Water is for Fighting
Patty Limerick is a Western American historian and the author of The Legacy of Conquest: the Unbroken Past of the American West (1987). After that book came out, her career became a hybrid of public engagement and academic enterprise. In making that transition, she relied heavily on the guidance and camaraderie of John Freemuth. She is the Faculty Director of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder; John Freemuth’s Andrus Center at Boise State was always an inspiration and point of orientation for her work at her own Center.
Political Disputes over Federal Land Policy
Dr. Greg Cawley is Professor of Policy at the University of Wyoming.
Public Lands, Tribes, and Outdoor Industry
Len Necefer, Ph.D., is an assistant professor with joint appointments with the American Indian Studies program & the Udall Center for Public Policy. In addition, he is the founder & CEO of Colorado-based outdoor apparel company NativesOutdoors. His research focuses at the intersection of indigenous people and natural resource management policy. He recently co-directed the film “Welcome to Gwichyaa Zhee” about the Gwich’in fight to protect the Arctic Refuge. In his spare time Len is an avid outdoor adventurer using rock/ice climbing, high altitude & ski mountaineering, and type 2 fun to convey stories focused on environmental activism & indigenous history. His work has appeared in the Alpinist, the Climbing Zine, Outside Magazine, Climbing, Patagonia’s Cleanest Line, and the Telluride Mountain Film Festival.
Malheur and Western Lands Conflicts
Nancy Langston is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental History at Michigan Tech. She is the author of Where Land and Water Meet: A Western Landscape Transformed (and 4 additional books) and she now works in the Lake Superior watershed.
She was trained both as an environmental historian and as an ecologist. Langston is a former president of the American Society for Environmental History and a former editor in chief of the field’s flagship journal, Environmental History. She spent 17 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies and the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. She served as the King Carl XVI Gustaf Professor of Environmental Science at Umeå University, Sweden from 2012 to 2013, and has received an honorary doctorate from Umeå University, and fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the Mellon Foundation, the Marshall Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the National Humanities Center, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Council of Learned Societies.
International Perspectives: Mexico’s Forests in Context
Emilio Amaro graduated from the University of Chapingo, Mexico in the year of 1975. Upon graduation, he worked for the Mexican government where he became an administrator within the forest department. Emilio has also worked with the federal and state congress in creating environmental laws in order to support and protect the forest. At one point in his career, Emilio was responsible for about 18 million acres of land, with only 2,000 other employees, including employees for reforestation, fire fighters, and police foresters. Emilio worked on soil protection, wildlife, the control of harvest and transportation, as well as protecting the land from forest fires and illegal harvests among many others. After 25 years of working in Mexico, Emilio found his way to Boise State University, and is now in charge of the beautiful landscape around campus. He is also the president of the Association of Classified Employees (ACE), which strives to improve work-life conditions at Boise State.
Sage Grouse Conservation Strategy and Lessons Learned
Jim Lyons has worked in conservation for nearly 35 years as a Professor and lecturer at Yale, as USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment under President Clinton, and as Deputy Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management in the Department of the Interior for President Obama. He has had the unique opportunity to oversee the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service and helped lead efforts to address critical conservation issues affecting the Nation’s private and public lands including the spotted owl/old-growth forest issue in the Pacific NW, President Clinton’s roadless rule with Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, and the sage grouse conservation strategy with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. Though he grew up in the East, Jim’s career has focused largely on the West. He currently serves on the boards of the Sawtooth Society and the Sun Valley Institute.
A Scientific Perspective on the Present Challenges of Wildfire Management
Michele is a landscape ecologist for the Bureau of Land Management, specializing in fire and aviation. Michele graduated from the university of Georgia with a bachelors of science in biology/pre-vet. She also attended The University of Massachusetts Amherst and received a masters in science and landscape ecology,. While working at the BLM Michele focuses her efforts at the National Interagency Fire Center where she uses applied sciences for land management and conservation.
History of NIFC and Federal Fire Policies
Jolie Pollet is the Fire Planning and Fuels Management Division Chief at the Bureau of Land Management’s national Fire and Aviation office in Boise, Idaho, where she provides leadership for BLM’s national programs such as fuels management, fire ecology, wildfire reporting and data management, fire planning, and community assistance. For the past 24 years, Jolie has worked in federal fire and resource management – from wildland fire crews to managing essential national programs. Jolie holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of New Orleans and a master of science degree in Forestry from Colorado State University.
Multiple Use Challenges in the Forest Service
Andy Brunelle served as Special Assistant for Natural Resources to Cecil Andrus for the Governor’s last two terms, 1987-1995. Beginning in 1995 Andy went to work for the US Forest Service specializing in inter-governmental relations for the agency with the state of Idaho, local governments, and numerous interest groups and trade associations.
National Monuments History, Conflicts, and the Future
Mackenzie Case is a PhD Candidate in Public Policy and Administration at Boise State University’s School of Public Service.
Idaho's Public Lands: Bringing Idaho Together
Rick Johnson ran the Idaho Conservation League for 24 years and before that worked for the Sierra Club. Rick’s work has included bill signings in the White House and many appearances before the US Congress, protecting areas including Idaho’s Cecil D. Andrus – White Clouds Wilderness, Hemingway–Boulders Wilderness, and Jim McClure–Jerry Peak Wilderness.
Building Partnerships with Tribes for Public Land Management
Mike Dockry is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Forest Resources. His research and teaching focus on tribal sovereignty, incorporating Indigenous knowledge into forestry, and natural resource management.
