Wilderness & Beyond Conference Agenda

2 pm

Registration Opens – location to be confirmed

Silent Auction Opens – Longs Peak Lodge, 2^nd floor vestibule

Activities (click to find out what’s available)

2-6 pm  

Exhibit Hall Open – Longs Peak Lodge

Room check-in is 6 pm (although it may be earlier). However, participants may arrive earlier (time to be determined) and drop their luggage in one of the break-out rooms. There will be a variety of afternoon activities available (see the Activities Tab for details) starting at different times of the afternoon that will end in time for room check-in and happy hour.

5–6 pm

Happy Hour – Longs Peak Lodge

6–7:15 pm

Dinner – Aspen Dining Hall

7:30–9:00 pm

Welcome Session – Willome Conference Center
Keynotes: Vicky Hoover, Ralph Swain

6–7 am

Coffee/Tea – Longs Peak Lodge

7–7:45 am

Breakfast – Aspen Dining Hall

8–8:45 am

Morning Kickoff – Willome Conference Center
Keynote: Sally Bocella

8:05 – Group Photo – Willome Conference Center

9–10:15 am  

Morning Conference Sessions

• Session 1: Federal Forest Planning and Policy:
  How it Works and How We Can Make a Difference—The WHAT and WHY of Forest Planning
  Panelists: Chandra LeGue (Oregon Wild), Emily Cain (Great Hells Canyon Council), Andrew Hursh (Advocates for the West), Room: Chasm Lake
  • Forest plans define and affect the uses – from recreation to logging – allowed in National Forests as well as the wildlife habitat, waterways, and ecosystems found there. Forest plan revisions or amendments are an opportunity to inform protections for rivers, wild places, wildlife, and recreation. This panel will explore the laws and policies that govern forest planning and how grassroots engagement and advocacy can make a difference for your local forest. In this session, we’ll get the legal and policy background of forest planning, and go through some examples of how this framework has played out on the ground with a few examples.
• Film: “Dammed to Extinction”
  Room: Diamond West
  
• Out of Our Comfort Zone
  Panelists: Mary O’Brien, Robyn Cascade, Cyndi Anderson, Room: Keyhole
  • A discussion on interactions with people who don’t agree with you on conservation and environmental policy, including examples of how these interactions can lead to positive results.

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~~ 10:15–10:30 am – Break ~~

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10:30–11:45 am

• Session 2: Federal Forest Planning and Policy: How it Works and How We Can Make a Difference—The HOW and OUTCOMES of Forest Planning
  Panelists: Chandra LeGue (Oregon Wild), Emily Cain (Great Hells Canyon Council), Andrew Hursh (Advocates for the West), Robyn Cascade (Northern San Juan Broadband), Room: Chasm Lake
  • Forest plans define and affect the uses – from recreation to logging – allowed in National Forests as well as the wildlife habitat, waterways, and ecosystems found there. Forest plan revisions or amendments are an opportunity to inform protections for rivers, wild places, wildlife, and recreation. This panel will explore the laws and policies that govern forest planning and how grassroots engagement and advocacy can make a difference for your local forest. In this session, we’ll look at the public process of forest planning, give examples of where and how organizations and individuals can weigh in, and explore some strategies for seeking improved forest plans. We’ll also leave time to share upcoming opportunities for influencing forest planning.
• Using Marketing Techniques and Strategies to improve Wilderness Education
  Presenter: Ralph Swain, Room: Diamond West
  
  • Current methods used to educate wilderness visitors to the Wilderness Act and how it preserves wilderness character for future generations is limited and ineffective. Using marketing techniques can help wilderness volunteer organizations and federal agency managers expand the messaging to more diverse audiences and provide more inclusion and ownership in wilderness stewardship. This presentation will discuss the “5P’s” of marketing and how to develop a marketing plan using the Marketing Mix concept to better target desired audiences.
• Saving Salmon and Orca: The Fight to Free the Snake River
  Panelists: Pam Conley, Debra Ellers, Julie Weikel, Steve Hawley, Ione Jones, Room: Keyhole
  • A discussion of the long road of advocacy and education around the fight to remove dams along the lower Snake River—including how Broads as a group got involved with this issue. The panel will also discuss how we formed what we believe to be a new model of Broads regional advocacy groups, how they learned from—and made alliances with—Tribal members and conservation groups, and how they intend to continue the fight for healthy public lands going into the future.

