Meet our Guests: Ray Bransfield and Peter Sanzenbacher

Ray Bransfield

Biologist, USFWS

Ventura, CA

Peter Sanzenbacher

Biologist, USFWS

Yucca Valley, CA

11/11/18

The Dumont Dunes ORV area in Death Valley is not especially picturesque. The dun hills are scabbed by tire tracks and there are few plants, leaving the dust and sand free to be flung about by the regularly passing winds.

Ray Bransfield and Peter Sanzenbacher, employees of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), squinted into the day’s wind and struggled to be heard over the sound of the child’s dirt bike that buzzed wide circles around us. Historically, local ORV clubs came to the dunes to race and ride illegally. As multiple-use pressure mounted on management agencies, the dunes became a designated ORV area in recognition of this historical usage. But, as we asked Ray, why? Why reward illegal recreation with an official designation?

If you were to follow Ray’s thumb across the highway, you might find an endangered desert tortoise wending its leisurely way through the sagebrush. These creatures, resilient and rare, face an embattled future in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts against long odds of habitat fragmentation and degradation. ORV recreationists, notably, have been known to accidentally crush the slow-moving tortoises—their desert camouflage, while effective protection against natural predators, proves their undoing in the face of children on ATVs.

Much of Ray’s and Peter’s work has been to mitigate these instances in which recreation impacts wildlife. Desert tortoises are not the only potential victims: gesticulating in excitement, Peter provided an animated explanation of the spadefoot toad, which, mistaking the rumble of an ATV motor for the sound of thunder, will rise from its subterranean refuge in hopes of rain. As Ray explained, Dumont Dunes are a sacrifice zone, a place where extractive uses are concentrated to preserve habitat elsewhere.

Ray is approaching his retirement after decades with the USFWS, while Peter still has much of his career left ahead of him, and their work provides some hope that future reconciliation between recreation and conservation of public lands might move at a pace faster than a desert tortoise’s.

By Noah Dunn

Photos by Abby Hill

Meet our Guests: Todd Wilkinson

Todd Wilkinson

Journalist & Founder, Mountain Journal

Bozeman, MT

9/12/18

Introducing ourselves under the glaring sun on Ted Turner’s Flying D Ranch in Southwest Montana, Todd Wilkinson posed a seemingly simple prompt that would become deceivingly complex: “Stand and state something that you believe to be true. Be confident in your conviction.”

 Throughout our week with Todd, a non-fiction writer, journalist, and creator of the online environmental publication, Mountain Journal, we became accustomed to his zeal for finding the truth and poking holes in people’s preconceived notions of wildlife in Greater Yellowstone. He pushed us to ask the “hard” questions and challenge our own beliefs as well as those of our speakers. This happened almost immediately, as many students disagreed with Ted Turner’s sole private ownership of the expansive Flying D, while Todd defended Turner’s domain, which is far from the public eye and the difficulties of federal management. Todd’s opinion was at first unpopular, but this encouraged him to show us the nuance within conservation, revealed further as we traveled through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. He introduced us to the concept of “loving a place to death” and the issues inherent to federal land management. Yellowstone is not necessarily “wilder” than the Flying D, even though the former is a preserved wilderness and the latter a working bison ranch.

 Todd is no stranger to controversy: among his guests were Turner Enterprises biologist, Carter Kruse, and Yellowstone Park superintendent Dan Wenk. Kruse, in order to reintroduce Westslope cutthroat trout to a creek on the Flying D, eradicated all fish in 70 miles of stream. Wenk is in the middle of a battle over his own legacy, as the Trump administration unexpectedly seeks to remove him from his post at Yellowstone. Todd wasn’t shy about sharing his thoughts on these complicated topics, but didn’t try to turn anyone to his point of view. His mission was to help us recognize our own biases, and always ask the hard questions, both of our guests and of ourselves.

By Lauren Ewell

Meet our Guests: Lisa Robertson, Ann Smith, and Deidre Bainbridge

Lisa Robertson, Ann Smith, & Deidre Bainbridge

Activists, Shoot ‘Em with a Camera

Jackson, WY

9/11/2018

Against the grandeur of the Tetons in the background at Jackson Lake, any speaker would have a difficult time captivating the attention of twenty-one students. However, the enthusiasm of wildlife activists Lisa Robertson, Ann Smith, and Deidre Bainbridge resonated with us, evidenced by the widespread display of stickers showcasing the women’s campaign, “Shoot ‘Em With A Camera.” Under the beating sun, Lisa, Anne, and Deidre, all with varying backgrounds and experiences, explained how they banded together to protect Wyoming’s native grizzly bear.

Originating as a response to the delisting of grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act, these women sought to have a voice for non-consumptive users through the State of Wyoming’s approved grizzly hunt. The hunt was designed to eliminate grizzly bears exceeding the government-determined carrying capacity for the state, and is typically intended for hunters looking to kill. In order to receive authorization to legally hunt one of the 22 grizzlies intended for kill, hunters entered a lottery to receive a tag. Seeing an opportunity, the women of “Shoot ‘Em With A Camera” encouraged people all around the country to enter the lottery, regardless of whether or not they hunt, with the intention of shooting the bears with nothing more than a camera. The sole goal of this project was to serve as protection for the grizzly. Recognizing the importance of Wyoming’s wildlife, these women have worked to remain within the limits of the law while promoting their cause. By receiving tags and actively hunting for grizzlies while abstaining from the kill, they legally prevent trophy hunters from participating.

