Meet our Guests: Richard Graymountain

Richard Graymountain

San Juan Southern Paiute Tribal Councilmember and medicine man

Navajo Mountain, AZ / Navajo Nation

9/26/21

Sitting next to a crackling fire beneath Navajo Mountain, medicine man Richard Graymountain describes the frictions associated with Diné (Navajo) and San Juan Southern Paiute tribal membership in the age of ever-expanding modernity. He observes that young Diné people who have grown up with indoor spaces and the luxuries they provide—electricity, heating and cooling—do not realize the importance of becoming familiar and comfortable on their ancestral land.  

Graymountain is a vestige of declining customs, believing in the importance of traditional cultural values. Passing those on has become more and more difficult with the imposition of Western society, and a pandemic that prevents people from gathering in their typical tight-knit fashion. However, with a spot on the San Juan Southern Paiute tribal council, Graymountain is able to have some influence over the direction and values of the tribe. One impactful and direct way he’s achieved this recovery is by emphasizing the cultural importance of oral tradition. Historically, all accumulated knowledge was passed down in this manner. During his time on the tribal council, Graymountain has endeavored to pass on the Navajo and Paiute languages. Most notably, he has revived forgotten songs by teaching them to children. Through ceremonies, storytelling, and song, Richard Graymountain helps to breathe life into the Navajo and Paiute languages, igniting new generations.

By Ruthie Colburn

Meet our Guests: Brett Isaac

Brett Isaac

Founder and Co-CEO, Navajo Power

Navajo Mountain, AZ / Navajo Nation

9/25/21

Brett Isaac grew up next to the Peabody Coal Mine and surrounded by the effects it had on his Diné (Navajo) community in Shonto. Specifically: contaminated drinking water, depletion of the drinking water aquifer, and respiratory illness among the local population. Additionally, the electricity generated by the coal from this mine was not accessibly to Diné families.

After graduating from Arizona State University, Brett came home to the Navajo Nation in hopes of bringing money and electric power back. He started by building solar panel arrays for individual houses far off the grid as well as providing mobile power units that have been used by Diné residents and by protestors at Standing Rock to power their camps.

In 2020, Brett co-founded Navajo Power: a public benefit renewable energy corporation that aims to brings the economic and environmental boons of solar energy to the Navajo Nation and other indigenous communities across the country. While he does not think solar energy is the “silver bullet” in dealing with climate change, he believes that it is a step in the right direction and sees first-hand how beneficial it is for the communities he has brought power to.

By Wes Johnston

Editor’s note: the photo of Brett Isaac above is from SITW 2016 as SITW 2021 met with Brett at night and did not get a more recent portrait.

Meet our Guests: Norman Benally

Norman Benally

Interpreter, activist, sheep herder, and assembly line worker

Black Mesa, AZ / Navajo Nation

9/25/21

Self-proclaimed “old timer,” Norman Benally meets Westies outside his home in Black Mesa on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. His house adjoins a retired coal processing plant. Peabody Energy moved into the region in 1968, mining coal and pumping water from the Navajo aquifer to power cities off the reservation – Tucson, Flagstaff, Las Vegas. For years, many Diné (Navajo) people depended on the coal plant for work and the aquifer for water, yet their proximity to these resources did little to increase their access.

Today, the plant is shut down. A pipeline borders Norman’s house, but no water runs through his faucet. “The politics are as dirty as the coal plant,” he states—not to mention the drinking water. This summer, 86 of his sheep died after drinking from a nearby spring. He holds up a plastic water bottle, “we never drank out of these [until now].”

Before the backdrop of an arid, industrial landscape – his backyard – Norman expounds on the “struggle to maintain a way of life we were raised in,” when any extra cash goes into feeding his livestock, and the local resources “to keep all those AC units running in the Southwest.” Norman has pushed through this struggle. He resisted removal, fought, and remained. Norman’s activism, working as a translator for Navajo matriarchs to speak out against the coal plant and pass down Diné stories, has brought him to locations such as Standing Rock and the United Nations. His story is what he calls “the hard truth.” He intends to continue resisting.