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~~ 11:45–12:30 pm – Lunch ~~

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12:30–5 pm  

Activities! Hiking! Exploring!

2:30–4:30 pm     

Wild & Scenic Film Festival – Willome Conference Center

5–6 pm  

Happy Hour – Longs Peak Lodge

6–7:15 pm     

Dinner – Aspen Dining Hall

7:30–9:00 pm

Evening Session — Willome Conference Center
Keynote: Mark Dubois

6–7 am

Coffee/Tea – Longs Peak Lodge

7–7:45 am

Breakfast – Aspen Dining Hall

8–8:45 am

Morning Kickoff – Willome Conference Center
Keynote: Jazzari  Taylor, Latino Outdoors

9–10:15 am  

Morning Conference Sessions

• Grazing in Wilderness Quality Lands – Get the Damn Cows Off!
  Panelists: Erik Molvar, Mary O’Brien, Dana Johnson, Delaney Rudy, Room: Keyhole
  • The overwhelming majority of federal public lands in the west are open to livestock grazing. But the vast majority of that grazing is not well-managed, leading to the destruction of many ecologically-sensitive areas. This panel will discuss livestock grazing on public lands, and how to advocate for the protection of those lands.
• Welcoming Wolves Home to Colorado
  Panelists: Rosie Sanchez, Ryan Sedgeley, Courtney Vail, Kaitie Schneider, Room: Diamond East
  • A screening of the Endangered Species Coalition’s brand new film, Welcome Home. This 20 minute documentary commemorates the restoration of gray wolves to the wild lands of western Colorado, and features interviews with biologists, ranchers, wolf advocates and state wildlife officials. A panel discussion will follow the film.

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~~ 10:15–10:30 – Break ~~

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10:30 am–11:45 am

• The Big Threat to Bighorns in Wilderness in the United States and Canada
  Presenter: Dan Parkinson, Room: Chasm Lake
  
  • Dan will review the threats to bighorn sheep in part by using a brief film that outlines the disease threat that domestic sheep pose for bighorns on public land, the current status of bighorns in SW Colorado and the West as a whole. He will outline how Great Old Broads for Wilderness and other wilderness advocates can help state wildlife agencies and federal land management agencies by recording observations of bighorns and domestic sheep they see while in the backcountry.
• Wildlife Crossings
  Presenter: Misty Boos, Room: Diamond West
  
  • Each year, 1-2 million crashes occur between vehicles and large animals on US roads, costing over $10 billion and claiming over 200 human lives. Wildlife crossings help ensure safe wildlife passage, so why aren’t there more of them? This session will explore how partnerships, policy approaches, and advocacy are driving wildlife crossing and corridor legislation nationwide. We will use insights from the Wildlands Network’s new report, “State of the States: a look at U.S. habitat connectivity legislation,” to better promote habitat connectivity for wildlife where you live.
• Good Samaritan Policy – Addressing the Legal Hurdles to Voluntary Abandoned Mine Cleanups
  Presenter: Ty Churchwell, Room: Diamond East
  
  • The Clean Water Act is arguably the most important environmental law ever passed. But, it has a shortcoming that is dissuading voluntary, third-party cleanups at abandoned draining mines. Abandoned mines are a huge, but often overlooked, environmental issue in the US. The EPA estimates there are over 500,000 abandoned mines in the US, thousands of which are harming water quality, especially in the west. Current laws prevent anyone from treating abandoned mine water, leaving no cleanups at all. Good Samaritan legislation— currently making its way through Congress—is the needed policy to correct this shortcoming while greatly expanding efforts to address mining-impacted waters nationwide.
• Colorado’s Fourteeners: Alpine Ecology
  Presenter: Loretta McEllhiney, Room: Keyhole
  • The sustainable trails established on Colorado’s fourteeners (mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation) allow hundreds of thousands of visitors to enter into the magical realm of the alpine year. But just entering into this ecosystem places extra responsibilities on these visitors to help protect this fragile environment. This presentation will focus on the adaptations of alpine flora & fauna to survive in the harshest climate in the world. It will also discuss behaviors that can help visitors have minimal impacts, and help protect and preserve these mountains.

