to welcome us to the park, and to share with us his perspective on snowmobiling, park history, and a timeless tale 20,000-30,000 years old about bears and humans--all before slipping away without so much as a picture.

Hank Fischer, environmentalist and National Wildlife Federation employee, led the Westies on a 2.1 million acre treasure hunt. Binoculars, scopes, a dark night and one early morning, "let us find the wolves." Read more...

Wayne Brewster, a wildlife biologist for Yellowstone National Park met with us to discuss issues of endangered species and wolf reintroduction. Read more...

Rick McIntyre, Yellowstone's resident wolf specialist took time from scanning the valley to tell us a little about wolves, Yellowstone, and what he does in the park. Read more...

Ray Rasker of the Sonoran Institute was kind enough to have us meet him in his Bozeman home. The primary topic of discussion was a recent study investigating "whether protected public lands in the West play a positive or negative role in the economic health of adjacent communities." Read more...

Bruce and Connie Malcolm own a ranch south of Bozeman. Bruce is also a state legislator. The ranch runs cattle and has operated hunting outfitting as well. Bruce was able to start off our segment on wolves by talking from the perspective of the group has the most to lose from wolf reintroduction. Read more...

Janelle Holden and David Gaillard from the Predator Conservation Alliance (PCA) met with us in Bozeman and taught us more about an environmental conservation group whose main challenge is in "saving a place for America's predators". Read more...

We met with Greg Neudecker and Jim Stone, members of the Blackfoot Challenge, outside of Ovando, MT. The Challenge is a community-based group that seeks to foster cooperation between a diverse group of people, including ranchers, local business owners, state and federal wildlife agencies, and citizens in the local community in order to preserve wildlife habitat and address other environmental concerns. Read more...

Daniel Kemmis of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, author, and former Mayor of Missoula, Montana, met with us to discuss his book This Sovereign Land, dealing with issues of place and politics. Read more...

Chris Brick, Tracy Stone-Manning, and Heidi D'Armande of the Clark Fork Coalition met us in Missoula. Started in 1985 as a citizen activist group, the Clark Fork Coalition now specializes in dealing with the restoration of the Clark Fork River, and the surrounding twenty-two thousand square mile watershed. Read more...

Clearwater activists Al Espinoza and Chuck Pezeshski took us on a forceful tour of Clearwater country and the tributaries of the Lochsa River. He showed us examples of destructive logging practices, the effects of roads on streams and hillsides, and discussed the implications of continued logging in what he described as one of the last great stands of wilderness in the lower 48 states. Read more...

Bill Mulligan, CEO of Three Rivers Timber company and Greg Danly took us on a tour of their mill in Kamiah, Idaho. We discussed logging practices, federal regulations, and the successes and failures of different collaborative efforts in Idaho and around the West. Read more...

Thanks to Mary O'Brien, our first guest professor. She taught the first half of our ecology course in Wallowa County, Oregon. With a particular emphasis on grasslands, Mary took us on hikes throughout the county, teaching precautionary tales of grazing, and extoling the virtues of native bunchgrasses. Read more...

Ellen Morris Bishop, geologist, photographer, and author of In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History, came out to our campsite near Buckhorn overlook to discuss the geological history of the Wallowas, Hells Canyon, and the Northwest. Ellen has taught environmental science and geology at a number of Western colleges, as well as written numerous science columns for the Portland Oregonian and Vancouver's The Columbian.

Nez Perce ecologists Angela Sondenaa and Blair McClarin met with us for two days as part of our ecology course to enlist our help in conducting habitat suitability studies of Nez Perce owned Precious Lands on the edge of Wallowa County.

Jim Zacharias, responsible for much of the salvaged tamarack wood used in construction of Whitman's environmental studies center, was kind enough to introduce us to his father, Bob Zacharias, a long time tree farmer, who talked about forest management and sutainable logging. We were also joined by logger Bruce Dunn, Fish and Wildlife Forester Mike Shaw, and county extension manager John Williams. Read more...

Wallowa County Commisioner Ben Boswell came to our Starvation Ridge campsite to discuss the politics of Federal jurisdiction, wildlife protection plans, and the implications of wolf reintroduction. Read more...

Joe McCormack, a member of the Nez Perce tribe--one of only two in the county--joined us for dinner and talked about the history of the Nez Perce tribe, fisheries, and wolf reintroduction. Read more...

Nils Christofferson and Gale Hammack of Wallowa Resources took us out to Doug McDaniel's ranch to see a stream they're in the process of restoring and talked about fostering local leadership when dealing with resource conservation and economic growth. Read more...

Leo Goebel and Bob Jackson once again took us on a tour of their extraordinary tree farm which they've been logging for over 20 years. Read more...

Ecologist Josh O'Brien took us on an excellent overnight backpacking trip to the top of Mount Howard in the Wallowas where we studied alpine ecology. Read more...