By Neave Fleming

Meet our Guests: Amanda Gardner

Amanda Gardner

Executive Director, White Clouds Preserve

Clayton, Idaho

9/11/21

Hiding from the sun, sunglasses cover a swath of Amanda Gardner’s face as she talks about the White Clouds Preserve (WCP), a budding nonprofit in central Idaho based around a 432-acre former cattle ranch. Amanda is the co-executive director of the organization, and since April of 2020, has lived on the preserve full-time. WCP’s mission is to “foster stewardship, education, and community,” Amanda says, while trying to wrangle her terrier on the lawn next to the three-story chalet on the property. Their most recent project has been restoring riparian habitat on the property – which was degraded by 100 years of ranching – to improve salmon spawning habitat. WCP has hired a local habitat restoration company to plant native species to provide shade for the overexposed river, serving the double purpose of helping the environment and supporting the local economy.

White Clouds Preserve’s lodge has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the East Fork of the Salmon River and provides housing for AmeriCorps volunteers and veterans in recreational therapy programs.  Coordinating reservations and programs for the facilities comprises much of what Amanda does, and looking forward, the “hope is to be a hub,” from where more volunteer groups can “work out of, and go in different directions in central Idaho.”

By Kevin Faeustle

Meet our Educators: Mitch Cutter

Mitch Cutter

Salmon and Steelhead Advocacy Fellow, Idaho Conservation League

Stanley, ID

9/11/21 – 9/14/21

“A five-star hotel for salmon and steelhead to come back to”, he says, “but the road is washed out.”

Mitch Cutter—2014 Westie, 2018 SITW Technical Manager, and current Salmon and Steelhead Advocacy Fellow with Idaho Conservation League—is describing habitat that has been restored high up in the Snake River basin for threatened salmonid species like sockeye and steelhead.

Bonneville Power Administration, the entity responsible for the energy generated by the hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, has spent $18 billion towards mitigation for the disruption of anadromous fish migration due to the dams. Most of this money has been spent on habitat restoration projects in small tributaries to recreate shaded, sinuous streams in reaches that had been straightened, overgrazed, or not taken care of. Mitch does not doubt that this has been successful, however the fish are still not coming back.

This is why Mitch, through his work, advocates for the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams. Mitch works with and for Idahoans; building support for dam removal through coalition building, letters to the editor, and encouraging them to elect politicians who support dam removal policy. He often reaches out to Idaho farmers who currently rely on the navigable passage provided by dams to transport their product to find alternate modes of transport.

Mitch says, “Fish need one thing, and that’s a river”. To restore an economically and ecologically significant population, Mitch and Idaho Conservation League believe the dams must go.

By Katie Wallace

Meet our Guests: Tom Page

Tom Page

Rancher and Policy Chair, Western Landowners Alliance

Challis, ID

9/12/2021

At the foot of the Lemhi Mountains in central Idaho, Tom Page stands beside a babbling creek. Tom is the Policy Chair for Western Landowners Alliance, an organization dedicated to supporting working landscapes and native ecosystems around the western U.S. He also manages Big Creek Ranch where he grazes cattle and implements restoration projects to support endangered species like Chinook and Steelhead. Tom owns 8,000 acres of the ranch outright, and holds the grazing permit for the remaining 112,000 acres of public land.

The creek Tom stands beside is a perfect example of his restoration efforts. Eight years ago, this land was a feedlot; the ground a foot-deep soup of mud and manure. Now the creek wanders through banks of willow and is surrounded by fields of grasses, all thanks to the water reallocation and stream restoration Tom has done since buying the property in 2014.

Not only does Tom labor tirelessly to restore habitat for critical species on his property, he is also intent on understanding and changing policies that govern land use so they will be more protective of functioning ecosystems. Tom is aware that much of the impressive restoration that he has done at Big Creek Ranch, from putting irrigation water back in streams to wildlife friendly fencing, could be easily undone under new ownership. Tom’s role at the Western Landowners Alliance allows him to advocate for change that will codify restoration of this land that he loves for generations to come.

