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. Read about Joe Pachak and our Petroglpyh Research.

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...