Perched on a cliff, overlooking the Missouri River and surrounding plains, I was confronted by the expansiveness of this place. The vast open space was overwhelming and made me feel small, much like the towering North Woods and Great Lakes do back home in Wisconsin. From up there, at the top of Hole-in-the-Wall, I

  “Land is many things to many people,” writes Richard Manning in his book, Rewilding the West. What land means to one individual is a matter of perspective. It is very hard to find a single person in the world with the exact same perspective as you about much of anything – including the meaning

A lot goes into our perception of the West, and a conversation with two Montana grass growers can help clarify what actually shapes the landscape. Our WRFI group was lucky enough to speak with both a bison herd manager on the Blackfeet Reservation and a conventional cattle rancher near the town of Choteau, both along

What is a land ethic and what does having a land ethic mean? To quote the famous environmentalist Aldo Leopold, “A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.”

I know I will always remember the trip into the Snowcrest Mountains at the beginning of my course. About 2-3 days the weather began to turn and it started snowing as we climbed in elevation. Not having the proper clothing... (read more)

Starry night skies, the satisfaction of settling into a cozy sleeping bag after a long day of hiking, the soothing sound of a nearby stream; these are a few of the things that make sleeping outside so enjoyable. After two months of sleeping in the backcountry and quiet camp sites, I have grown accustomed to

“One should admit at the outset to a certain bias. Indeed I am a “butterfly chaser, googly eyed bleeding heart and wild conservative.” I take a dim view on dam: I find it hard to learn to love cement, I am poorly impressed by concrete aggregates and statistics in cubic tons.”     -Edward Abbey Twelve

When we first entered Canada, Alberta greeted us with rugged mountains, open sky and clear abundant water. As we drove, all we could see were endless fields of wind turbines and large recycling bins on each highway and long stretches. My naive mind couldn’t have been more excited to explore this outstandingly beautiful and environmentally

Imagine an epic wilderness: rugged mountains adorned with glaciers and snow, glacial waterfalls trickling down slope into fields of slate and shale forming crystal blue ponds before dropping down to the coniferous tree line. This is how I would describe British Columbia’s Purcell Mountains. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been,

April showers bring May flowers. A saying we all learn as children, repeated to each other when spring rains keep us indoors. A phrase so benign and simple that it rolls off our tongue without commanding a second thought. In reality these five words reflect an incredibly complex and important lesson in ecological systems thinking.