Sarah Bates

Senior Director, National Wildlife Federation

Missoula, MT

9/2/2018

Sarah Bates is an expert on water laws and policies, with a degree in Wildlife Biology and Political Science from Colorado State University, and a law degree from the University of Colorado. After spending four years working as the President of the Clark Fork Coalition, Sarah now works for the National Wildlife Federation in Missoula, Montana.

Sarah joined our group in the Methow Valley and shared her experience working with beaver restoration projects in Montana and enlightened us to the many benefits of reintroducing beavers into their original landscapes. With droughts persisting throughout the West and snowpacks overall decline and earlier melt every year, the dams beavers introduce on rivers are invaluable in keeping water flowing all year. While joining our group in the Methow, Sarah spent an immense amount of time engaging with each student individually and taking the time to answer each person’s questions in a thoughtful manner. As the group moved to Missoula, Sarah kindly offered up her home to Westies for showering and laundry making us all feel welcome in Montana!

By Kate Dolan