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Field Notes


What They Have to Give

Posted on by Claire Cella

what they have to give

The Wyoming Outdoor Council’s mission is to protect Wyoming’s environment and quality of life now and for future generations. I’ll admit that sometimes those two words, “future generations,” feel far off to me. They refer to my newly-born niece, yes, but also grandchildren and great grandchildren who I may never meet. Although none of us has a crystal ball to predict the future, we each have the present moment to make decisions that will have ripple effects into the future. That’s how we can all make an impact.

I recently talked to two Outdoor Council members who might be characterized as “the next generation.” One, Ted Rittle, is 18 years old and just enrolled at the University of Wyoming. The other, Nicole Gautier, is in her early thirties and works for UW as a research scientist. They both have chosen to donate to the Outdoor Council, and we wanted to find out why. 

Their reasons are layered, but there was a similar thread of seeing their parents and others committed to a cause, be it conservation, or botany, or the outdoors, and supporting the things they loved. It was these real-life experiences that played a role in their own decisions to become Outdoor Council members. The actions they’re taking as young adults ensure a better future for Wyoming and for those who come after them.

THE FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENT 

Ted Rittle was born and raised in Laramie, Wyoming, where he currently lives and studies math education at UW. Talking to him, he has a prolific sense of place that I wish I had had when I was his age. He’s a self-taught fly fisherman who has developed his own favorite spots in the nearby mountains and rivers in just a few years. Although the rest of his family doesn’t fish as often, Rittle said his parents took him outdoors frequently growing up, where they would hike, camp, and Nordic ski. It was there that he learned to appreciate nature, especially wildlife. 

When it came to acting on this value, Rittle also had his parents to look up to. His father, Keith, served on the Outdoor Council board for many years and both his parents talked about the importance of donating 10 percent of one’s income to causes you support. 

“I came to really love the wildlife and want to support it,” he said. “There are certainly some special places in Wyoming that helped instill this in me — the Platte River Wilderness, for example. We’ve gone there since I was young. It’s so neat how much wildlife there was there. That really emphasized the importance of preserving the wilderness. I guess that helped me see the value of protected open spaces, too.” 

Wanting to go along with this idea and only just having started working, Rittle joined the Outdoor Council in 2021 and became one of our youngest members. (You may remember a story we did last year about our youngest, Jules Goldwarg, who was just six.) 

“Protecting wildlife in Wyoming’s open spaces is one of the reasons I chose to donate to the Outdoor Council,” he said of the decision. He said he’s seen WOC’s work on migration corridors and wildlife habitat, and donating felt in line with his values of promoting wildlife habitat.

“To me, it’s so neat to see other species out there, just going about their lives. I want to make sure they’re able to keep being here.” 

He plans to donate every year, he says, as well as stay involved in other conservation efforts such as citizen science efforts led by the local branch of the Audubon Society and Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project.

THE YOUNG PROFESSIONAL

Nicole Gautier, too, had a childhood steeped in the outdoors. She grew up in Oregon, with parents who had botany backgrounds. She remembers many hikes where her parents would eagerly identify the plants along their route. She remembers, too, that they were active in their state’s Native Plant Society. What she remembers most was always being outside — a value that’s remained a throughline in her life.

Gautier moved to Wyoming six years ago as a student in the Teton Science Schools’ graduate program, which has a focus on place-based, natural science education. Prior to that, she had led outdoor education programs at a variety of small organizations in the West but had found that the science component was lacking.  When she found the Science Schools’ program, and its partnership with the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at UW, she applied enthusiastically. After finishing the program, she was offered a position at the Haub School and, again, eagerly accepted.

“I wanted to stay in Wyoming and I was excited to stay in Laramie because of its access to public lands. Being an avid recreationist, climbing and running is how I like to spend my time. The variety of landscapes in Wyoming, from mountains to desert, still leaves me feeling that there’s so much to explore here,” she said. 

Her first introduction to the Outdoor Council was through Run the Red in 2017, where she ran and the Outdoor Council was a sponsor. She had never been to the Red Desert before and was impressed — both by the rugged beauty of the area as well as the work of the conservation groups advocating its protection. 

It was 2020 when she decided she wanted to give back and chose the Outdoor Council based on the good, recognizable work she saw, through our communications and events, as well as her own network of friends and colleagues. 

“The projects [WOC is] working on are very tangible. I’ve been to the Red Desert and seen how special that place is,” she said. “That personal connection was part of it, too.” 

She encourages other people to engage with their values in the same way.

“Consider the landscapes you’ve spent time in in Wyoming,” she said, “and then ask yourself, how might I give back?’ Giving $20 can be an easy way to feel a small part of this organization that has similar values,” she said. 

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

I write this at that time of year when many of us get reflective — looking back and making plans, seeing where we can improve, and setting goals to do so. There are many ways to engage in this practice, and many involve asking thoughtful questions of yourself. It can be framed as simply as Gautier’s: “What do I have to give?” Perhaps your answer is 15 minutes to write an email to your local legislator, or $20 to become a member supporting a cause you value, or a weekend to do volunteer trail work. 

