George De'Angelo (left), Amanda Gardner (middle), and Choice Vaughn (right) at White Clouds Preserve, ID

George De’Angelo and Choice Vaughn

White Cloud Preserve, Clayton ID

September 17,2024

Today, the Westies participated in the White Clouds Preserve’s plant restoration project by pulling noxious weeds- Spotted Knapweed and Canadian Thistle, with George De’Angelo, Choice Vaughn, and our host Amanda Gardner. Before working on the weed removal project we were captivated by a conversation on various topics- cattle, organic agriculture methods, community driven conservation efforts, White Cloud’s history, and civil disobedience. They each brought in different perspectives on the controversial topics at hand, clearly forming the heart of White Clouds.

George is the owner of Geologics LLC which is a plant nursery that focuses on habitat restoration work, with little chemical usage. He became a part of the White Clouds Preserve project four years ago when Amanda called him after coming across his work on Facebook. George’s current role at White Clouds is to support the replanting process and supervise volunteers and trainings.

Choice is a Shoshone tribal member who is currently a resident on the White Cloud Preserve. Their role is to maintain all the plants on the property and serve as the Preserve’s photographer. As part of maintaining the plants, he creates his own fertilizer from local ingredients- salmon, sage, mycelium, and ash. He first met Amanda when he was exercising his treaty rights by spear fishing in the East Fork of the Salmon River which runs through the preserve. When Choice was fishing, approached by White Cloud member with a pistol on his hip, Choice thought he was going to get in trouble but instead was invited inside for a cup of coffee, where he talked with Amanda about what she was doing on the preserve. It was not until several years later that Choice started working with the preserve.

by Caitlyn Taylor