S16. Conservation in the American West

This course meets 5 times.

This overview course of conservation in the American West will use case studies to explore the social, political, and ecological problems that accompany wildlife and wildland management in and around some of the country’s most iconic landscapes. The course will consider the history of American conservation, the roles of science, values, and profit in decision-making, and the way that controversies and conflicts over wildlife and public lands in the 1990s and early 2000s presaged and predicted the rise of militia movements and right-wing politics. The class will look ahead to the future of conservation work in an era of climate change and governance challenges.

We will look closely at three species whose conservation trajectories highlight major themes, triumphs, and challenges in conservation – wolves, sage grouse, and wolverines. We will also consider evolving social and scientific technologies for better understanding and managing the environment, including AI, remote sensing and DNA, Indigenous Science, and other old and new approaches to the complex question of human/nature relationships.

Optional readings:

1.  True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America by Betsy Gaines Quammen (Torrey House Press, 2023)

2.     American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God, and Public Lands in the West by Betsy Gaines Quammen (Torrey House Press, 2020)

3.  Yellowstone Wolves by Doug Smith, Daniel Stahler, and Daniel  McNulty, editors, (University of Chicago Press, 2020)