Transforming from an online GoFundMe to a nationwide movement, “Shoot ‘Em With A Camera” has raised upwards of $43,000 and proceeded to win two tags in the hunt lottery. Initially fueled by passion, these women have gone against the grain in their home state, unafraid of potential repercussions from their neighbors, friends, or even family. Their courage has given those without the tools to stand up for their beliefs a way to make a difference in the realm of wildlife conservation.

By Cindy Abrams

Meet our Guests: Dan Wenk

Dan Wenk

Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park

Mammoth Hot Springs, MT

9/9/2018

The first thing Dan Wenk asks of us when we arrive at our meeting point within the Yellowstone National Park administration buildings at Mammoth Hot Springs is to sit down with him. Sitting on damp, elk scat-covered grass petting his lab Juno, it is difficult to imagine this man as the highest-ranking official in Yellowstone. But the passion he speaks with for not only the ingenuity of the park but also for the incredible conservation efforts that have taken place, makes it clear he is the man in charge.

Wenk has worked tirelessly to form the world’s first national park into more than a tourist destination. He is a champion for bison protection and has put them along with other controversial animals such as wolves at the forefront of the Yellowstone identity. The most common and least understood species here, though, will always be Homo sapiens. 

“For those interested in public lands management and what we do and why, Yellowstone is…” he trails off searching for the words “… it’s complicated” he finished. And complicated it is.  Balancing the needs of grizzly bears, wolves, elk, bison, tourism and conservation is by no means an easy job. One of the most complicating aspect is the challenge of managing an ecological island within a land that does not have the same conservation mindset as Wenk. The wild animals he has been tasked to manage do not obey the borders the surrounding communities do and they often do not live long enough to make it back into the park.

As if on cue, a huge bull elk bugles from across the street where it has been casually meandering its way across the fields of manicured lawns and asphalt. The tourists itching to get closer look are being controlled by a ranger in an orange vest. Proof of the big job Wenk has of managing not only the wildlife but also the people who come to it.

By Eliza Van Wetter

Meet our Guests: Kent Woodruff

Kent Woodruff

Retired USFS Wildlife Biologist; Director, Methow Beaver Project

Twisp, WA

9/1/2018-9/6/2018

Kent Woodruff is no ordinary naturalist. Wildland firefighter, bat aficionado, hawk watcher, forest service biologist, and beaver believer, Kent flows over with passion for his home, the Methow Valley. He has an amazing way with words and people. He is a champion of wildlife recovery, reintroduction, and the founder of crucial environmental groups and projects. We learned that the Methow is an ecological haven for hawks, beavers, elk, wolves, bats, rattlesnakes and more. Over the weeklong crash course in ecology we learned the many interactions between species, the land, and the role that humans have taken in restoring much of these interactions. Kent brought our focus to a few critically important and/or imperiled species of the Methow including the Peregine Falcon, Western Rattlesnake, Townsend Big-eared Bat, and the Lookout and Loop Loop wolf packs. It didn’t take long for Kent to transfer his passion for the Methow to us. Kent taught us about the wonders of the beaver, what he calls the “Machinery of the Methow” for their stream damming, habitat creating, and overall transforming characteristics.

Kent is the founder of the Methow Beaver Project, designed to reintroduce beavers into degraded habitats, where streams run fast and lose their water quickly, to create healthy riparian areas, store water, and attract wildlife. Kent is a beaver believer and we quickly converted too as we waded through a series of beaver ponds, searching for indicators of transformation, succession, riparian habitat, and changes to the forest. Beavers had been introduced to this site two years prior and had quickly gotten to work. We found frogs, birds, snakes, moose, aspen, and more, nurtured by these benevolent beavers. It wasn’t hard to see that Kent holds the beaver close to his heart. The species unite the ecological diversity of the Methow in their restoration capacities and recovery as a species. Kent’s positive energy and passion for the projects he spearheads has inspired us to “dig deeper”, never settle, and to be curious of the world around us. 

By Whitney Rich

Photo by Amara Killen

Meet our Guests: Janet Millard

Janet Millard

Wildlife Biologist, Okanogan National Forest

Leavenworth, WA

9/4/2018

On a warm morning in early September, we met up with Janet Millard on the dusty, jagged slopes of Chelan Ridge, Washington. With her aging pup Ginger at her heels, Millard took most of our group to the observatory at the Chelan Raptor Migration Project. The project, which Millard holds near and dear to her heart, was the brainchild of Kent Woodruff, a retired wildlife biologist. Woodruff saw the potential to collect valuable data on raptor migration at the ridge, where an open skyline allows for easy visibility of birds in flight. Currently Millard is the director, and oversees the management of the project.

A few of us, the biology majors, are afforded the opportunity to spend the day in the blind, where birds are caught, banded, and set free. Millard uses her radio from the observatory to let us know when a raptor is close by. “There’s a Coopers hawk headed your way!” she relays eagerly. After a couple false alarms, we manage to catch two juvenile Sharp-Shinned hawks, one male and one female. “When I saw all three of you running, I knew you caught something!” she smiles, having run half a mile from the observatory to the blind. “One of them [a researcher] didn’t believe me, but I knew.” We tuck the birds into two hole-punched soup cans, an unlikely but effective carrying method that helps keep them calm. Their scaly feet stick out from the bottoms like popsicle sticks as we gingerly carry them to the rest of our group with Millard. When we get there, a hushed chatter falls over everyone as they realize what we’re holding. Carefully, we’re allowed to hold the birds, one finger resting on their breastbone, another wrapped around their legs. Millard and Woodruff fan out the tail feathers of the female hawk, counting carefully for the twelve that should be there. Next they probe the crop, where food is stored, to see how recently the bird has eaten. Millard seems just as excited by the hawk as we are: though she encounters them every day, the light and passion in her eyes are as bright as any of ours.

By Abby Hill