By Morgan Sharp

Meet our Guests: Paul Hessburg

Paul Hessburg

Research Landscape Ecologist, U.S. Forest Service

Methow Valley, WA

9/3/21

Paul Hessburg is a fire connoisseur who looks at forests with a deep-rooted knowledge of ecology. He understands and imparts that a healthy forest does not look like the abundance of thick-canopied trees that many people imagine, but instead contains meadows and bare space. He looks at forests through the eyes of fire – thinking of where it would go when it inevitably comes back to the landscape, invited or not. Hessburg speaks of Native Americans’ relationships with fire, one he admits was much more in tune with the landscape. In a landscape impacted by the effects of climate change, Paul shares his knowledge within the U.S Forest Service and his community so that others can begin to understand that the only constant in landscape and fire ecology is change.

Conservation, in a world with a rapidly changing climate, must be thought of in much broader terms, Paul says. He believes that requires looking at the history of fire management, understanding the present social problems communities face, and diligently studying ecology. With this holistic view, Paul explains that “fire in this landscape is non-negotiable, so finding a way to invite it back so that it does good things: burn up dead wood, thin out trees, is the goal.”

By Jade Strapart

Meet our Guests: Betsy Devin Smith, Casey Smith, Johnnie Duguay-Smith

Betsy Devin Smith, Casey Smith and Johnnie Duguay Smith

Owners and Operators, BCS Livestock

Twisp, WA

9/1/2021

Betsy Devin Smith and her husband, Skip, started BCS Livestock, a farm that sells grass-fed lamb meat and wool products in the Methow Valley in Washington state. The business became a full-family endeavor when Casey, their son, and Johnnie, Casey’s wife, graduated college and moved to the Methow (BCS stands for “Betsy, Casey, Skip”). Together, the family practices regenerative agriculture. They focus on using mob-style grazing; placing many sheep in an area for a short period, which they believe improves soil health.

BCS grew from the family’s realization that the traditional cow-calf operation was no longer financially viable for them. Betsy believes that “the producer isn’t capturing enough of that dollar value [of the beef sold]” to break even. After taking a holistic ranch management class with Washington State University, the family realized that they could change the way they thought about agriculture.

Betsy says that they asked themselves: “’Are we really cattle ranchers, or are we grass farmers — land managers?’” After some discussion, they decided to raise sheep, which can be sold more quickly, and to focus on understanding the environment in which the sheep graze.

Now, the family works within the Methow Valley community and provides local services. BCS Livestock sells directly to the Valley’s occupants, mostly through word-of-mouth. They also rent many irrigated properties in order to graze their sheep and “mow” lawns for events.

“The ranch today is not going to be like your father’s ranch,” Betsy said. “The agriculture of tomorrow is not going to be necessarily like your father’s or your grandfather’s agriculture. It’s new and different.”

By Emma Fletcher-Frazer

Meet our Guests: Jason Paulsen and Daniel Senner

Jason Paulsen and Daniel Senner

Executive Director and Community Conservation Coordinator, The Methow Conservancy

Methow Valley, WA

09/01/21

A lover of the magical landscapes and vibrant community of Washington’s Methow Valley, Jason Paulsen thinks he has “the best job in the American West.” As Executive Director of the Methow Conservancy, Jason oversees the organization’s conservation efforts and works to inspire the community of the Methow Valley to care for the land. An important focus of Jason’s work is securing affordable housing in a region that plays host to many second homes. Jason explains that affordable housing supports the longevity of the community, and it also gives folks the baseline comfort and security that provides an opportunity to put time and energy into conservation work.

Jason’s colleague Daniel Senner is the Community Conservation Coordinator at the Conservancy, focusing primarily on community engagement: hosting volunteer projects, crafting education programs, and creating experiences that celebrate the valley’s ecology and foster a strong stewardship ethic.

At the core of the Conservancy’s work are the 100+ conservation easements the organization manages to protect land in the valley. As a result, both Jason and Daniel work closely with private landowners to reach conservation goals. Jason and Daniel agree that, while sometimes challenging, this collaboration yields effective and fair approaches that both meet the needs of landowners and prioritize the health of the land.