Shifting the West from War to Peace through Shared Learning
Rocky Barker is a retired environmental reporter from the Idaho Statesman and author of the books Saving All the Parts and Scorched Earth: How the Fires of Yellowstone Changed America.
Outdoor Idaho
Bruce Reichert is Executive Producer of Outdoor Idaho. Peter Morrill is Former General Manager of Outdoor Idaho.
Bruce, a former Oregon Duck, now roots for the Broncos when they play each other. Modestly accepting his many awards over the years for his accomplishments at Outdoor Idaho, he returns to his cabin near Idaho city, which he built. Referred to as “The Icon of Idaho” by Representative Maxine Bell, the former Co-Chair of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee of the Idaho Legislature.
Peter has served on several boards of directors and has chaired on various committees to include: chairman of the executive committee for the National Educational Telecommunications Association, and chairman of the board of directors for the Idaho State Broadcasters Association. Beginning his role as General Manager for Idaho public Television in 1996, Peter served 16 years and retired in 2013. Peter has received many distinguishing awards during his 30 professional years in media after graduating from Bowling Green State University, including the Silver Circle Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Northwest Chapter (2008).
Conservation Success Stories from 40 years with the National Park Service
Jonathan (Jon) B. Jarvis was the Inaugural Executive Director of the Institute for Parks, People and Biodiversity at the University of California, Berkeley and now serves as Chairman of the Board. He served for 40 years with the National Park Service as ranger, biologist and superintendent in national parks across the country. In 2009, he was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate as the 18th Director of the National Park Service (NPS), serving for the entire Obama administration.
Politics vs. Science: John's Common Sense Approach
Mike Ferguson worked for BLM for 34 years in the field offices, district offices, state offices and the Washington office. He started out a a wildlife biologist and retired as the Chief Financial Officer. Since his retirement in 2009, Mike has been active in the Public Lands Foundation, primarily in the planning and conducting of four Student Congresses.
Ed Shepard is the President of the Public Lands Foundation. After a 38-year career, he retired from the Bureau of Land Management in June of 2012 as the State Director for the states of Oregon and Washington. Prior to the position of state director, Ed served in several positions in field offices, districts, state offices, the Washington Office, and the National Interagency Fire Center. Before moving into managerial positions, he worked as a soil scientist, forester, and fire manager. He also served two Congressional Fellowships with a U.S. Congressman and a U.S. Senator. Ed is a Fellow and Certified Forester with the Society of American Foresters and a life member of the Public Lands Foundation.
Tribal Self-Determination and Rebuilding the West
Jaime Pinkham is Executive Director of Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
Pinkham (Nez Perce) has a passion for “wildness” which started with childhood experiences hunting and fishing in the backcountry with his father and grandfather. He has spent most of his career advocating for tribal sovereignty, self-determination and treaty rights. In 2017 he became Executive Director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. The Commission was established by four treaty tribes: Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla and Nez Perce to support them through science, enforcement, litigation, and advocacy. Prior to joining the Commission, he was Vice President of the Bush Foundation, in St. Paul, MN leading the design and implementation of their program to support tribes across ND, SD and MN in redesigning their governing systems. From 1990 to 2002 he was at home with the Nez Perce Tribe where he was elected twice to the Tribe’s governing body successfully retaining the position of Treasurer as the tribe was launching into gaming. He also led the tribe’s natural resource programs and was involved in salmon restoration, water rights negotiations, wolf recovery and land acquisition. He has served on numerous boards representing conservation, education and tribal interests and currently serves on the boards for American Rivers, The Wilderness Society and the Native Arts and Culture Foundation. He has a forestry degree from Oregon State University and received an OSU Alumni Fellow Award (2007) and College of Forestry Outstanding Alumnus Award (2004). He is also a graduate of the Washington State Agriculture and Forestry Leadership Program. He enjoys fishing, hunting, hiking and when he times his trips just right back home to Nez Perce Country, he can be found sitting around the drum singing the old songs in the old way.
MPA Legacy Panel
Shauna Hanisch-Kirkbride attended University of Montana, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology. Shauna went on to earn her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Boise State, with an environmental and natural resource policy emphasis.
Shauna went on to work for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Arlington, Virginia. After 10 years working in the federal government, Shauna then went on to graduate school at Michigan State University, where she earned a PhD in Fisheries and Wildlife, with an emphasis in Human Dimensions. She became a professor of environmental science at a small private college in Midland, Michigan, until she relocated back to Vancouver, Washington in 2018. Shauna now works in the non-profit sector as the Managing Director of the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group, where she works with a staff of five to restore salmon habitat in watersheds across the Lower Columbia River region.
Scott Martin has spent the last twenty five years working to conserve and create systemic public parks at the edge of the American urban landscape in Idaho, Virginia, Kentucky, and now Indiana. He is presently Executive Director of River Heritage Conservancy, Inc. and is serving as North American Director for World Urban Parks. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Boise State University.
Dr. Craig Jones
Kelli Badesheim received her bachelors in Psychology and her Masters in public administration from Boise State. She has been involved in public administration and public transportation for 25 years.Kelli is the executive director of Valley Regional Transit, which is the regional public transportation authority for Ada and Canyon counties in Idaho. Kelli works for a 29-member board of directors and oversees a public authority with 44 employees who support the administration, planning, and oversight of the public transportation services in the region. She also serves on the board of the United Way and the Western Idaho Community Health Collaborative.