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~~ 11:45–1:30 pm – Lunch ~~

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1:30–2:45 pm

Afternoon Conference Sessions

• Decolonizing Stewardship
  Panelists: Debra Ellers, Ione Jones, Room: Chasm
  • The Lewis & Clark expedition and the colonization and settlement that came afterwards caused destruction for Southeastern Washington’s Original Peoples and Persons. Most people have only read about what happeneed. But the Original Peoples and Persons still live with the impact. This panel will discuss understanding how colonization and settlement affect the Original Peoples and Persons, and how historical context creates culturally appropriate healing processes among those in the communities bordering federal reservations, and those building lives around returning to their ancestral homelands and Indigenous lifestyles.
• A Balancing Act: Wilderness Designation and Tribal Sovereignty
  Panelists: Derek Red Arrow, legal scholar and attorney on tribal issues (and former WELC board member), Marsha Small, doctoral candidate at Montana State University and a voice for Children Who Remain in Indian Boarding School Cemeteries, and Facilitator Erik Molvar, author of wilderness guidebooks and Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project, Room: Keyhole
  • The panelists will discuss wilderness protections, the concept of fortress conservation, and the extent to which wilderness protection may conflict with Indigenous rights and values. The panel will discuss the intersection of treaty rights, Tribal sovereignty, federal law and policy, land management, and conflicting cultural perceptions. The discussion will highlight constructive paths forward that balance wilderness stewardship with Tribal sovereignty in a mutually acceptable way to both environmental and Indigenous communities, and respective challenges discussed.

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~~ 2:45–3 pm – Break ~~

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3–4:15 pm

• The River Democracy Act: A case study in using the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act to help achieve 30×30
  Presenter: Chandra LeGue, Lisa Ronald, Emily Cain, Room: Diamond East
  • The River Democracy Act, a Wild and Scenic Rivers bill in Oregon, is the product of years of grassroots and organizational efforts to engage Oregon’s Senators and build unprecedented support from local leaders, businesses, and recreationists. When it’s passed, it will add protections for thousands of miles of waterways and more than a million acres of public lands – significantly contributing to the 30×30 effort. Advocates in Oregon have employed many strategies and tactics to bring this bill closer to the finish line, and it can serve as a case study for other such efforts around the country.
• Earth and its Community of Life: Elevating Interests of Non-Human Animals in Wilderness Protection
  Panelists: Dana Johnson, Room: Diamond West
  
  • Despite Howard Zahniser’s exhortation that we see ourselves as “dependent members of an interdependent community of living creatures that together derive their existence from the Sun,” wilderness stewardship has largely failed to elevate the interests and needs of its non-human inhabitants in both the administration of wilderness lands and in the narratives at the heart of the wilderness story and philosophy. This will be an interactive panel/audience discussion exploring how the next 60 years of wilderness management and storytelling can centralize the interests of non-human animals, and it will explore potential implications for recreation, research, and other human uses of these special places.
• The Mining Law of 1872: What is It, Why is It a Problem, and Why is It Still on the Books?
  Panelists: John Leshy, Room: Keyhole
  • Across the American West, we are living under an archaic 1872 mining law. This panel will discuss the implications of this law and how can we be strong advocates for public lands protections.

5–6 pm

Happy Hour – Longs Peak Lodge

6–7 pm     

Dinner – Aspen Dining Hall

7–10 pm

Hiking Boots Ball – Willome Conference Center
Keynote: Tracy Stone-Manning, Director of the Bureau of Land Management
Multiple award-winning singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Laurie Lewis will be performing with Nashville-based banjo player George Guthrie at the Hiking Boots Ball. We’ll kick up our heels, dress up in Wild Broads style (whatever that means to you!) and celebrate!

6–7 am          

Coffee/Tea – Willome Conference Center

7–7:45 am

Breakfast – Aspen Dining Hall

8–10 am

Luggage drop
NOTE: Check out is 10 am

8–9:30 am

Morning Gathering — Willome Conference Center
Keynote: John Leshy

10:00–4:00ish

Stewardship projects (Sack lunch will be provided.)