Sacred Landscapes and Wilderness II:
Conservation Studies in Yellowstone Country
The Yellowstone Ecosystem
Livingston, MT
July 9-17, 2004
Sponsored by
The Wilderness Study Group
Invitation! Join us for a week of study, reflection and celebration of one of the great wild areas on earth, the Yellowstone Valley. Lying at the juncture of crucial travel corridors for the grizzly bear, lynx and gray wolf, the wildlands of the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Home to the oldest known religious site (10,600 years B.P.) on the continent, this mountain wilderness has been visited by traditional people for spiritual seeking since earliest human time and is still used by traditional Crow for vision questing today. Join us on our journey to reconnect with the land and understand the significance of human presence in wild areas.
Curriculum: The week's activities will include:
Tours: A tour of Pictograph Caves -
A tour of the Chief Plenty Coups Homestead and Pryor Gap area on the Crow Reservation.
A tour of the "Valley of the Chiefs", perhaps, the most sacred
site in the northern rockies; used historically by 16 different tribes.
An archaeological tour of the `Shields River Valley/information on the Anzick Clovis site -
Hiking: We will do some day hikes almost every day of the workshop!
Nature Writing/Journal Discussion: We have scheduled a daily session to reflect on our activities and express your feelings about wilderness; mentored by Andrea and Doug.
Study/College Credit: We will provide reading materials/books for all participants. These form the core of the academic materials for the workshop. Participants can enroll to receive college credit for this course (1-2 hours of Field Biology credit); contact Mark Aronson for details.
Mentors:
Doug Peacock, who has emerged as one of the most influential voices for wilderness during the 20th century, will be our mentor. Doug's writing is frequently featured in Audubon, Men's Journal, Outside and other publications. His book, Grizzly Years, is already a classic and is considered as important as the works of Thoreau, Muir and Abbey. Doug became a cult icon of the environmental movement after Ed Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang introduced us to the character, George Washington Hayduke. Doug has probably spent more time with the grizzlies of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks than anyone alive. His remarkable story and grizzly footage can be seen in the film, Peacock's War. Doug has an ability to connect with the land with an intensity that is both rare and refreshing. Someone in the audience at one of his presentations remarked, " This man carries an aura of intensity unlike any I've ever encountered. He knows whereof he speaks, at a level so much deeper than most people will ever encounter that it is impossible to ignore him. He is driven from such a fundamental level that it is obvious that he has no agenda other than understanding." Doug is considered by many of us as the spiritual leader of wilderness movement today. He is probably the world's most articulate and experienced advocate for the grizzly bear. His work and words evoke the very heart of what wilderness is, and we are honored to have him again as our mentor.
Howard Boggess/Traditional Crow Elder - Howard is one of the most respected historians/guides specializing in the lore of the Crow Nation. He is a former Director of the Big Horn County Museum in Hardin and serves on the Board of Directors of the following organizations: the Friends of Chief Plenty Coup, Friends of Pictograph Cave, the Yellowstone County Museum Foundation and the Museum Association of Montana. Howard will tell the story of the Crow Indians and other tribes that visited the Crow Nation. He will lead us in a tour of Pictograph Caves, the Plenty Coups homestead and museum, the Valley of the Chiefs and the sacred Pryor Gap area. Howard walks the landscape with the heart and soul of his ancestors.
Dr. Larry Lahren - Dr. Lahren is recognized as the leading expert on the archaeology of the Yellowstone Valley and surrounding area. He is Curator of Archaeology for the Park County Museum in Livingston, Montana and has consulted on a wide range of cultural projects for private industry, federal, state and local organizations. He is internationally recognized for his pioneering work on one of the oldest archaeological sites in North America of clovis culture, the Anzick site. Dr. Lahren will focus on the prehistoric cultures of the Yellowstone area during a tour of various archaeological sites.
Andrea Barnett - Andrea is a professional journalist
whose work has appeared in many publications such as the Austin Chronicle, Denver Westword, Minneapolis City Pages, San Francisco Bay Guardian, North Carolina Independent, Athens (Ohio)News, etc.. She is the former editor of the Missoula Independent, and a regular contributor to the Mother Jones, Missoula Independent, the Billings Outpost, the BozemanTributary, and High Country News. Andrea will mentor the writing seminar. Her recent book,Libby Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation, details the most far reaching environmental contamination disaster in the history of the United States.
Mark Aronson - A biology faculty member at Scott Community College, Mark has mentored hundreds of students in ecology, conservation biology and environmental science. A professional ecologist/zoologist and former National Science Foundation Environmental Fellow, he has been a leader in the movement to bring environmental education into the nation's schools and colleges. He was recently awarded the 2003 Nohumil Shimek Environmental Educator Award for his efforts in environmental education in Iowa from the Iowa Assocation of Naturalists and The Iowa Conservation Education Council. His educational publications have appeared on Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Prentice Hall and Wadsworth Publishing Co. . He is the executive director of The Wilderness Study Group, a nonprofit environmental organization, whose goal is to foster student awareness of the importance of wilderness through education, research and wilderness experience. Mark will focus on the natural history and ecology of the landscapes we visit.
Fees: The total cost for the workshop is $530 and includes lodging, meals, books and course materials. Lodging will be a combination of motel/camping venues.Fee are due at the time of registration and are nonrefundable unless the workshop is canceled. Enrollment is limited to 30 students. The deadline for registration is June 1st. If you have any questions about enrollment please contact Mark Aronson (see below). Please visit our website at: http://www.oocities.org/wildernessstudygroup/ for details.
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Registration Form:
Name: _______________________ Age: ____
Address: ________________________
City: _____________ State: _____________
Telephone: ________________
e-mail address: __________________________
Do you want to enroll for college credit? Yes ___ No ___
Questions? Please contact Mark Aronson (563)452-3082; e-mail: aronsonm@netins.net . Please return registrations to: Mark Aronson, The Wilderness Study Group, PO Box 167, Clarence, IA 52216 We will accept checks, Visa/MC and American Express. Thank you!