Or the question could be as big as, “What’s the legacy I want to leave behind for future generations, and that I could start now?” The answer could be the same. You don’t know who is watching even your smallest action.

We commend and thank Rittle and Gautier for their support. Along with them, and countless others, we look forward to creating a strong, more connected community of members, this and every year.

Field Notes


A Message from the Director

Posted on by Lisa McGee

Advocating for conservation in Wyoming is demanding work, both for the Wyoming Outdoor Council’s staff and for passionate members like you. Not only are there more issues than we can possibly address as a small organization in a geographically large state, but for people with big hearts and a love for the wild, open spaces of Wyoming, the outcomes are personal. 

We don’t always win. When we do find success, as frequent as it may be, it’s often in the form of a quiet victory or incremental change. The forces working against us — whether it’s government inertia or downright hostile opposition from other stakeholders — can often feel overwhelming. 

But we aren’t in this alone. After all, we have each other. 

Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of our fellow Wyomingites — even if they don’t consider themselves “conservationists” — value public lands, wide open spaces, wildlife, clean air, and clean water. Our challenge is to meet people where they are and attempt to find common ground. The more we make these connections, value multiple perspectives, and seek input from a diversity of people outside of our organization in Wyoming and beyond, the more likely we are to succeed in our mission.

However difficult it may be, an honest and respectful conversation with a person who disagrees with our position does more good than assuming we have all the answers. 

Everything we hope to accomplish depends on relationships. Wyoming is a state where a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can seek creative solutions to tough problems and make a difference. And, as you’ll read in the coming pages, positive things can happen when a group of people with diverse perspectives put their heads together around an issue of mutual concern instead of staying in their own camps. 

Everything we hope to accomplish depends on relationships. Wyoming is a state where a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can seek creative solutions to tough problems and make a difference.

Thank you for being part of the Outdoor Council community in 2022. I take comfort in knowing, despite the obstacles and the slow pace of change, we’re all in this together. I hope you’ll remember that as well. 

Field Notes


With $2 gift, first-grader becomes the Outdoor Council’s youngest donor

Posted on by Alan Rogers

For 54 years the work of the Wyoming Outdoor Council has carried on, made possible by the support of our members. Your passion for Wyoming’s outdoors and willingness to take action to protect it have been a constant. Of course, financial support is also critical to our success, but we learned long ago not to gauge the dedication or generosity of our members based on the dollar amount contributed. In fact, our most generous gift in recent memory was also one of the smallest: $2.

We don’t have a way to confirm this, but those eight quarters may also have come from our youngest donor ever. 

Jules Goldwarg is a 6-year-old from Bozeman, Montana. He’s the son of Outdoor Council members Eric Goldwarg and Emily Ridgway, a great nephew of former board member Hap Ridgway, and a big brother to Alden, 4, and Louisa, 1. 

The family has a cabin in Sunlight Basin near Cody, where Emily is part owner of the dude ranch and summer camp her family has operated since the 1950s. They spend as much time there as they’re able.

“Jules just decided he loves Wyoming,” Eric said. Horseback riding and exploring the area around the cabin are some of his favorite things to do, and this summer he hiked up Windy Mountain in the Absaroka Range with his cousins. Catching grasshoppers to study (or feed to the trout in Elk Creek) is another popular pastime. 

“I also like looking for animal bones with my brother,” Jules said. “We’ve found like 12 cow skulls, and jaws of animals too. And we’ve found antlers up there.”

Jules with his brother, Alden.
Jules with his cousins at Elk Creek Ranch.

Back home in Bozeman, the whole family skis, hikes, and mountain bikes, and Jules accompanies his dad on pheasant hunts. But they work hard, too. Eric is an attorney, Emily is a physician, and Jules has an ambitious list of chores. 

Helping with the dishes, making his bed, and fetching firewood for the cabin are priorities, but he also cleans his room, feeds the dogs, and keeps his things organized for school. And he picks up pine cones in the yard, even though that’s too much fun to be considered a chore. 

The payoff: 25 cents a day in allowance, or slightly less if he’s gotten an advance to buy a gumball. 

“I get my allowance on Sunday. Once I get it, I put it in my piggy bank to save. My idea is to save it for college even though I have absolutely not enough… I don’t even have enough for one year of college.”

Mom and dad are putting some money aside too, Eric assures him. 

Late last year, the Outdoor Council’s annual photo calendar had just arrived and Jules was flipping through it. 

“You were looking through the calendar and enjoying it, and there was that little donation envelope, right?” Eric reminded him. “And you read the envelope and wanted to know what it meant and why they ask for money.”

After some thought, Jules decided he should send $2 to help the places in Wyoming he loves most, like the mountains he explores with his family and the creek where he catches grasshoppers. 

It’s not every day someone recognizes that what they value most about Wyoming needs to be protected if it is to endure, and that they have the power to make that possible. And it’s certainly not every day that someone feels moved to give two weeks’ of their hard-earned pay to an organization like ours. We’re grateful for all of our members, but a special thanks goes out to Jules for surprising us with his thoughtful generosity — and his parents for inspiring a new generation to be good stewards of Wyoming’s outdoors. 