By Erika Goodman

Meet our Guests: Morgan Moomaw

Morgan Moomaw

Methow Valley Interpretive Center

Twisp, WA

8/27/2021

On a sunny afternoon in the Methow Valley, Morgan Moomaw stands beside a pit house, the traditional dwelling of the Okanagan people, and explains the tribe’s connection to this valley. Morgan is a member of the Okanagan Tribe and works at the Methow Valley Interpretive Center and the accompanying Native Garden, a facility dedicated to reconnecting the tribes of the Methow Valley to their homelands. After helping develop regenerative agriculture projects in Native Hawaiian communities, Morgan was inspired to bring these experiences back home and work to bridge the gap between present day members of the Okanagan Tribe and their ancestral knowledge of plants and the Colville-Okanagan language. In addition to working at the Methow Valley Interpretive Center, Morgan teaches in schools on the Colville Reservation about the language and traditional foods. Educating about the dying language is so important for the Okanagan Tribe because as Morgan describes it, it is “the water to all of our roots.”

Morgan shared about some of the traditional plants used by the Okanagan people, from ts’kwikw (elderberry) used for immune system support, to łexwłáxw (chokecherry) which is mashed into a paste and eaten. She talked about the idea of breaking the word “restoration” into the words “re” and “story:” a reflection of the way she and many other community members are working to return the Tribe’s story to the Methow Valley. She implores all who visit the Methow to feel a connection to the land, walk lightly, and carry an awareness of the people who have been living here since time immemorial.

By Morgan Sharp

Meet our Guests: Lincoln Post

Lincoln Post

Carpenter, former President of the Methow Valley Citizens Council, co-founder of Cinnamon Twisp Bakery 

Twisp, WA

8/27/2021

Lincoln Post is a born storyteller and a stalwart protector of his home: north-central Washington’s Methow Valley. He believes in commitment to place. To Lincoln, “being a local means being a contributor.”

In the 1990s, a Colorado-based corporation proposed development of a ski resort complete with condo units, a couple of golf courses, and a “boutique town.” Some Methow residents were weary of the site’s impact on their small farming and ranching community, a population of around 2,000. Lincoln attended a meeting to review the corporation’s environmental impact statement. He left as the president of the Methow Valley Citizens Council, the only person willing to sign an appeal. Lincoln entered the political scene as the valley emerged into two distinct groups: those in favor and those opposed to the resort project. To many, the remote location was a tourism gold mine waiting to happen; to others it was home, and already felt too much like a vacation destination. Lincoln and other residents fought against the proposed resort. As he puts it “there’s a strong community here even if it was small.” The development operation was slowed by the resistance put forth by MVCC and was eventually halted by water rights: the corporation couldn’t purchase enough water to realize their plans. 

Lincoln’s efforts speak to the power of small, determined groups of citizens to influence the future of their home, even when faced with economic pressure to alter their way of life.

By Neave Fleming

Meet Our Guests: Gwen Trice

Gwen Trice

Founder and Executive Director, Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center

Joseph, Oregon

8/23/21

     Gwen Trice’s father never told her about being one of the first Black people to live or work in the state of Oregon. During a time when the state’s constitution barred Black people from the entire state, he worked as a logger in Maxville, a small company town in Wallowa County, Oregon. After spending time away from Wallowa County, a hostile environment for Gwen growing up, she learned of her family history and decided to return to save space for people of color, both culturally and literally.

     Gwen is the founder and Executive Director of the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, a local nonprofit located in Joseph, Oregon, that is dedicated to telling the story of her family and the other families that made up the town of Maxville. The museum showcases artifacts and stories from the residents, but Gwen did not stop there. She channels her seemingly boundless creativity into multiple storytelling ventures including a musical about Maxville performed around Oregon, and multiple documentaries interviewing residents of the town and their decedents.

    Gwen is currently working to rebuild the original administrative building from Maxville to use as an interpretive space to celebrate and share her family’s history while educating visitors about the history of this often-overlooked Black community. Gwen believes in telling these forgotten and erased stories because she wants to give everyone a story, including the people who didn’t know about their histories and those whose voices were lost when Maxville became a ghost town.

By Haley Post