Naturalist Frank Conley spent a day with us in Hells Canyon, explaining the wonders of butterflies and cultural history of Ninebark.

Ecologist Josh O'Brien took the group up the Mt. Howard Tram for a 2-day alpine ecology mini-course.

Joe McCormack, a Nez Perce Tribe member, told us about the history of the Nez Perce in the Wallowa Valley, and recent efforts by the tribe to revive salmon runs in the area.

Tree farmers extraordinaire Bob Jackson and Leo Goebel gave us a tour of their sustainable tree farm near Enterprise, Oregon.

Hells Canyon District Ranger Kendall Clark and Meg Mitchell, District Ranger, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, came to our Starvation Ridge Camp for dinner and gave us an earful about the challenges facing federal land managers around the West.

Whitman Religion Professor Rogers Miles paid us a visit at Starvation Ridge as a Reverend Cushing Eels impersonator, and he stayed in character all night!

And many thanks to Mary O'Brien, who dared take a group of students deep into Hells Canyon for a 5 day backpacking and ecology adventure, and who taught us how to think about all the "people" who inhabit Hells Canyon. We also shared a memorable evening around a campfire, talking about environmental activism and ecological citizenship.

On the road again, we paid a visit to Dave Bingaman, Whitman alum and owner of Exodus, a river outfitter and guiding company based in Riggins, Idaho. Dave shared some interesting tales of how the local economy has changed from timber to tourism in recent years, and how the return of the salmon would benefit the local economy.

Clearwater Forest activist Chuck Pezeshski gave us a tour de force of Clearwater Forest issues and a primer on environmental activism. He also shared his fabulous photography with us.

Three Rivers Timber Inc. President Bill Mulligan and labor organizer Pete Ellsworth spoke to us about their efforts to develop a local, collaborative plan to reintroduce Grizzly Bears in the Selway-Bitterroot. They also gave us a tour of the Three Rivers Mill, which is located in Kamiah, Idaho.

Phil Norton, Manager, Klamath Wildlife Refuge, gave us a fabulous tour of the Klamath Wildlife Refuge, and an even better tour of the politics of endangered species.

Local Klamath resident and candidate for county commissioner Stan Thompson stopped by our camp for a fireside chat about "those worthless suckerfish" and many other topics. We met Stan quite by chance: we had our trailer stuck on his road, and he stopped by to help out.

Mike Sheets, a nurse practitioner in Merrill, Oregon, told us more stories about the hardships farmers faced during the Klamath water crisis.

Larry Gunsmore, a research biologist for the Klamath Tribes, filled us in on the research and decisions that led to the listing of the Klamath River Suckerfish, which highlighted longstanding problems in the Klamath Basin, and precipitated the Klamath water crisis in the summer of 2001.

Farmer Mike Connelly helped us organize our Klamath field tour, and told us of the difficulties that farmers faced in the Klamath water crisis.

Jeff Mitchell met us on the shores of Klamath Lake to explain the significance in of the fish in Klamath tribal traditions, and the importance of the fish to their way of life.

Ranchers Dick and Patty Jenkins of Diamond, Oregon, hosted us in their workshop for two days, helped us charge our batteries, and gave us a tour of their ranch and its historic buildings, including the Pete French Round Barn, which their family has helped to preserve.

Former BLM manager and owner of Steens Mountain Resort Josh Warburton told us about recent collaborative efforts to decide the fate of Steens Mountain.

Jim Collard, Bill Upton, and Helen Henkins of the NE Nevada Stewardship group met us at the Star Basque Restaurant in Elko, NV, to learn about the group's work to develop a Habitat Conservation Plan for the Sage Grouse.

Carrie Dann, Mary Dann, Julie Fischel, and Chris Sewell of the Western Shoshone Defense Project met with us during a difficult time, as their cattle had been seized by the BLM only a few days prior to our visit. The Western Shoshone Defense Project has been advocating the return of lands guaranteed to the Shoshone by the Treaty of Ruby Valley, and we received an inspiring summary of WSDP's work.

Jim Collard, Wayne Mansanares, Alan Dreesbach, and Dan Banghart gave us a memorable tour of the Cortez Gold Mine in Crescent Valley, NV. Tony Jensen, General Manager, stopped in to take a few questions from our group, and ended up staying until all our questions were addressed (which took a while!). Jim Collord took questions out in the field past dark, when we finally decided we needed to head back to camp.

BLM Field Manager Helen Henkins took time out of her busy day to explain the BLM's position on Western Shoshone land claims, and the reasons for the cattle seizure.

John Marvel, Executive Director of the Western Watersheds Project, spent a day with us in the field near Jackpot, Nevada, outlining his vision for a West without cattle on public lands. We looked at a dramatic example of riparian degradation along Trout Creek, and Jon donated a fresh copy of Welfare Ranching to our traveling library.

Ranchers Steve and Robin Boeis invited us to their Vineyard Ranch for their views on public lands ranching and the importance of agriculture to the West. Steve is the is the president of the Nevada Cattlemen's Association.

Moffat County Natural Resource Specialists Ann Franklin and Jeff Comstock put together a remarkable day in the field for us, featuring Brad Petch, a Habitat Biologist for the Colorado Division of Wildlfe, and rancher John Raftopoulos stopped by to share his views about the NEPA process.

Moffat County Commissioner T. Wright Dickenson met us on a ridge overlooking the Vermillion Basin, and filled us in on his county's plans for more local control of public lands in the area. He then invited the whole group to dinner, where his mother Polly had a home cooked meal ready. We spent the evening discussing public lands ranching with three generations of the Dickinson family.

Dinosaur National Monument botanist Tamara Naumann told us about her battles with tamarisk along the Yampa and Green rivers, and her husband, Peter Williams, took us on a tour of rock art sites in the area. We then spent an afternoon down in Echo Park on a service learning project, cutting tamarisk in the boat ramp area.