Field Notes


Member Profile: Day Scott

Posted on by Stefani Farris

Listen to naturalist, outdoor educator, and new WOC member Day Scott talk about her journey from Los Angeles to Wyoming and it’s clear she’s hardwired to forge connections and build community.

In the six months since moving to Lander, Day has become a regular volunteer and photographer with a pet rescue organization, helped out at the farmers’ market, served as a wilderness first responder for local events, and had her wildlife photography featured on the Only in Wyoming media company’s Facebook page. The connections she’s made have led to continuous house- and dog-sitting opportunities, a marketing job at NOLS, dinner invitations from nearby campers, and, most recently, to meeting a group of likeminded people eager to learn the ins and outs of advocacy.

Last month, Day graduated from WOC’s inaugural Conservation Leadership Institute. Of everything she learned, she was especially interested to discover that nearly all the presenters over the eight-week course highlighted one theme as the basis of successful advocacy: relationship building. That term is used a lot these days, “but it really is the basis of life,” she said. “It’s so important. This is it!”

  Day moved to Lander last spring, after taking a class with the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS. She’d been living in L.A. for more than a decade, where she’d worked as a technical writer for a major social media company and then as a naturalist and manager of environmental education and outreach for a state ecological reserve. She also spearheaded a wetlands restoration project and, most recently, had started an environmental-based summer camp for kids. She enjoyed her work, but needed a change from the crowds and the pace.

  She found that change in Wyoming. Soon after coming to Lander, Day drove through Sinks Canyon and up to a lake on the Shoshone National Forest. “I literally cried. I thought, how can this exist here? It’s just here and I have access to it. And how can people in L.A. survive and be happy when they don’t have this?”

  Day admitted that in the beginning she didn’t know what to expect from Lander. She was nervous about how she’d be perceived as a black woman in a predominantly white small town. “At first, I got a lot of stares,” she said. But she pushed through the discomfort of being alone, and began making friends and connections. Soon, word was out that she needed a place to live, and one thing led to another. “Someone let me stay at their house who didn’t even know me — turned over their dogs and house to me … that gave me such a sense of community and total trust. And that’s happened here more than once.”

  That sense of community, coupled with Wyoming’s awe-inspiring landscapes, have made Day feel she’s found her home here. “I feel like I need Lander in my life,” she said. As for why she joined WOC, she said that after belonging to bigger, national groups, she was excited to be part of a local, statewide conservation organization. “When I found out about WOC and what they do, making a difference just seemed easier.”

 

Field Notes


Member Profile: Katie Hogarty & Bryon Lee

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

Time outside is important to Wyoming Outdoor Council members Katie Hogarty and Bryon Lee — whether it’s just sitting (without a cell phone) at Sweetwater Rocks and taking in the smells and sounds, walking their dog in the open space next to their Laramie home, or celebrating a wedding anniversary with a backpacking trip in Wyoming’s high country.

“Wyoming has connected me so deeply in my soul to a place,” Katie said recently, noting that while that may sound hokey, it’s true.

Katie and Bryon have been active Outdoor Council members for nearly a decade. “Wyoming is all about relationships,” Katie said. “You can inspire people [here]. I see the Outdoor Council do that all the time. You have a diverse board and a diverse group of supporters. You are able to inspire actions through thoughtful research and thoughtful approaches.”

Bryon agrees. “The importance of the work you all do — it inspires people to act, and act with future generations in mind,” he said.

Katie, a former policy analyst for Gov. Dave Freudenthal, is the Laramie program director for Wyoming Climb and a member of the Wyoming State Bar. She also serves on the Board of Equal Justice Wyoming and volunteers with Wyoming Public Radio. Bryon is a Laramie school counselor who’s active in Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

They lead busy professional lives, to be sure. But they also carve out plenty of time for outdoor activities. In fact, they spent much of this past July outside — starting with a Fourth of July hike up Medicine Bow Peak. Later that month, Bryon joined 350 other cyclists for the Tour de Wyoming ride along portions of the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor (and donned WOC-sponsored felt antlers in honor of the “herd”) before meeting up with Katie in Jackson to go backpacking.

Katie and Bryon see the state’s outdoors and vast, intact wildlife habitats as central to Wyoming’s identity. They frequently respond to WOC calls to action because they recognize that sound information paired with a personal message to a decision maker or agency staffer can make all the difference when it comes to protecting the places they love to fish, bike, and hike.

But their support of conservation and the Outdoor Council’s efforts doesn’t end there. Bryon has made it a habit to give gift memberships to nieces and nephews for birthdays and other occasions — a great opportunity to discuss the importance of Wyoming’s environmental health and outdoor heritage with a younger generation.

“We may not see the smiles on the faces of future generations who will benefit from the work that the Outdoor Council does today,” Bryon said. “To be willing to step up and take on this cause, it’s extremely important.”

One Outdoor Council honor eludes Bryon, however. He still hasn’t earned a spot in one of our calendars showcasing photos of Wyoming. “One of my lifetime goals is to get a picture in the calendar,” he said. “Every year I take a shot, and say this is the one!”