Steve and Becky Ela hosted us at their farm near Hotchkiss, Colorado, and we learned about the challenges involved in growing and marketing organic fruit.

We dropped in at the High Country News office in Paonia, Colorado, where publisher Paul Larmer and editor Greg Hanscom pulled much of their staff out into the sunshine to take questions from students and discuss the role of journalism and environmental activism in the West.

Author Ellen Meloy met with us on the San Juan River to discuss her most recent book, An Anthropology of Turquoise, discuss rock art, and share some readings by moonlight.

Navajo Tribal Elder Venton Yazzie met with a small group of Westies to tell us about a Waterworks project to bring running water to Lake Valley, New Mexico.

Botanists Elizabeth Milford and Yvonne Chauvin of the New Mexico Natural Heritage Program helped bring us up to speed in identifying grasses in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

Bill deBuys came out to our campsite outside Santa Fe on a dark and stormy night to discuss the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

We paid a visit to Maria Varela, Melinda Salazar, and Rachel Lopez Walker of Ganados del Valle, a community organization in Chama, New Mexico. We paid a visit to the worker-owned cooperative Tierra Wools, and discussed the challenges of both cultural and environmental preservation in northern New Mexico.

Attorney David Benavides of Community Legal Services helped arrange a fabulous day in the field, including a visit with Kenneth Salazar, who told us about the dangers and rewards of managing an acequia during times of drought, and a visit with author Chellis Glendinning, who invited us to her home in Chimayo, New Mexico, to discuss her book, Off the Map, a primer for the anti-globalization movement. David also gave us an insightful summary of water politics in northern New Mexico.

Anthropologist Sarah Solis visited us at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge to talk about how anthropologists think about the concept of place.

Dr. Oscar Martinez from the University of Arizona gave us a wonderful lecture on the history of US-Mexico relations in the board room of the El Paso Community Foundation, prior to a tour of El Paso/Juarez with Nestor Valencia. Our tour included a look at colonias, maquiladoras, and historic downtown Juarez.

Professor of Writing Sharman Apt Russell invited us to her Silver City home to talk about place-based writing and her writing of Kill the Cowboy, Songs of the Flute Player, and Anatomy of a Rose.

Sally Smith, an activist with the Gila Resources Information Project, met us on a windy morning above the Chino Mine near Silver City, to tell us about the politics of mining reclamation in the area's copper mines.

Art Gallery owners Jim Madsen and North Johnson of the art gallery Eklektikas, set up a discussion of the role of art in Silver City community, which is in transition from dependence on the mines to a tourism and retirement economy. With us also was gallery owner John Rohovec and Silver City Arts Council President Mike Metcalf, who also took us on a tour of the University Art Museum at the end of the day.

Betty Vega, CEO of Grant County Cooperative Ownership Development Corporation, gave us a tour of Tierra Alta Fuels, a wood pellet mill in Silver City. Betty spoke to us about the challenges of small-scale community development projects that aim to reach the neediest cases.

Valer Austin spent two days with us in the field to show us the extensive restoration work that she and her husband Josiah are doing on their ranch land both in the United States and in Mexico. We spent one day at the San Bernadino Ranch in Sonora looking how gabions are used to raise the water table of local streams. Geronimo, gabion builder extraordinaire, showed us the fine points before we re-built some gabions on the El Coronado Ranch in Arizona. This was our second service learning project of the Semester.

Michelle Brown, Restoration Specialist for the Nature Conservancy, spoke to us about conservation easements and efforts to protect the San Pedro River in Arizona.

Juan Caicedo and Jennie Duberstein, who run a small non-profit called Corredor Collibri, based in Bisbee, Arizona, took us across the US-Mexican border to the Villa Verde Ejido, located along the San Pedro River, to participate in a service learning project. We learned about the promise and perils of ecotourism and we pulled weeds and helped build a fence, which will enhance habitat for migrating birds.

Border Patrol Agents Wayne Lackner and Joe Zuniga told us about their work with the US Border Patrol and discussed the social and environmental impacts of illegal immigration in the border region.

Stuart Leidner, Executive Director of the Southeast Arizona Land Trust, met us out at the Empire Ranch to tell us about his work to save valuable ranch land in the Sonoita area. He also help arrange a meeting with John Donaldson, who gave us an earful about the challenges ranchers face on the public lands.

Richard Martin, President of the Grand Canyon Private Boaters Association, met with us in his Jerome stomping grounds to discuss recreation in Grand Canyon National Park.

Glen Arnodo, political director for Culinary Workers Union Local 226, gave us an inspiring look at labor organizing in the nation's fastest growing city.

UNLV History Professor Hal Rothman, author of Neon Metropolis, shared his views about economic, social, and environmental dimensions of growth and gaming in Las Vegas.

Timbisha Shoshone Elder Pauline Esteves, along with Melissa Bright and Viola Kennison, gave us some hard lessons about cultural genocide and contemporary Native American life. We visited them at the recently established Timbisha Shoshone Homeland near Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California.

Brett Pyle and Greg Reis of the Mono Lake Committee gave us brief history of the struggle to save Mono Lake, and the ongoing ecological and political challenges facing Mono Lake and the Committee.

On our last evening on the road, we joined New York Times writer Jon Christensen, and Kit Miller, author of Inside the Glitter: Lives of Casino Workers in Carson City, Nevada. We had a wonderful final gathering at the Will James Lodge of the Foresta Institute, where we took stock of our three months on the road and threw ourselves a big party! Poet Gary Short also joined us, and he read a selection from his collection Flying Over Sonny Liston, which won the Western States Book Award for poetry in 1996. What a wonderful way to end our journey!